The FCC in Favor of Jailbreaking, Against DMCA
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, bans consumers from jailbreaking their phones – or at least, that was the plan. According to SiliconAngle contributing editor John Casaretto, the law is not only ineffective but also harmful to both consumers and innovation. He shared his take on the legislature during a Thursday NewsDesk segment with Kristin Feledy (full video below).
Casaretto uses the word “overreaching” to describe DMCA. “I would agree with the critics,” he says. “We need more freedom, not more restrictions.” These restrictions bar consumers from taking full advantage of a product they paid for, and at the same time create a massive opportunity for abuse.
Civil fines for jailbreaking can go up to $2,500, while criminal ones can reach $500,000. Casaretto describes how struggling carrier may be tempted to scapegoat owners of jailbroken devices and make a few easy bucks off lawsuits to make up for a revenue decline.
He also stresses that DMCA is an attempt to change the definition of ownership.
“You pay your fee, you get your phone, and may get to use it but you can’t do anything to it. That’s what they want and it pretty much amounts to rent, definitely seems like an owner is not an owner in this case.”
DMCA is a problem, a fact even the Federal Communications Commission recognizes. FCC chairman Julius Genachowsk made it fairly clear that he objects to the law, but unfortunately he doesn’t possess the authority to repeal it. In spite of this, Casaretto says that the FCC should everything it can to take DMCA out of the rulebook.
He concludes the session by reiterated that the concept of ownership should not be tempered with by dumping layers of legal jargon on top of it. See Casaretto’s full analysis below:
photo credit: Marco Wessel via photopin cc
A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:
Support our mission to keep content open and free by engaging with theCUBE community. Join theCUBE’s Alumni Trust Network, where technology leaders connect, share intelligence and create opportunities.
- 15M+ viewers of theCUBE videos, powering conversations across AI, cloud, cybersecurity and more
- 11.4k+ theCUBE alumni — Connect with more than 11,400 tech and business leaders shaping the future through a unique trusted-based network.
About SiliconANGLE Media
SiliconANGLE Media is a recognized leader in digital media innovation, uniting breakthrough technology, strategic insights and real-time audience engagement. As the parent company of SiliconANGLE, theCUBE Network, theCUBE Research, CUBE365, theCUBE AI and theCUBE SuperStudios — with flagship locations in Silicon Valley and the New York Stock Exchange — SiliconANGLE Media operates at the intersection of media, technology and AI.
Founded by tech visionaries John Furrier and Dave Vellante, SiliconANGLE Media has built a dynamic ecosystem of industry-leading digital media brands that reach 15+ million elite tech professionals. Our new proprietary theCUBE AI Video Cloud is breaking ground in audience interaction, leveraging theCUBEai.com neural network to help technology companies make data-driven decisions and stay at the forefront of industry conversations.
