Fwd: [d at DCC] DRM, security, absurdity and Bill C-60

[Walter Dnes]

On Sun, Nov 13, 2005 at 01:14:54AM -0500, Scott Elcomb wrote
> Pulling this accross from the DCC list because of potential
> implications for Linux users.
> 
> Bill C-60 refers to the amendments to the Candian Copyright Act,
> currently making their way through Parliament.
> 
> Constructive dialog here can be sent up-stream if necessary.
> 
> (http://www.digital-copyright.ca/discuss/5884)

  Am I missing something somewhere...
  - C-60 lists some amendmants that define "technological measures" and
    "rights management information"

  - but I don't see any reference to those terms in either the current
    Copyright Act, or the rest of C-60

  Has anyone asked about a potential repeat of the Lexmark printer
lawsuit or the other one about a company that reverse-engineered garage
door opener codes?  What if Ford implements trivial technological
measures to prevent any non-Ford oil-filters being used in Ford cars?
Does circumventing that get you in trouble?

>  On Windows:
>  1. Disabling autorun (or holding the shift key when inserting CDs)
>  2. Running without administrator priviledges.

  This is going to be ugly.  It can be argued to be a security measure.
Analogous to this, let's say federal police have a warrant to enter a
facility covertly.  As undercover agents (i.e. not in uniform) try to
enter at 2:00 AM in the morning, the burglar alarm goes off, and city
police (not aware of the warrant) show up and arrest the undercover
police.  The undercover police are freed the following day, but the
owner of the premises is now aware that police are interested in him,
and this screws up the investigation.  Is the owner, or the burglar
alarm manufacturer, or installer guily of obstructing justice?

-- 
Walter Dnes <waltdnes-SLHPyeZ9y/tg9hUCZPvPmw at public.gmane.org> In linux /sbin/init is Job #1
My musings on technology and security at http://tech_sec.blog.ca
--
The Toronto Linux Users Group.      Meetings: http://tlug.ss.org
TLUG requests: Linux topics, No HTML, wrap text below 80 columns
How to UNSUBSCRIBE: http://tlug.ss.org/subscribe.shtml