[ubuntu-uk] Format shifting vs. the Criminal Justice Act

[Yorvyk]

On Wed, 3 Aug 2011 14:18:30 +0100
Andrew Oakley <andrew at aoakley.com> wrote:

> Slightly off-topic, but there's been a lot of anti-Digital Rights Management
> discussion on here in the past, so here goes...
> 
> Today the government announced "sweeping" reforms of copyright law:
> http://www.bis.gov.uk/news/topstories/2011/Aug/reforming-ip
> 
> Part of that is the legalisation of format shifting; for example, making it
> legal to rip a CD or DVD to an OGG file for personal use so you can play it
> on your portable device. Currently that is illegal in the UK.
> 
> As I understand it, the Criminal Justice Act in the early 1990s made it
> illegal to interfere with someone pursuing a legal activity (at the time,
> fox hunting; nowadays, animal experiments).
> 
> So if the CJA makes it illegal to interfere with legal activity, and the new
> copyright law makes it legal to copy stuff for personal use, does this new
> law accidentally make most DRM illegal in the UK?
> 
On the face of it it would look that way but, the only way we'll ever know is if it ends up in court.  After all it's technically illegal to surf the web in this country, following a recent court ruling http://t.co/FuLFoa6

-- 
Steve Cook (Yorvyk)

http://lubuntu.net