, SecurityFocus 2003-11-14
A federal judge in Illinois this week ruled that the maker of a universal garage door remote didn't violate the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA, in a closely watched case that offers hope to critics of the controversial copyright law.
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When I first heard about this case, I had trouble figuring out how the DMCA would apply.
Then after reading some arguments, I became scared. One argument stated that the copyrighted material in digital form was the programming of the opener. OK. Access to that material was being protected by the rolling code technology. Huh? I thought the rolling code technology was protecting physical access to the garage not necessarily the programming of the opener. That's what needed clarification in this case. Another opportunity of setting an interpretation precedent lost.
Another argument that is way off base is that the third party remote "broke" the rolling code technology. Sorry, it was already broken from day one. The rolling code technology was not changed by the production of a third party remote which used a different transmit pattern to open the door.
The remote could be considered to be in the same category as lock picking devices, but it must be programmed with the correct ID code. That is much more like having a car key made from the code stamped on the punch out.
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