Let's unpack that: every digital product has a "copyrighted work" at its core, because software is copyrighted. Digital systems are intrinsically very flexible: just overwrite, augment, or delete part of the software that powers the device or product, and you change how the product works.

3/

You can alter your browser to block ads; or alter your Android phone to run a privacy-respecting OS like Graphene; or alter your printer to accept generic ink, rather than checking each cartridge to confirm that it's the original manufacturer's product.

However, if the device is designed to prevent this - if it has an "access control" that restricts your ability to change the software - then DMCA 1201 makes those modifications into crimes.

4/

The act of providing someone with a tool to change how their own property works ("trafficking in circumvention devices") is a felony.

But there's a tiny saving grace here: for DMCA 1201 to kick in, the "access control" must be "effective." What's "effective?" There's the rub: no one knows.

The penalties for getting crosswise with DMCA 1201 are so grotendous that very few people have tried to litigate any of its contours.

5/

"for DMCA 1201 to kick in, the "#accessControl" must be "effective." What's "effective?"

An effective access control is one, that cannot be circumvented. If it can be circumvented, it was not effective in the first place. QED.

#DRM #circumvention #dmcaAntiCircumvention