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For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Friday, July 30, 2004

Is Real's iPod "hacking" legal?

CNET: "Legal experts say there's a big difference between RealNetworks' product and the work of code-crackers who have helped break through DVD copy protection, or who have previously helped strip FairPlay protection from iTunes songs. Those underground programmers, at least in the United States, risk running into the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which bars 'circumvention' of digital copy protection. By contrast, legal experts note that RealNetworks is 'hacking' Apple's technology in order to protect music in its own way, not to pirate or otherwise copy it without permission. This kind of reverse engineering for compatibility purposes happens routinely in corporate America, and is allowed as long as competitors aren't actually using copyrighted code, attorneys say."

Bravo. It's nice to see someone finally write something intelligent about this.

[ Posted at 8:36 PM | Permalink ]