digital rights management-

[smiles 0]

Whose rights are being managed?

DRM is the euphemism currently being used by the content industry to refer to what was once called "copy protection." It was a dumb idea then, and it's no wiser now. At one time, floppy disks were unreliable enough that making a back up copy was a really good idea.

Much has been written about DRM-

DRM doesn't work- the fundamental idea behind DRM is you give everyone an identically locked box and hope to keep the key to yourself. Too many have the expertise to unlock the box, and a willingness to share.

DRM is morally wrong- given that purchasers basically own the contents of your "box", trying to lock them out seems a trifle high-handed.

DRM degrades useful technologies. Even in our 999-channel world, most of these shows are never broadcast in Canada. They are readily available on DVD, through sources such as amazon.co.uk. British DVDs are coded for "region 2" while Canada is "region 1". You can legally buy U.K. DVDs and are legally entitled to play them- but your DVD player won't let you. If you download the same video content from the internet, it will be stripped of coding. It is only if you buy the DVD legally that you'll be prevented from viewing it.

Jon Lech Johansen was hounded through Norwegian courts for 4 yrs., finally proving his own innocence after having created software to play his DVDs on his Linux based computer.

It is not yet illegal to bypass DRM in Canada, as it is under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act in the U.S. But neither is it illegal for manufacturers to use technological means to rob you of your traditional rights under copyright law. The pendulum could swing either way.

Don't miss the simultaneously hilarious and informative presentation by Cory Doctorow:

Microsoft Research DRM talk
Cory Doctorow (cory@eff.org), June 17, 2004
http://junk.haughey.com/doctorow-drm-ms.html

I also found a link to a good petition in Canada:
http://www.digital-copyright.ca/petition/

Copyright is supposed to be a careful balance between the rights of creators and the rights of the public.

Many are probably unaware that everything they write is automatically protected by copyright. They probably don't know how long copyright lasts for. They probably don't know what the limits are on the rights granted to the holder of a copyright. That has meant that whenever the Government has asked for opinions on changes to the Copyright Act, most of the advice they have received has come from people and organizations that hold valuable copyrights. They understandably would prefer to have these copyrights last longer, have broader scope and fewer exceptions.

SMiles