re: #261 victor_yugo

Okay, here’s another question. If I set the circuit breakers in a skyscraper to write out

L
O
V
E

in the New York City skyline, is that violating a patent? The breakers themselves may have a patented design, but am I allowed to use them however I wish? Or, is the patent holder allowed to tell me I’m not allowed to use the breakers to create letters in a building’s windows?

And how is that different from using non-MPAA-approved DVD player programs? After all, the programs are merely bits, or if you will, switches inside the computer, arranged to produce a certain side-effect.

Patents and copyrights don’t prevent use - they prevent making a profit by manufacturing or copying someone else’s work. You’re free to use your circuit breakers any way you see fit; just don’t copy their design and manufacture them for sale.

Decrypting encoded media that you’re legally purchased - for your own use - is probably fine, although the law here is still somewhat murky. Selling copies of those works - whether encrypted or not - is illegal if they’re protected by copyright. Selling the actual devices that do the decrypting is murky because the decryption algorithms themselves may be protected; so you aren’t violating the media copyright, but may wind up violating the copyright or patent of the person who holds the papers on that process.