- digital locks that limit your control over your tech are easy to break, but section 1201 of the [[digital millennium copyright act]] makes it a felony to remove them. - for example, the mechanism that prevents you from downloading apps not in the app store to an iphone, or the mechanism that prevents you from accessing content from certain locations. - these aren’t actual technical barriers; it’s [[artificial limitations create a user-hostile businesses|user-hostile]] limitation that: - allows companies to sue users and developers for removing locks and using the product in a way that wasn’t intended; - helps increase [[tech gets big through network effects and stays big because of high switching costs|switching costs]] by locking your data and products into someone else’s ecosystem. - not only are digital locks easy to implement, the dcma assures companies that the government will step in on your behalf if someone “misuses” their product. > “It does not matter if anyone’s copyright is violated. It does not matter if *any* right is violated. The mere act of providing a tool to remove the lock – no matter how benign and beneficial the purpose – triggers criminal and civil liability for your commercial rivals.” (pg. 68) - “[[historically buying something made it yours to use how you saw fit]],” but now [[everything is a subscription]] on the [[we’re living on the internet of shit|internet of shit]].