The Government Just Gave Everyone Permission to Unlock Smart TVs
The Government Just Gave Everyone Permission to Hack
Smart TVs
By Shane Ryan
| October 27, 2015 |
2:29pm
In a decision that looks jaw-droppingly progressive from
a technological standpoint, especially by government standards, the U.S.
Copyright Office and the Librarian of Congress granted an exemption from the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act that give Smart TV users the freedom to
“jailbreak” their devices. This will allow “interoperability” between different
TVs, and the installation of third-party software.
The decision, which can be read in full here, includes
language that addresses the main concern of the movement’s opponents, who
contended that it would promote the use of piracy programs like Popcorn Time:
The Register also found that the prohibition on
circumvention is adversely affecting legitimate noninfringing uses of smart TV
firmware, and that the proposed alternatives to circumvention, such as
connecting a laptop computer to the TV, are inadequate, because they would not
allow installation of software on the smart TV to improve its functioning as a
TV, such as facilitating more prominent subtitles. The Register also concluded
that no evidence was submitted to illustrate opponents’ claim that jailbreaking
of smart TVs will make it easier to gain unauthorized access to copyrighted
content, or that it would otherwise undermine smart TVs as a platform for the
consumption of expressive works.”
The fair use decision will also allow benefit
documentarians and teachers, as The Hollywood Reporter points out:
Grade school teachers are now being allowed to circumvent
access controls on DVDs to do things like create a clip montage of how
Shakespeare’s works have been adapted over the years. E-book authors will be
able to unlock Blu-ray discs so as to incorporate audiovisual works in their
film analysis. Documentary filmmakers are also given broad ability to hack
access controls so as to incorporate old works into new ones for purposes of
commentary.
The nightmare here is that hackers who don’t wear the
white hat will figure out how to watch and listen to us through our TVs, but
that was apparently not a legitimate concern for the Copyright Office. The
petition was brought by the Software Freedom Conservancy for the office’s
triennial review, and included an argument that contrary to unfounded fears,
hacking could actually make TVs safer for users.
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