Re: Clarification (RE: "Fair Use" Is Getting Unfair Treatment)

[David Goodman <dgoodman@princeton.edu>]

Yes, I could encode it so nobody else could read it.  But then I could
hardly expect to sell it unless my reputation were such that people would
want to posses a copy of unreadable text from me.

If I advertised that the book is in English, and you bought it for $50,
and it turned out to be encoded, and I then offered to sell you the code
for $5,000? Speaking loosely, that's fraud.

--
David Goodman
Research Librarian and
Biological Science Bibliographer
Princeton University Library
Princeton, NJ 08544-0001
phone: 609-258-7785
fax: 609-258-2627
e-mail: dgoodman@princeton.edu
**

Rick Anderson wrote:

> > Now, if JD Sallinger were to have written me the letter in code, and not
> > told me the code, I would be in the position of owning the paper and the
> > ink, but still be unable to read it. However, if I were to figure out the
> > code on my own, I could read it. If it were subject to the DMCA, I would
> > not have the right to figure out the code.
>
> Right, and as I think we all agree, that's a big problem with the DMCA.
> But that's only half the question.  Here's the other half: Suppose _you_
> own the copyright to the letter.  Does that give you the right to encode
> it yourself so that others cannot access it?  If not, then this whole
> issue is moot. But if so, then one thing the DMCA does is protect you from
> those who would decode it without your permission.  Is that protection a
> good thing?  If not, why not?
>
> Rick Anderson
> rickand@unr.edu