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The evolution of anti-circumvention law

Brown, I; (2006) The evolution of anti-circumvention law. International Review of Law, Computers & Technology , 20 (3) pp. 239-260. 10.1080/13600860600852119. Green open access

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Abstract

Countries around the world have since 1996 updated copyright laws to prohibit the circumvention of "Technological Protection Measures", technologies that restrict the use of copyright works with the aim of reducing infringement and enforcing contractual restrictions. This article traces the legislative and treaty history that lies behind these new legal provisions, and examines their interaction with a wide range of other areas of law: from international exhaustion of rights, through competition law, anti-discrimination measures, regulation of computer security research, constitutional rights to freedom of expression and privacy, and consumer protection measures. The article finds that anti-circumvention law as promoted by US trade policy has interfered with public policy objectives in all of these areas. It picks out key themes from the free trade agreements, legislation and jurisprudence of the World Trade Organization, World Intellectual Property Organization, USA, EU member states, and South American, Asian and Australasian nations. There is now a significant movement in treaty negotiations and in legislatures to reduce the scope of anti-circumvention provisions to ensure their compatibility with other important policy objectives.

Type: Article
Title: The evolution of anti-circumvention law
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1080/13600860600852119
Additional information: Imported via OAI, 15:41:43 19th Jul 2007
Keywords: Digital Rights Management, Technological Protection Measures, WIPO, WTO, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, European Union Copyright Directive, copyright
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/3879
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