Digital Millennium Copyright Act

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 ("DMCA"), the terms of which went into full effect on October 28, 2000, added Chapter 12 to Title 17 of the U.S. Code. ⁿ¹³⁴ Its purpose is to ban the use of computers and other electronic devices to infringe against copyrights on traditional works. Section 1201 prohibits circumvention of technological measures ⁿ¹³⁵ used to protect copyrighted works. ⁿ¹³⁶ No person may manufacture, import, offer to the public, provide, or otherwise traffic ⁿ¹³⁷ in a  [*279]  technology, ⁿ¹³⁸ product, service, or device ⁿ¹³⁹ that is used to circumvent ⁿ¹⁴⁰ such technological measures, if one of the following conditions is met: (i) the technology, product, service or device is primarily designed or produced to circumvent; (ii) it has only limited commercial use other than that prohibited by the statute; or (iii) it is marketed for use in circumventing. ⁿ¹⁴¹ A number of exceptions are available for research and other purposes. ⁿ¹⁴²