The Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA, bans consumers from jailbreaking their phones – or at least, that was the plan.  According to SiliconAngle contributing editor John Casaretto, the law is not only ineffective but also harmful to both consumers and innovation. He shared his take on the legislature during a Thursday NewsDesk segment with Kristin Feledy (full video below).

Casaretto uses the word “overreaching” to describe DMCA. “I would agree with the critics,” he says. “We need more freedom, not more restrictions.”  These restrictions bar consumers from taking full advantage of a product they paid for, and at the same time create a massive opportunity for abuse.

Civil fines for jailbreaking can go up to $2,500, while criminal ones can reach $500,000. Casaretto describes how struggling carrier may be tempted to scapegoat owners of jailbroken devices and make a few easy bucks off lawsuits to make up for a revenue decline.

He also stresses that DMCA is an attempt to change the definition of ownership.

“You pay your fee, you get your phone, and may get to use it but you can’t do anything to it. That’s what they want and it pretty much amounts to rent, definitely seems like an owner is not an owner in this case.”

DMCA is a problem, a fact even the Federal Communications Commission recognizes. FCC chairman Julius Genachowsk made it fairly clear that he objects to the law, but unfortunately he doesn’t possess the authority to repeal it.  In spite of this, Casaretto says that the FCC should everything it can to take DMCA out of the rulebook.

He concludes the session by reiterated that the concept of ownership should not be tempered with by dumping layers of legal jargon on top of it.  See Casaretto’s full analysis below:

photo credit: Marco Wessel via photopin cc