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ARTICLE · 13 JULY 2004

Using Stolen Password To Access Web Site Does Not Breach Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Holland & Knight LLP
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A recent case from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has ruled for the first time on a significant issue pertaining to the scope of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) - whether unauthorized use of a valid password to access a secure Web site violates the DMCA. In <I>I.M.S. Inquiry Management Systems Ltd. v. Berkshire Information Systems, Inc.</I>, the court decided that the DMCA does not prohibit such unauthorized access.

United StatesMedia, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment
Daniel Hampton Jr
Daniel Hampton Jr

Originally published July 6, 2004

A recent case from the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has ruled for the first time on a significant issue pertaining to the scope of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) - whether unauthorized use of a valid password to access a secure Web site violates the DMCA. In I.M.S. Inquiry Management Systems Ltd. v. Berkshire Information Systems, Inc., the court decided that the DMCA does not prohibit such unauthorized access.

The DMCA’s Anti-Circumvention Provision

The DMCA was passed in 1998 "to strengthen copyright protection in the digital age." Once a copy-protection technology is "hacked," copyright pirates can quickly and easily copy and distribute copyrighted content in digital form. One of the ways the DMCA seeks to accomplish its goal of strengthening copyright protection is by forbidding the circumvention of technological measures that protect copyrighted content. Thus, the DMCA generally prohibits

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