Thread by @EFF

On Jul 1, Mexico's Congress passed a new copyright law that pasted in the worst aspects of US and EU copyrights. The law passed without debate or consultation, as part of Donald Trump's #USMCA trade deal.

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eff.org/deeplinks/2020…

Then, a month later, Mexico's Human Rights Commission stopped the law (temporarily), referring it to the Mexican Supreme Court on the grounds that it could violate the Mexican Constitution.

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eff.org/deeplinks/2020…

They're right to worry. The US's digital copyright system - the #DMCA - is 22 years old and over that time, it has been a disaster for human rights. We should know. We've been fighting it since it was just a bill, working its way through Congress.

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eff.org/issues/dmca

In consultation with our partner NGOs, and to help Mexican lawmakers, people and firms understand what's at stake, we've published a review of 22 years' worth of US DMCA human rights crises - the law that Mexico based their own new copyright on.

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eff.org/deeplinks/2020…

Start with #FreeExpression: the DMCA threatens device owners who bypass digital locks, even when they need to do so for legal uses: recording a program, remixing it for commentary or criticism, or capturing it for investigation or analysis.

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eff.org/deeplinks/2020…

Bans on breaking DRM interfere with free expression. Think of app stores: creators can't provide their copyrighted works to the audience unless the app store owners allow it. If they don't, you have to break DRM—and risk a lawsuit—to load it.

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Then there's self-determination. DRM is used to enforce all kinds of arbitrary limits on protected private activity - think of #CPCM, the digital locks on DVB television signals. This DRM defines what a family (!) is, and is not.

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eff.org/deeplinks/2020…

The wealthy execs from the global north who created CPCM made sure it would work at your summer home and on your boat - but if you're a migrant whose family drifts apart and reforms, your family doesn't count.

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Next: #Disability. Many tech companies have done excellent work in making their products accessible, but accessibility is a highly individual matter - every person needs different accommodations and no one can hope to anticipate all needs.

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eff.org/deeplinks/2020…

And while many laws protect the rights of people with disabilities, they are no match for the DMCA's ban on breaking DRM. Abbot Labs used DRM to block a project that helped people with diabetes connect their glucose meters to their insulin pumps.

diabettech.com/wearenotwaitin…

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US copyright law under the DMCA is so draconian that it blocks you from sharing a tool that prevents seizure-triggering strobe effects in streaming videos.

github.com/w3c/encrypted-…

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US copyright law also interferes with archives as well as other vital cultural institutions, such as galleries, museums and libraries - because storing, displaying and replaying works often requires bypassing DRM.

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eff.org/deeplinks/2020…

Our paper also explains ways in which US copyright law has interfered with national security, information security, repair, resilience, health care and education - a suite of national priorities that intersect with human rights.

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We are greatly heartened that the Mexican Supreme Court has taken up this urgent issue, and we stand with our partners at @R3Dmx and @DerechosDigitales in urging the court to suspend the law while they consider it.

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eff.org/deeplinks/2020…