David Brown wrote:
wrote:
The mere act of breaking copy protection is a crime under DMCA.


IANAL...

Doesn't the wording of the DMCA also say that the "technical protection
methods" have to be effective to be relevant? Thus trivial or
easily-broken protection (such as on DVDs) does not fall under the DMCA,
not matter what the MPAA might think.

Also note that the DMCA only applies to the USA, not the rest of the world.

And is breaking the DMCA actually a crime, even in the USA? Unlicensed
copying of copyrighted works is not a crime in most of the free world,
unless it is done for commercial gain, or has other incriminating
circumstances. It is unlawful, but not criminal - the copyright owners
can sue you for damages, but you cannot be jailed by the state.


Sec. 1204. Criminal offenses and penalties

`(a) IN GENERAL- Any person who violates section 1201 or 1202 willfully
and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain--

`(1) shall be fined not more than $500,000 or imprisoned for not more
than 5 years, or both, for the first offense; and

`(2) shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned for not more
than 10 years, or both, for any subsequent offense.