Cracking the Cracks - An Economic and Legal Perspective to Circumvention and Anti-Circumvention

Circumvention of portable electronic devices has been rampant as technology advances. This paper aims at studying the impacts of circumvention has on the society from an economic and legal perspective. Circumvention of two popular consumer electronics, cellular phones and handheld game consoles, is investigated. Legal positions to the matter in different regions are compared. Non-legal means to anti-circumvent are also studied. Recommendations on how governments, producers and consumers can work together are given at the end.