DMCA is Anti-Competitive
Posted March 23, 2006 07:59 AM
Circumventing Competition: The Perverse Consequences of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act [pdf]: "The DMCA is anti-competitive. It gives copyright holders—and the technology companies that distribute their content—the legal power to create closed technology platforms and exclude competitors from interoperating with them. Worst of all, DRM technologies are clumsy and ineffective; they inconvenience legitimate users but do little to stop pirates."
The DMCA is not only anti-competitive, but I would argue that it is unconstitutional as it does not allow for fair use, which is required by the Copyright Clause of the Constitution. I argue it here: Digital Millennium Copyright Act v. Public Use: Are Constitutional Safeguards Insufficient in an Era of Industry Lobbying.