Court Slaps Down Lexmark For DMCA Misuse

from the going-a-bit-too-far dept

We've written in the past about the case of Lexmark against a company named Static Control that was trying to make competing ink cartridges that would work in Lexmark printers. Lexmark claimed that Static was violating the DMCA by circumventing the encryption used on their inkjet cartridges. While the lower court ruled in Lexmark's favor last year, today the Sixth Circuit reversed the ruling discussing in great detail how Lexmark was clearly abusing the intent of the DMCA for anti-competitive purposes, rather than to protect intellectual property. The court clearly understood the larger issues: "If we were to adopt Lexmark's reading of the statute, manufacturers could potentially create monopolies for replacement parts simply by using similar, but more creative, lock-out codes. Automobile manufacturers, for example, could control the entire market of replacement parts for their vehicles by including lock-out chips. Congress did not intend to allow the DMCA to be used offensively in this manner, but rather only sought to reach those who circumvented protective measures "for the purpose" of pirating works protected by the copyright statute."
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 26 Oct 2004 @ 11:48am

    pardon?

    Can we get these guys to re-hear the BNetd case?

    The two seem remarkably close - including how Vivendi/Blizzard is seeking to block the development of a competing server and weilding the DMCA like the club it is.

    link to this | view in chronology ]

    • identicon
      John Cody, 27 Oct 2004 @ 12:44pm

      Re: DMCA

      It seems that it might boil down to the simple distinction that DCMA can only be used on virtual things (that can be stored as digital data), and not physical things like ink cartridges, auto parts.

      link to this | view in chronology ]

  • identicon
    Evilbob, 22 Sep 2015 @ 7:01pm

    Given Up

    Honestly guys, I've given up on the thought of having anything positive done within the next 10-15 years. I'm hoping once the old farts who don't understand how truly bad things like BNetd or Psystar or EULA or being able to making copies of stuff you bought for backup die out, we'll be able to get judges and lawyers who actually get it.

    Of course, there's the risk that the young 'uns will get indoctrinated by this crap.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.