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The U.S. Copyright Office is requesting comments on Section 1201 of Title 17, which governs the circumvention of copyright protection systems.  The deadline for submitting comments is October 27.  There has been a previous round of comments associated with this study, and earlier comments are available here.

The Copyright Office’s federal register notice includes three specific areas of inquiry (though interested parties may address “any other pertinent issues” related to Section 1201).  

First, it seeks input on the possible of creating new permanent exemptions for assistive technologies for use by people with disabiities; device unlocking; computer programs; and obsolete technologies. One question related to this is whether the creation of new permanent exemptions for these reasons would “interact” with international obligations, including FTAs.

Second, it asks whether legislation would be warranted to address concerns that “existing permanent exemptions for security testing, encryption research, and reverse engineering do not adequately accommodate good-faith research into malfunctions, security flaws, and vulnerabilities in computer programs.”

Third, it asks two questions about anti-trafficing provisions: whether “section 1201 contains an implied right permitting a beneficiary of a statutory or administrative exemption to make a tool for his or her own use in engaging in the permitted circumvention;” and whether “in certain circumstances, third-party assistance may fall outside the scope of the anti-trafficking provisions and therefore may be permissible under current law.”

The Electronic Frontier Foundation is planning to submit a petition to the Copyright Office along with its comments.  The petition seeks “strong, practical, and permanent exemptions to Section 1201 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to protect repair, security research, and other important lawful activity from the threat of lawsuits and criminal prosecution.”  Click here to view or sign EFF’s petition.

For more information, and for instructions for filing comments, click here for the full Federal Register Notice requesting comments.