

Ask HN: Could you copyright the data of an IP packet? - edwhitesell

In the &#x27;Winning at Candy Crush&#x27; thread, I suggested modification of network proxies to give a group of users unlimited lives (thread here: https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=6739711).<p>As a response, bmohlenhoff suggested it could be a copyright violation. While I disagree in that specific case, it made me wonder: Could an entity copyright the data field of an IP packet in an effort to thwart in-flight modifications?<p>I can&#x27;t think of a reason I like the legal ramifications of such a thing. I&#x27;m just curious if it&#x27;s possible (from a legal sense).
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wmf
This has been litigated in the form of garage door openers:
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chamberlain_Group,_Inc._v._...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chamberlain_Group,_Inc._v._Skylink_Technologies,_Inc).

In general, a network protocol is going to be viewed as functional not
expressive and thus not copyrightable.

