The District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer, denied a motion for summary judgment against Skylink Technologies, Inc., manufacturer of a universal remote control for garage door openers, for allegedly violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). The Chamberlain Group, Inc., a manufacturer of garage door openers and remote controls, sued its competitor Skylink for marketing a universal remote. Skylink's universal remote is capable of operating a line of Chamberlain openers that uses a special software algorithm to increase security. The Chamberlain system uses a rolling code, varying the signal used to trigger the opener with each subsequent use. Skylink's universal remote allegedly circumvents that rolling code system. Chamberlain argued that the rolling code system is a technological measure that controls access to the copyrighted computer program controlling the garage door opener (actually the same program that implements the rolling code security feature); thus Skylink is liable for trafficking in a circumvention device in violation of the DMCA.
The court rejected Chamberlain's argument. The court noted that DMCA liability is limited to circumvention that is not authorized by the copyright holder. The court found no evidence that Chamberlain's garage door openers were sold subject to the condition that only their remote controls be used, and stated that consumers' have a legitimate expectation that they will be able to access their garage even if their original remote is lost or malfunctioning. Thus, the court ruled that Chamberlain had failed to establish a necessary element of liability under the DMCA.
The court distinguished the fact pattern of the present case from recent DVD litigation, especially Universal City Studios, Inc. v. Reimerdes, 111 F. Supp. 2d 294 (S.D.N.Y. 2000). In that case, the court rejected an argument that the owner of a DVD disc has the right to decrypt it by means of circumvention software. Rather, the court said, the copyright holder authorizes decryption of the DVD disc only by means of certain software specified in a license. Id. at 317 n.137. In the present case, however, there was no evidence that Chamberlain limited authorized access to its garage door openers by their owners.
The court also found a genuine dispute over whether the computer program that controls Chamberlain's openers was protected by copyright. Finally, the court noted that Skylink itself might be entitled to summary judgment on the DMCA cause of action.