[Infowarrior] - DRM on 9/11 Commission Report

[Richard Forno]

http://www.techliberation.com/archives/041976.php

This is nothing new, but it's something that grinds my gears to no end, and
that's how the DMCA makes it illegal for me to use works that are completely
in the public domain. Researching my previous post, I had occasion to
download and read a PDF of the 9/11 Commission Report. This is a report
created by the federal government and therefore has no copyright; it is in
the public domain.

If I click to enter a password it tells me that I have permission to read
and print the document, but not to copy from it. Because there is no
copyright, the government has no right to prevent me from copying. I could
circumvent the DRM on the PDF, but then it's possible that I'd be violating
the DMCA (not the way I read it, but I'd have to take the risk). Even if I'm
not breaking the law by circumventing the DRM, how am I supposed to do that?
I have no hacking skills; I'm just a non-profit lawyer trying to read a
government document. Normally I'd buy some software utility that would let
me do this, but such a utility is something the DMCA definitely prohibits. I
better start writing my petition for a Copyright Office exemption next time
they grant them in two years.