From: Gizmodo ~ DRM Buster FAQ: What It Means For You
From: Statement of the Librarian of Congress Relating to Section 1201 Rulemaking
THIS IS HUGE PEOPLE!
The Library Of Congress just announced open season on any eBook DRM stopping “read-aloud” functions or “screen readers”…
(6) Literary works distributed in ebook format when all existing ebook editions of the work (including digital text editions made available by authorized entities) contain access controls that prevent the enabling either of the book’s read-aloud function or of screen readers that render the text into a specialized format.
AND! You can hack your Apple iPhone and do whatever you damn well want including getting rid of AT&T. That was a big FUCK YOU to Apple.
(2) Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications, when they have been lawfully obtained, with computer programs on the telephone handset.
(3) Computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable used wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telecommunications network, when circumvention is initiated by the owner of the copy of the computer program solely in order to connect to a wireless telecommunications network and access to the network is authorized by the operator of the network.
So basically if the eBook DRM stops the consumer being able to use the “read aloud” function on the eBook that was legally purchased they have every right to crack it. That is almost every type of DRM’ed eBook I have ever worked with.
So by stating these things so explicitly that makes “cracking” and “Jail Breaking” programs fully legal for use by consumers from what I am reading. You have to use a program to enable this “read aloud function” or “Jail Break” an iPhone in my experience. That’s a big old FUCK YOU to Adobe and their well known lawyers if I ever read one. They are now without legal recourse to stop people cracking Adobe ePub and PDF files and providing the tools to do this on one of the biggest culprits of subverting the “read aloud” function which the Library Of Congress obviously believes is a “content accessibility right” of the consumer.
This actually puts DRM in the legal gray area by showing DRM is knowingly crippling functions consumers have “protected rights to use” on products they legally own. I expect there are gonna be some wild consumer protection lawsuits with Apple and Adobe over all this.
Well that changes everything.
Tags: eBook Commentary
