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Library of Congress just made it easier to play older video games and fix consoles

Library of Congress just made it easier to play older video games and fix consoles

5 years ago
Anonymous $oIHRkISgaL

https://www.polygon.com/2018/10/26/18027200/video-game-drm-consoles-repair-dmca-library-of-congress

This week the Library of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office revised its list of specific exceptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, also known as the DMCA. Their guidance reaffirms the rights of software preservationists to circumvent digital rights management (DRM) software, in some cases expanding their ability to revive older games. It also opens the door, legally speaking, to do-it-yourselfers and electronics repair outlets to break DRM in pursuit of fixing hardware.

Section 1201 of the DMCA, which was passed in 1998 during the administration of President Bill Clinton, states that “no person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work.” A subsequent section empowers the Copyright Office and the Library of Congress to compile a list of exceptions to that rule every three years.