Anti-DRM efforts in Boston and Cambridge

[mako at debian.org (Benj. Mako Hill)]

<quote who="Robert La Ferla" date="Fri, Jun 09, 2006 at 12:16:13AM -0400">
> You can burn it to a CD and re-rip it. There's a small loss in  
> quality but that should be adequate for a parody/review.

I have every legal right to the full quality version. I understand the
desire of media companies to protect their work but why should my
rights, even if they are only the rights to the full quality version, be
"collateral damage" in their campaign?

That's really a minor point though.

The major point is that my computer should be a tool that I can use for
whatever purposes I want. On some level, I trust my parents, the police,
the owner of my apartment building, and the contractor who built it, and
the people who sell my my utilities. But I would not happy with giving
them the keys to my home. I am *definitely* not happy with giving people
the keys to my computer. The fact that I do not have the keys to the
DRM equipped devices I own is even scarier.

> I totally agree with the larger issue.  I just don't think Apple who
> has put out a reasonable DRM should be targeted.

No company holding the keys to my computer is reasonable. A benevolent
dictator may be easier to live under than a tyrant but neither can be
mistaken for freedom. Neither is sustainable. I can't live happily in
the world that Apple is paving the way for -- even if they are the best
of their bunch right now.

That's worth speaking out against. Apple is not being singled out here;
the first protest was against Microsoft. But they're not being spared
either. They've done more for DRM that almost anyone else.

Regards,
Mako

-- 
Benjamin Mako Hill
mako at debian.org
http://mako.cc/