Anti-DRM efforts in Boston and Cambridge

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

<quote who="Robert La Ferla" date="Wed, Jun 07, 2006 at 06:03:31PM -0400">
> DRM is evil but it is a bit misguided to take aim at Apple's DRM.
> Apple is "reasonable" when it comes to fair use.  You can authorize
> up to FIVE players to listen to your iTunes music and you can even
> burn your music to a plain unprotected audio CD.

Maybe it is reasonable compared to others but it's not good. What if I
want to take a full-quality sample of a song I purchase from ITMS and
edit it and integrate it into a parody or a review? I have every
*legal* right to do this under fair use but can't here.

Much more importantly, Apple has reduced the number of copies you can
have on their DRM for songs bought from the ITMS. The terms of service
you signed allow them to do this. They could turn off your ability to
use it all and there is nothing you do could about it.

In the past, when you bought media and bought your computer, you had
the freedom to do what you wanted to do with both. That's what allows
us to install Linux despite deals that our hardware vendors make with
MS. If we violated the law (copyright or otherwise) we could be held
accountable. The technology itself did not try to only allow or us
from doing the things that the media or technology companies
wanted. Our computers were out computers. But those days are
gone. That's what this protest is about.

Quite literally, many people do not have the keys to their own
computers and to the media they purchase.

> I think time would be better spent focusing on HDCP (high definition
> content protection) and Microsoft's DRM in the upcoming Windows
> Vista release which are by far more draconian (to use M$ lingo.)

The FSF helped protest Microsoft at the WinHEC conference several
weeks ago.

Regards,
Mako

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

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