The Anti-Circumvention Provision of The Digital Millennium Copyright Act

The DMCA\u27s ban on circumvention technology, however, has been the subject of some dispute. In the arms race between encryption and decryption technologies, the anti-circumvention provision seems to have recently won out. The anti-circumvention provision also appears to have altered the contours of copyright law and to have disturbed the balance between protecting the rights of authors and promoting the advancement and flow of information. This Article begins with a brief history of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and its anti-circumvention provision. It then describes the features of the anti-circumvention provision, its exceptions, and the remedies provided by the Act. Finally, it reviews three recent cases that raise important issues that, when ultimately resolved, may permanently affect copyright law