Zero Angel
Auror
A specific exemption was made for most ebooks in the LOC's 2010 DMCA regulations. Basically, publishers were putting DRM on ebooks that made them unusable for read-aloud or other special types of readers, and the LOC said if an ebook DRM prevented such special use, then cracking it for personal use was legal.
Since almost all ebook DRM in use today does so, it's *almost* a blanket permission.
My point on education was the idea of moving towards an idealistic utopia-society. And yes, I meant idealistic instead of idyllic, I realize that it's not realistic. Also, when I discuss education, I don't just mean acquiring more facts.
Anyway, I think most people that are doing DRM cracking are not doing it on stuff they've already bought, but rather stuff they are borrowing or stealing. I don't have any statistics on it, but the idea of DRM existing as a way for publishers to say, "Hey, we'd rather you not steal our stuff" seems a perfectly valid reason for existence and how I approach the idea as well.