Re: DMCA hammer comes down on tech service vendor

[Heather Morrison <heatherm@eln.bc.ca>]

Will this kind of highly restrictive intellectual property (IP)  
legislation ultimately place the U.S. and its friends at a competitive
disadvantage?

How could this happen?

One day in the near future, you set out to make a purchase - perhaps an
electronic device, tape back-up system, or refrigerator.  The
made-in-the-U.S.A. version comes with a variety of IP restrictions:  what
you can do with your purchase, what it will interoperate with, where you
can get it fixed.  The version made in a U.S.-friendly country likely has
similar restrictions.  The version made in a country with no interest
whatsoever in following the U.S. lead on this, quite likely has no
restrictions at all - and it may well be cheaper, too.  Would trade
restrictions to eliminate these sorts of products be effective, or would
this create exactly the kind of situation in which a black market
flourishes?

Can a free market thrive without freedom?

No doubt those who are advocating for restriction IP legislation have
already carefully thought this through, and have all the answers...just
some wild speculation for a sunny summer afternoon...

Heather

On 13-Jul-04, at 4:43 PM, Hamaker, Chuck wrote:

> DMCA hammer comes down on tech service vendor
>
> By Jason Schultz, Lawgeek, July 09, 2004
> http://lawgeek.typepad.com/lawgeek/2004/07/dmca_hammer_com.html
>
> "This just in: A district court in Boston has used the DMCA to grant a
> preliminary injunction against a third party service vendor who tried 
> to
> fix StorageTek tape library backup systems for legitimate purchasers of
> the system."
>
> From: digital-copyright Digest 13 Jul 2004 15:00:00 -0000 Issue 395
>
> Comment--Can refrigerators be far behind?? Or for libraries, who will 
> be "authorized" to fix those nifty combination pc/microform readers?
>
> Chuck Hamaker