Effective and ineffective technological measures

[Alan Barrett]

The DMCA said:
> 1201(a)(1)(A):
>    No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively
>    controls access to a work protected under this title.

What does "effectively" mean here?

If it has its plain english meaning, then one could argue that ROT13,
CSS (and anything else that can easily be broken) are *ineffective*
technological measures, so circumventing them is not prohibited by this
clause.  Distinguishing effective measures from ineffective measures
might reduce to measuring the resources required to break them.

Or does the clause really mean "No person shall circumvent a
technological measure that *purports to control* access to a work
protected under this title"?

--apb (Alan Barrett)




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