The DMCRA of 2005 is short and worth reading. Introduced into the House of Representatives, it has not yet become law.
There is much that I agree with, namely, the labeling requirements for copy protected CDs, especially if protected CDs behave differently than unprotected CDs. Consumers should clearly know before they purchase what restrictions, if any, come with the content.
What I object to is the gutting in Sec 5 of certain prohibitions in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act against breaking the security of protected content. Once broken, the unprotected versions will be freely and rapidly distributed. The assault on this provision of the DMCA, whether justified by fair use, research, or any of the other proffered reasons, is simply a way to make rights management ineffectual.
