Communications Litigation Today was a Warren News publication.

EFF's McSherry Slams Licensing Agreements for IoT

Restrictive copyright laws for electronics and software also apply to the Internet of Things, said Corynne McSherry, Electronic Frontier Foundation intellectual property director, in a blog post Tuesday. Licensing models for technology are bad for consumers and innovation, she said. McSherry recommended Congress repeal of Digital Millennium Copyright Act Section 1201, which prohibits the circumvention of technological protection measures, except in the case of nonprofit libraries, public archives and educational institutions. She also said end-user license agreements, which govern a consumer’s use of a product’s software, should be limited. IoT shouldn’t become the “‘Internet of Things I Think I Own But Can’t Control,’” McSherry said.