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There's a EU directive that's getting put into law in ALL EU countries, which, unfortunately, includes mine <snif> This new german law is probably based on that directive. It's completely retarded, however there's no guarantee that it'll ever be really effective. Like the DMCA in the USA, this directive tramples over certain basic consumer rights like fair use, and I'm not 100% sure anyone will ever be prosecuted on the basis of this new law. However, in the USA the DMCA has never been put to the test in the court of law. That's because a) it's on shaky grounds concerning consumer rights and most importantly b) it contains several wide ranging and rather bizarre powers granted to copyright holders, like the ability to subpoena identities of copyright infringers without a court order or the ability to shutdown ANY website for any imagined reason for two weeks.
This law has been used wide and far to silence critics, shutdown x-box mod sites, and even to prohibit companies from making Lexmark compatible inkt cartridges. Despite all this legal thuggery, the DMCA has not been tested in a court of law yet. So I don't think this new dumb copy of one of the USA's worst laws of the past 100 years will truly get enacted. But we will probably get harassed more and more by Cease and Desist letters from the devil's own lawyers. Because after all it's not necessary for copyright holders to risk a real court case if they can use threats to shut ANYONE down on even the flimsiest excuse. And who will have the money and the energy to stand up in court and fight against these bozos ? I know I don't. However I can protest in another way. If this law truly begins to interfere with my godgiven right to make a backup, I will stop buying games at all. I don't care if anyone else does this, the important thing for me is that I have a line drawn WHICH WILL NOT BE CROSSED.
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