If the DMCA had been in effect in 1980, there would be no plug-compatible PC industry. It would have been illegal to reverse-engineer the IBM BIOS and write compatible replacements. The whole PC industry wouldn't have happened.
Meanwhile, there's the i-Cybie [tigertoys.com], which does almost as much as the Aibo, but costs $200. From the makers of the Furby(tm).
Actually no, you're a complete fuck-nut and don't understand the DMCA at all.
The DMCA makes it illegal to reverse engineer something for the purposes of violating a copyright law. I.e breaking CSS.
Tampering with your bios is not a DMCA issue unless in the process of debugging your bios your reverse engineer something that protects an IBM copyright.
The DMCA is pretty clear that 1) applies to copy control mechinisms only and 2) Reverse engineering for the sake of interoperability is still legal
The IBM PC BIOS was not a copy control mechinism, and it was reverse engineered so that IBM PC software could interoperate with non-IBM hardware.
The reason that the PC industry was "Plug Compatible" actually has a lot to do with anti-trust restrictions that required IBM to freely licence microelectronic tech. Every clone maker (indirectly) paid a patent licence fee to IBM for things like the ISA Bus and CGA/EGA/VGA graphics.
The DMCA would have killed the PC industry. (Score:2)
Meanwhile, there's the i-Cybie [tigertoys.com], which does almost as much as the Aibo, but costs $200. From the makers of the Furby(tm).
Re:The DMCA would have killed the PC industry. (Score:0)
The DMCA makes it illegal to reverse engineer something for the purposes of violating a copyright law. I.e breaking CSS.
Tampering with your bios is not a DMCA issue unless in the process of debugging your bios your reverse engineer something that protects an IBM copyright.
Re:The DMCA would have killed the PC industry. (Score:2)
Re:The DMCA would have killed the PC industry. (Score:2)
The IBM PC BIOS was not a copy control mechinism, and it was reverse engineered so that IBM PC software could interoperate with non-IBM hardware.
The reason that the PC industry was "Plug Compatible" actually has a lot to do with anti-trust restrictions that required IBM to freely licence microelectronic tech. Every clone maker (indirectly) paid a patent licence fee to IBM for things like the ISA Bus and CGA/EGA/VGA graphics.
Re:The DMCA would have killed the PC industry. (Score:1)
Tell that to the LiVid guys.