The USA established its version of these protections in 1998, with the passage of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Section 1201 of the DMCA makes it a felony, punishable by a five-year prison sentence and a $500,000 fine, to “traffick” in a tool that can bypass “an effective means of access control.” The law is so broadly written that merely publishing information that could help someone beat an “access control” is a crime. Now,
