The US Copyright Office has launched a public comment process on a controversial clause of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) which bars users from circumventing copy-protection technology in digital works such as music, movies and software.

According to the US Copyright Office, the aim of the consultation is not to amend the DCMA, but to “examine adverse effects in the current marketplace” to determine whether certain exemptions to the circumvention prohibition should be introduced.

It is pointed out in the consultation paper that the scope of any exemptions will be very limited, and would cover only two activities: decrypting filtering programs to identify the lists of web sites which they block; and the circumvention of copy control on software or other literary works where this copy control is obsolete or interferes with function.

Public comments should be submitted by 18th December.

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