iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 14/08/2026

In 1998, Clinton signed the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). DMCA Section 1201 makes it a felony to practice adversarial interoperability, establishing penalties of $500k and five years in prison for people who reverse engineer and modify products: pluralistic.net/2026/01/14/s... 18/

pluralistic.net

Pluralistic: It’s not normal (14 Jan 2026) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 14/08/2026

DMCA 1201 created a one-way ratchet that progressively narrowed the possibilities for tech competition. 19/

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By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 14/08/2026

As more and more US companies re-engineered their products so that modifying them would give rise to DMCA 1201 liability, American startups gave up on disrupting Big Tech, re-orienting towards "acqui-hires." 20/

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