By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 14/08/2026Many anti-circumvention laws - including DMCA 1201 - have a process for creating "exemptions" to the ban on reverse-engineering and modifying a device.The way these exemptions processes are written, they *seem* to offer relief if a company uses anti-circumvention to block legitimate activity. 40/ 1120
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 14/08/2026If John Deere uses the law to stop you from fixing your own tractor, then you can go to some kind of governing body (in the US, it's the Copyright Office) and petition for an exemption to anti-circumvention. If that exemption is approved, then making that modification becomes legal. 41/ 1131
By Cory Doctorow (GPG 0xBF3D9110957E5F4C) @doctorow.pluralistic.net · 14/08/2026Before I carry on, let me say here that even if that's how the system worked, it would still be grossly offensive. If you buy a device - a car, a tractor, a printer, a console, a phone - it is *your property*. 42/ 1242