News from US copyright office

[Robert]

source: http://www.copyright.gov/1201/ via Jostiq via xbox-scene

 

These exemptions to copyright law will come into force on November 27, for 3 years:

 

2. Computer programs and video games distributed in formats that have become obsolete and that require the original media or hardware as a condition of access, when circumvention is accomplished for the purpose of preservation or archival reproduction of published digital works by a library or archive. A format shall be considered obsolete if the machine or system necessary to render perceptible a work stored in that format is no longer manufactured or is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace.

 

3. Computer programs protected by dongles that prevent access due to malfunction or damage and which are obsolete. A dongle shall be considered obsolete if it is no longer manufactured or if a replacement or repair is no longer reasonably available in the commercial marketplace

 

5. Computer programs in the form of firmware that enable wireless telephone handsets to connect to a wireless telephone communication network, when circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of lawfully connecting to a wireless telephone communication network.

 

6. Sound recordings, and audiovisual works associated with those sound recordings, distributed in compact disc format and protected by technological protection measures that control access to lawfully purchased works and create or exploit security flaws or vulnerabilities that compromise the security of personal computers, when circumvention is accomplished solely for the purpose of good faith testing, investigating, or correcting such security flaws or vulnerabilities.

 

To translate this to English,

 

6 is directed at Sony's rootkits

5 allows you to break a cellphone access lock so that you can connect to another phone carrier

3 allows you to do whatever is needed if you lost your dongle and it cannot be replaced

2 allows you to backup or do whatever to a game that runs (or ran) on obsolete hardware, including cracking it.

[Lucandrake]

My guess, this is how their going to hit game company's in their pockets so that minor's can get their hands on less games.

[Mooney]

I actually don't think this will cost game companies too much money. Most of these are for things that are obsolete, anyway.

[Ghosty]

I thought #5 was legal already.....

 

Guess you learn something new everyday.

[Shibathedog]

dongle wtf

 

like something that would have to be plugged into your USB drive that the software checks for in order to run?

 

kinda like how some versions of gameshark wont even let you use the built in codes/run without the special memory card in?

[Wizard]

But the card is actually where all the extra data you add will be stored :/ Hence all the cheats.

[ken_cinder]

No, more like Labelview Pro I use at work for printing tags/barcode labels. The dongle is a USB key that looks just like a USB Flash Drive, only it's got an encrypted key stored on it with the license details.

If said key broke or we lost it, and we couldn't get a replacement because of whatever reason, we'd be well within our rights to crack the program.

[Shibathedog]

actually the memory card only holds cheats you ADD, cheats that come with the disk are on the disk, otherwise it would be kinda a waste of memory

 

at least thats how mine works, Gamesharks are known to be halfassed alot

 

but IJTF yeah thats what i was thinking, i know ive seen this before but i cant remember where