Pardon My grammar.
Sorry to post to three groups. I think thia decision is very
important. I wonder if this change the eula on all products?
Does this court dession mean that I can use an oem copy of any
software including operating systems like a retail version now?
* Skylink Wins Appeal in Garage Door Opener Case
Court Rules Copyright Law Cannot Be Used to Stifle
Competition
Washington, DC - A federal appeals court in Washington, DC,
this week upheld a lower court ruling that allows the
marketing of "universal" remote controls for garage door
openers, an important decision that helps pave the way
for competition and lower prices in the after-market
and replacement parts arena.
"Competition in after-market and replacement parts, such
as remote garage door controls, helps create lower prices
and better products," said Kenneth DeGraff, a researcher
for Consumers Union. "Allowing one company to control
those markets and the prices they charge hurts consumers."
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed in
1998 to stop mass copyright infringement on the Internet,
but some companies have gone beyond this purpose and
invoked its controversial "anti-circumvention" clause to
stave off the competition. The Samuelson Law, Technology &
Public Policy Clinic at Boalt Hall School of Law, UC
Berkeley, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)
co-authored the Consumers Union brief to help stand up
for consumer rights and the right to create new
after-market technologies capable of interoperating with
legitimately purchased products.
Jennifer M. Urban, the lead attorney on the case at the
Samuelson Clinic, said, "The court recognized that
copyright law grants rights to consumers as well as
copyright holders and held that the DMCA did not wipe
those rights away."
"Chamberlain's lawsuit sought to stifle competition by
misusing the DMCA," said Deirdre K. Mulligan, Director
of the Samuelson Clinic. "Congress warned of such abuses,
and we're pleased that the court rejected this view to
avoid harming consumers."
"When consumers buy a garage door opener, they have the
right to use whatever remote they want with it, even
one from another company," said Jason Schultz, EFF Staff
Attorney and a co-author of the brief. "In Chamberlain's
view, it's their remote or no remote. Thanks to this
decision, they've now been shown that the law views
it differently."
Skylink won decisions in the lower court and at the
International Trade Commission, but Chamberlain appealed,
claiming that Skylink's remote control device circumvents
access controls to a computer program in its garage door
opener. In its decision, the Court of Appeals rejected
Chamberlain's claims, further noting that if the court
adopted Chamberlain's interpretation of the DMCA, it
would threaten many legitimate uses of software within
electronic and computer products - something the law
aims to protect.
"[Chamberlain's interpretation] would...allow any copyright
owner, through a combination of contractual terms and
technological measures, to repeal the fair use doctrine
with respect to an individual copyrighted work - or even
selected copies of that copyrighted work," wrote the
court. "Copyright law itself authorizes the public to
make certain uses of copyrighted materials. Consumers
who purchase a product containing a copy of embedded
software have the inherent legal right to use that
copy of the software. What the law authorizes,
Chamberlain cannot revoke."
For the full press release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2004_09.php#001867
Greg R
http://www.angelfire.com/in4/computertips/