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Digital Millennium Copyright Act
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<p>The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States <a href="/facts/Copyright/7GHEWEx9">copyright</a> <a href="/facts/Law/luzxWkg0">law</a> that implements two 1996 treaties of the <a href="/facts/World_Intellectual_Property_Organization/lenC10SK">World Intellectual Property Organization</a> (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to <a href="/facts/Copyright/7GHEWEx9">copyrighted</a> works (commonly known as <a href="/facts/Digital_rights_management/4AF8JmDt">digital rights management</a> or DRM). It also criminalizes the act of circumventing an <a href="/facts/Access_control/08zE5Pz8">access control</a>, whether or not there is actual <a href="/facts/Copyright_infringement/33JDsS5S">infringement of copyright</a> itself. In addition, the DMCA heightens the penalties for copyright infringement on the <a href="/facts/Internet/Xw1rVvJU">Internet</a>. Passed on October 12, 1998, by a unanimous vote in the <a href="/facts/United_States_Senate/VyzXHE01">United States Senate</a> and signed into law by President <a href="/facts/Bill_Clinton/x5mwYkVh">Bill Clinton</a> on October 28, 1998, the DMCA amended <a href="/facts/Title_17_of_the_United_States_Code/BgwCJl1r">Title 17 of the United States Code</a> to extend the reach of copyright, while limiting the <a href="/facts/Legal_liability/GKRNLqIY">liability</a> of the <a href="/facts/Online_service_provider/MSe2Ta87">providers of online services</a> for copyright infringement by their users. </p><p>The DMCA's principal innovation in the field of copyright is the exemption from direct and <a href="/facts/Indirect_liability/zVnzFmRY">indirect liability</a> of <a href="/facts/Internet_service_provider/dUacAxef">Internet service providers</a> and other intermediaries. This exemption was adopted by the <a href="/facts/European_Union/6GYcR8qM">European Union</a> in the <a href="/facts/Electronic_Commerce_Directive_2000/HGbYpLkM">Electronic Commerce Directive 2000</a>. The <a href="/facts/Information_Society_Directive/sYLdc2LU">Information Society Directive</a> 2001 implemented the 1996 <a href="/facts/WIPO_Copyright_Treaty/N3oNu64H">WIPO Copyright Treaty</a> in the EU. </p>