Interoperability under the DMCA

Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), passed by Congress in October of 1998, implements the provisions of the World Intellectual Property Organization Internet Treaties relating to technological protection measures. Specifically, section 1201 prohibits the development, distribution, and use of technologies that circumvent other technologies that protect an author’s copyright. Developers of interoperable software explained to Congress that this prohibition could prevent reverse engineering that was necessary for achieving interoperability. If a software vendor placed on a program a software “lock” that prevented reverse engineering of the program, the circumvention of that software lock would violate section 1201.