Section 1201 in Action

The restrictions against circumvention contained in section 1201 of the DMCA are made even worse by the fact that they have been used in ways not intended by the statute, in order to repress free speech and scientific research. For example, in 2000, a multi-industry group developed what it called the SDMI (Secure Digital Music Initiative) to protect digital music. In order to demonstrate the robustness of SDMI's technology, the group invited the public to discover flaws in the SDMI watermarking system. Edward Felten, a Princeton University computer science professor, did just that but when he and his team attempted to present their findings at a conference, they were threatened with a DMCA lawsuit. This threat was withdrawn only after the researchers filed a countersuit.

The DMCA has also been used to threaten competition and innovation. For example, Apple has used threats of DMCA lawsuits against RealNetworks, which developed a technology that would allow DRM restricted music to be downloaded on Apple’s iPod from RealNetworks' download store. DMCA threats have also been used to prevent the unlocking of cell phones that are tied to a particular carrier’s network.