DRM prevents you from downloading copies of books you've purchased from online storefronts, but is it legal to bypass DRM to create backups? Cory Doctorow, an expert on the DMCA, weighs in on the subject.

Title from the article. Interesting article, with some good words from our DRM-free favorite Cory Doctorow.

  • Troy
    14•9 days ago

    Well the US doesn’t seem to want to honour trade agreements. Those of US outside the US should be contemplating whether to honour things like the DMCA when we’re not even in their country…

    • zout
      5•9 days ago

      I’m not even contemplating this. In my country I’m bound to follow the laws of my country, not of other countries. I don’t know most of the laws in the US, and I don’t desire to learn them since I don’t see myself travelling there in the future. Same goes for the laws of other oppressive regimes like Iran or Russia.

      • Troy
        4•9 days ago

        Admittedly, when countries have trade agreements with one another, laws get rewritten to align countries with one another on things like IP. So foreign laws have a way it spilling over when new agreements are created. It usually goes both ways, to some extent, but the US can throw their weight around more than most.

        In the agreement between Canada and the EU, for example, there are international mobility clauses in there for professionals (engineers, etc.) allowing them to bid on work in each other’s jurisdictions. This of course required some work because laws on both sides needed adjusting. So laws governing the behaviour of engineers align slightly more now than before. Doesn’t mean we’re subject to EU law in Canada, but the example is illustrative.