To reply to myself, I need to first state that I am not a lawyer. I have, however, taken a number of courses on both law and procedures. Please keep that in mind.
I have also now spent more time on this than I'd expected.
One of the DMCA provisions, is that (as others have mentioned) that software to circumvent copyright is also prohibited.
I do not believe that EasyList meets the legal definition of software. It's not software, I don't believe. It is a list used by software. Basically, it is a configuration file. By itself, it performs no functions.
Its pretty much a 'dumb' plain text file. It is not executable, in and of itself. By itself, it does exactly nothing except take up space.
Computer software is defined in 48 CFR 2.101 and, unless my reading is incorrect (and it may be), this doesn't enable a program to be produced, created, or compiled.
I can find no rulings on this subject, however.
I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, and you should check with a qualified legal professional in your jurisdiction before acting.
That said, this does make for a potentially interesting case. It's probably a good thing to get some decision handed down. That and, well, it'll be pretty easily circumvented regardless of potential rulings.
By itself, any software performs no functions. Software is just instructions, and a config file is, too, just instructions. Sure, a difference is whether it's instructions for hardware or instructions for other software, but that doesn't sound material to me. Especially when hardware can be emulated by software.
However, circumvention tools (software or otherwise) require suing, not merely issuing a takedown notice, as another commenter pointed out.
I'm not sure it meets the definition of a circumvention tool, which appears to be a reference to 'computer software.' As in, the legal definition for such. The courts use a specific definition, found by the entry in the above reply. The few cases I found made use of the specific terminology.
I have also now spent more time on this than I'd expected.
One of the DMCA provisions, is that (as others have mentioned) that software to circumvent copyright is also prohibited.
I do not believe that EasyList meets the legal definition of software. It's not software, I don't believe. It is a list used by software. Basically, it is a configuration file. By itself, it performs no functions.
Its pretty much a 'dumb' plain text file. It is not executable, in and of itself. By itself, it does exactly nothing except take up space.
Computer software is defined in 48 CFR 2.101 and, unless my reading is incorrect (and it may be), this doesn't enable a program to be produced, created, or compiled.
I can find no rulings on this subject, however.
I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice, and you should check with a qualified legal professional in your jurisdiction before acting.
That said, this does make for a potentially interesting case. It's probably a good thing to get some decision handed down. That and, well, it'll be pretty easily circumvented regardless of potential rulings.