OT: Software copyright law?

[Renegade 13]

But does that mean you have the right to break copy protection if it's preventing you from making a legal copy? Not that I could break copy protection even if I wanted to, I'm not that computer savvy.

[Fyron]

No. Breaking the copy protection is illegal, so you could be prosecuted for that... Of course, the whole thing is a heinous violation of consumer rights, so it is best to ignore it and go on practicing fair use rights. As a Canadian, it doesn't apply to you, so you need not worry.

[Atrocities]

One of these days people will discover that copyright laws are about as worthless as the paper they have been written upon. Look that the chines, they don't care about US copyright laws.

[Atrocities]

I am my own copyright law! (For validation see Mr. Remington and his associate Mr. Ruger.)

[Jack Simth]

Let's see....
1) leagally speaking, the EULA is only in power because you click the "I agree" button during installation.
2) leagally speaking, the only thing making decompiling and recompiling the program with modifications for your own use illeagle is the EULA
3) Regular copyright law (no distribution) still applies

Query: What happens if, before you install the software, before you encounter the EULA in question, you decompile the software, then recompile it without the EULA?

[Phoenix-D]

You'd probably have to break the copy protection to do so; DMCA again. Also a lot of the EULAs have clauses to the effect of "by using this software", and its arguable that you're using it.

I sort of doubt the ethicallity of those sort of clauses, but oh well. Much worse is the EULA itself, given that A. its a contract you have to accept to use something you already paid for, and B. if you don't accept it, most stores won't accept a return..

[Jack Simth]

Phoenix-D said:
You'd probably have to break the copy protection to do so; DMCA again.

Presuming, for the sake of argument, that no such copy-protection is in place; perhaps it's downloaded software for a MMORPG, a demo for some utility, software purchased online, or some such.

Phoenix-D said:Also a lot of the EULAs have clauses to the effect of "by using this software", and its arguable that you're using it.

Ah... so if I make up a user agreement for my EVIL(TM) router that basically says anything sent through this device becomes my intellectual property, and then go browse an art site, I can later sue the art site for distributing my intellectual property without my permission, (after all, in order to send the images to my browser, they first had to be sent through my EVIL(TM) router....) despite the fact that the art site had no way of knowing that my router was EVIL(TM), even though if you type the IP on my EVIL(TM) router into any functioning and connected web browser it returns a simple english text web page with the user agreement due to the nature of the EVIL(TM) routing software? No? How does the EVIL(TM) router useage agreement scenerio differ from not encountering the EULA of a piece of software, and still being bound?

Phoenix-D said:
I sort of doubt the ethicallity of those sort of clauses, but oh well. Much worse is the EULA itself, given that A. its a contract you have to accept to use something you already paid for, and B. if you don't accept it, most stores won't accept a return..

Oh, it gets better - there's usually a clause that says it's not fit for any particular purpose, while the advertising on the package says that it's great for all sorts of purposes - hmm.... how is "False Advertising" defined? Perhaps "Bait and Switch"? Don't have the recources, but it might just be interesting to test that in court at some point....

[PvK]

Jack Simth said:
Let's see....
1) leagally speaking, the EULA is only in power because you click the "I agree" button during installation.

Funny how random strangers click EULAs. I never do.

2) leagally speaking, the only thing making decompiling and recompiling the program with modifications for your own use illeagle is the EULA
3) Regular copyright law (no distribution) still applies

Query: What happens if, before you install the software, before you encounter the EULA in question, you decompile the software, then recompile it without the EULA?

Then they buy another law that says you are a terrorist who can be shot without trial, for even owning a decompiler.

PvK

[geoschmo]

This is a riot.

Hey dudes and dudettes... DON'T COPY THAT FLOPPY!

[AgentZero]

Imperator Fyron said:
No. Breaking the copy protection is illegal, so you could be prosecuted for that... Of course, the whole thing is a heinous violation of consumer rights, so it is best to ignore it and go on practicing fair use rights. As a Canadian, it doesn't apply to you, so you need not worry.

Well, killing someone is also illegal, however it is legal to kill someone in self-defense. Here, you have two seemingly contradictory laws, one saying you cannot kill, and the other saying you can to protect yourself. Obviously, the law stating you may kill in self-defense takes precedent over the one stating you cannot kill, as an exception is made in cases where breaking one law (killing) would prevent you from excersising your right to something you are entitled to (living). Therefore, one can argue that an exception must be made allowing you to break one law (copying the software) in order to excersise your right to something you are entitled to (archival copy).

PS: This argument actually works! A few years ago I posted a query on an unnamed software company's forum asking how to go about creating a CD image of the installation CDs so I could have a backup. Shortly thereafter, the thread was deleted and I recieved a rather nasty email from their law department stating that what I was attempting was in violation of copyright laws, the EULA, etc. and that if I did not desist in my attempts to do so, I would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. I wrote them back a polite little reply informing them that their attempts to prevent me from making an archival copy were in violation of MY legally enshrined right to create an archival copy of legally purchased software. I included a scanned copy of my receipt and advised them (bluffing, of course) that if they did not desist in their attempts to deny me my consumer rights, then I would prosecute them to the full extent of the law. Within three days, my thread was reinstated, and I recieved an apology from their law department along with a detailed email from their tech support on how to create a CD image. Sweet, no?
Also kinda helped that they were running a massive 'Customer First' advertising blitz at the time, so a lawsuit from a customer claiming the company was attempting to deny him his rights wouldn't have gone over too well with the almighty marketing department.