Jasen Betts writes:
> Ever hear of an obsure document called DMCA?
From Title 17:
(a) Violations Regarding Circumvention of Technological Measures.—
(1)
(A) No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively
controls access to a work protected under this title.
(3) As used in this subsection—
(A) to “circumvent a technological measure” means to descramble a
scrambled work, to decrypt an encrypted work, or otherwise to
avoid, bypass, remove, deactivate, or impair a technological
measure, without the authority of the copyright owner; and
(B) a technological measure “effectively controls access to a work”
if the measure, in the ordinary course of its operation, requires
the application of information, or a process or a treatment, with
the authority of the copyright owner, to gain access to the work.
(b)
(2) As used in this subsection—
(A) to “circumvent protection afforded by a technological measure”
means avoiding, bypassing, removing, deactivating, or otherwise
impairing a technological measure; and
(B) a technological measure “effectively protects a right of a
copyright owner under this title” if the measure, in the ordinary
course of its operation, prevents, restricts, or otherwise limits
the exercise of a right of a copyright owner under this title.
I wrote about modifying a copy of a computer program. Few computer
programs have access to them controlled by technological measures.
Modifying a copy you own is not a right of the copyright owner.
And then we have:
(f) Reverse Engineering.—
(1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (a)(1)(A), a person
who has lawfully obtained the right to use a copy of a computer
program may circumvent a technological measure that effectively
controls access to a particular portion of that program for the sole
purpose of identifying and analyzing those elements of the program
that are necessary to achieve interoperability of an independently
created computer program with other programs, and that have not
previously been readily available to the person engaging in the
circumvention, to the extent any such acts of identification and
analysis do not constitute infringement under this title.
(2) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections (a)(2) and (b), a
person may develop and employ technological means to circumvent a
technological measure, or to circumvent protection afforded by a
technological measure, in order to enable the identification and
analysis under paragraph (1), or for the purpose of enabling
interoperability of an independently created computer program with
other programs, if such means are necessary to achieve such
interoperability, to the extent that doing so does not constitute
infringement under this title.
(3) The information acquired through the acts permitted under
paragraph (1), and the means permitted under paragraph (2), may be
made available to others if the person referred to in paragraph (1) or
(2), as the case may be, provides such information or means solely for
the purpose of enabling interoperability of an independently created
computer program with other programs, and to the extent that doing so
does not constitute infringement under this title or violate
applicable law other than this section.
(4) For purposes of this subsection, the term “interoperability” means
the ability of computer programs to exchange information, and of such
programs mutually to use the information which has been exchanged.
Thus even if the program is "protected" you can circumvent the
"protection" legally if that's what you have to do to make the program
work.
Also:
(a) In General.— Any person who violates section 1201 or 1202 willfully
and for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain—
(1) shall be fined not more than $500,000 or imprisoned for not more
than 5 years, or both, for the first offense; and
(2) shall be fined not more than $1,000,000 or imprisoned for not more
than 10 years, or both, for any subsequent offense.
Thus no criminal penalties if the violation was not for financial gain.