Windows 10: DMCA rules updated to give security experts legal backing to research

Brink · Oct 30, 2016

It's taken years, but finally, cybersecurity professionals have been given license to reverse engineer technology.

The US government have updated and published a new list of exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a move perhaps long-overdue which will protect cybersecurity professionals from prosecution when reverse-engineering products for research purposes.

On Friday, the US Copyright Office and the Librarian of Congress published the updated rules on the federal register.

The DMCA regulations now include exceptions relating to security research and vehicle repair relevant to today's cybersecurity field. For the next two years, researchers can circumvent digital access controls, reverse engineer, access, copy and manipulate digital content which is protected by copyright without fear of prosecution -- within reason.

The exceptions to Section 1201 of the DMCA were born from two years of prompting by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and other public interest groups.

While the DMCA makes it illegal to circumvent controls that prevent access to copyrighted material, researchers are now able to find vulnerabilities and bugs by reverse engineering or circumventing controls in the spirit of what the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) calls "good faith" research.

If research is conducted in "good faith," the FTC defines such as:

"Accessing a computer program solely for purposes of good-faith testing, investigation and/or correction of a security flaw or vulnerability, where such activity is carried out in a controlled environment designed to avoid any harm to individuals or the public, and where the information derived from the activity is used primarily to promote the security or safety of the class of devices or machines on which the computer program operates, or those who use such devices or machines, and is not used or maintained in a manner that facilitates copyright infringement."

The list of exemptions include:

Computer programs operating on legal devices and software reverse engineered for cybersecurity research

Consumer devices, such as smartphones, tablets and voting machines for research purposes

Vehicle testing

Medical device exploration by patients to access data

Video games, libraries and video streaming for educational purposes

Click to expand...

Read more: US DMCA rules updated to give security experts legal backing to research | ZDNet

:)

JimWynne · Oct 30, 2016

Slipstreaming from the point of legality

No one here can give a definitive answer to legal questions of this nature. At a guess, I would think that the purpose for doing it would be relevant. If you're slip-streaming for your own convenience at home there shouldn't be a problem. On the
other hand, if you're using it in some kind of commercial setting there could be issues. It also shouldn't be a problem if you're creating images to be deployed in a business setting. In any event, there shouldn't be a problem with activation assuming that
legitimate product keys are used.
Click to expand...

But here is official MS forums or am I wrong? So the professionals of this site should know this, even they don't have to answer, but they have to know. Aren't the rules created by MS and do not the professionals know those rules?

This is a peer-to-peer community with little to no participation from direct Microsoft employees. If I want legal advice, I ask a lawyer. If I want computer advice, I ask a computer expert. Lawyer Computer tech.

zardoz---01 · Oct 30, 2016

Is it possible to roll back to old firmware?

You need an expert to roll back the firmware. It is complex to do but it is possible. You cannot do it by any legal means.... (ie, NSC and NSU will not do it for you)

Z.

Cliff S · Oct 31, 2016

*ThumbsHopefully other countries will follow suit.

Windows 10: DMCA rules updated to give security experts legal backing to research

DMCA rules updated to give security experts legal backing to research

DMCA rules updated to give security experts legal backing to research

DMCA rules updated to give security experts legal backing to research

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