Smart Contract (Photo: Shutterstock)

 

There's always a catch. Last week, The Library of Congress and the U.S. Copyright Office adopted exemptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act that would make it legal for consumers or their conscripted repair experts to hack the embedded software on personal devices for maintenance or repair purposes—you know, if they're up to the challenge.

Making it permissible to hack smartphones, smart appliances or a car isn't exactly the same thing as making it easier. As digital rights management technology that restricts the use of proprietary hardware­ becomes increasingly sophisticated, this latest development in copyright law may amount to little more than a distinction without a difference.

“The difficulty is trying to hack into the code,” Richard Raysman, a partner at Holland & Knight specializing in computer law, said. “Companies, technologically, can make it really difficult to actually get into the code. So even though consumers and repair shops now have this right and this new rule making coming out of the Copyright Office, it doesn't mean that they'll actually be able to get into the code.”

Manufacturers don't exactly have much incentive to make breaking into their own products any easier, either. Congress enacted the DMCA back in 1998, and with it prohibited the “circumvention of technological measures employed by or on behalf of copyright.” Cracking open the doors to outside repair and maintenance could potentially ease the stranglehold that companies have long held over those services.

“In the past, the manufacturer may have been able to shut (third parties) down. I don't think the manufacturers would have gone after consumers who were trying to fix their own phones. I think this really applies more to independent repair shops that might be repairing things,” Raysman said.

Users who don't live in the vicinity of a manufacturer now have the option of consulting a third party that is more conveniently located or priced, but they might still wind up running on a hamster wheel of ever-escalating code.

The regulations passed by the Copyright Office don't require companies to water down their encryption or provide the keys to the door. Raysman said another disincentive for consumers might be manufacturers who refuse to repair a device following an unsuccessfully first attempt by an outside vendor.

Companies deciding to challenge the new regulations directly in court also isn't entirely out of the question. Raysman said manufacturers could potentially try and argue that allowing consumers or repair professionals to hop the digital gates threatens trade secrets—but even that is riskier than just rolling up their sleeves and writing a burlier set of code.

“Probably the easier way for a manufacturer to try to circumvent the rights extended by this new regulation would just be to make it more difficult to get into the software,” Raysman said.