Judge rules that EFF's DRM lawsuit can proceed!

In 2016, EFF suedthe US Government on behalf of Andrew "bunnie" Huangand Matthew Green, both of whom wanted to engage in normal technologicalactivities (auditing digital security, editing videos, etc)that put at risk from Section 1201 of the Digital MillenniumCopyright Act.

EFF's lawsuit argues that Green and Huang's activities areconstitutionally protected, and that DMCA 1201 -- which imposes ablanket ban on bypassing Digital Rights Management (DRM), without adequate safeguards for speech -- was unconstitutional.

The case has been sitting in limbo for over two years, waiting for thejudge to rule on whether our clients' claims could proceed, and, atlong last, the judgehas ruled and the case will go forward!

As my EFF colleague Kit Walsh writes,the ruling is a "mixed bag":

The ruling is a mixed bag. While the "as-applied" First Amendment claimswill go forward, the court did not agree that rulemaking by theLibrarian of Congress is subject to judicial review under theAdministrative Procedure Act, even when the Librarian is performing anexecutive branch function rather than a congressional one. The courtalso did not agree that the Librarian's rulemaking is subject to theFirst Amendment scrutiny that applies when a government official ismaking determinations about what speech to permit. Finally, the courtsaw no need to adjudicate the claims that Section 1201 is overly broad,because it concluded that determining the constitutionality of thestatute as applied to the plaintiffs will turn on the same issues aswith other potential targets of the law.

The bottom line is that the case is going forward and we will continuethe fight to help you understand and modify the devices in your life andremix the culture we all share.

First Amendment Case Against Restrictive Copyright Law Can Proceed, SaysJudge [Kit Walsh/EFF Deeplinks]