News

Anti Copy Protection Group Courts Bono

Friday, June 30th, 2006 at 12:20 PM - by

The Free Software Foundation is hoping it can convince Bono to take a public stance against copy protection technologies used in the music industry. According to Forbes, the organization has launched an online petition that asks Bono to join their fight to get recording labels and music distributors to remove digital rights management (DRM) technologies from their products.

The Free Software Foundation has been campaigning against music copy protection with its Defective By Design program. DRM, it feels, unfairly limits consumer's rights to use the music, videos, and other works of art they purchase.

Ultimately, the organization hopes that high visibility pressure from U2's Bono will act as a catalyst to push the recording industry into removing the use restrictions that are currently in place.

Other programs the Free Software Foundation is involved with include the General Public License (GPL) licensing used with many software packages including Linux distributions, and the GNU project.

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A guest said: (hide)

Fri Jun 30, 2006 1:24 pm

We have a typo here...

"... the organization has launched an online petition that asks Bono to join their fight to get recording labels and music distributors to digital rights management (DRM) technologies in their products."

to do what? Remove?

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the wedge said:

member since 10 May 2006 with 15 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:00 pm

I'm gettin' sick and tired of hearing people B#$%@ & moan about having to pay for their music, software and other digital products. IT'S A PRIVALEDGE, NOT A RIGHT! Get off your fat, spoiled, lazy hindquarters, get a job and buy your own crap! Stop moochin' off of those who pay! How many promising products never made it off the ground because funding was hindered by scabs unwilling to pay, much less donate a few bills. Maybe if half the music listening population actually started paying for the music they're listening to, the cost of the music might be reduced. Who knows?! They should change their name to Freeloader Living-at-home-with-Mom Organization for Everything-Free. Don't you think Bono has more important issues to speak for than helping you get a free lunch?

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A guest said: (hide)

Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:15 pm

Still got a typo, now remove and to are backwards.

".. the organization has launched an online petition that asks Bono to join their fight to get recording labels and music distributors remove to digital rights management (DRM) technologies in their products."

change to

" ... music distributors to remove digital rights management (DRM) technologies from their products."

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Bosco said:

member since 03 Jun 2002 with 1001 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Fri Jun 30, 2006 6:37 pm

I can't believe the fools today.

Why can't I close my eyes and make them go away?

How long, how long will they steal my songs?

How long? How lo-o-o-o-ng?

Cause tonight.... We can sell our music tonight

Anti DRM blah blah all over the net,

The FSF thinks I'll be their pet,

But I won't heed their battle call,

Cuz Steve would take my special edition iPod

and throw it at the wall!

Friday Crappy Friday

Friday Crappy Friday

Friday Crappy Friday

(don't I have enough causes already)

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Bryan said:

member since 11 Jun 2001 with 7340 posts, TMO Staff, send him a message or view his profile

Fri Jun 30, 2006 7:15 pm

The typo is now properly fixed. Thanks for the multiple heads up.

To the wedge, I'd like to point out that one can be both anti-DRM and anti-piracy. Take me, for instance. I buy my music, but the vast majority of it is unprotected CDs.

Bryan

Editor

iPO

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Mikuro said:

member since 15 Jun 2002 with 457 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:53 pm

It seems odd that this is coming from the Free Software Foundation, since...well, this has nothing to do with free software. Or any kind of software. Or anything that is or should be free. I know, I'm picking nits. But maybe they ought to change their name if they're going to branch out into anti-DRM activism. Because the only alternative to DRM that's FREE is piracy, and that's certainly not the image they want to project!

I'd like to echo Brian's comment. I'm against DRM, but I have no issue with paying for music.

Like Steve Jobs has said many times in the past, people want to own music, they don't want to rent it. But with DRM, I don't feel like I own anything. Apple's always in complete control, and they are free to change the ways I'm allowed to use what I bought at any time. They've already done so a few times, changing the number of CDs you can burn and the number of computers you can authorize.

I appreciate the need for everyone to make money off their hard work. That's absolutely not what this is about.

Really, DRM is a non-issue for those interested in piracy, since downloading illegal, DRM-free music is as easy as ever. DRM affects honest customers far more than it affects music pirates.

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Bosco said:

member since 03 Jun 2002 with 1001 posts, unranked, send him a message or view his profile

Sat Jul 01, 2006 2:23 am

Mikuro wrote:
They've already done so a few times, changing the number of CDs you can burn and the number of computers you can authorize. ...

Really, DRM is a non-issue for those interested in piracy, since downloading illegal, DRM-free music is as easy as ever. DRM affects honest customers far more than it affects music pirates.

They've changed the number of CDs you can burn from a particular playlist without editing the playlist. They reduced that number. As for the number of computers, they raised it from 3 to 5. It is still possible to burn a CD and give it to a friend. It is still possible to borrow a friend's iPod and add some songs to it. iPods are capable of holding several keys at once.

So what does the DRM actually do if it does not prevent you from sharing music with friends? In aggregate, it increases sales. What are the particular mechanisms by which it does this? They probably vary from person to person. The presence of DRM may make it cheaper for many to buy than to spend time circumventing for any music acquisition (so they don't consider circumventing). It may be a timely reminder when someone does try to circumvent, and they buy because of the reminder. It may give creators confidence that their rights are being recognized by the channel, increasing the supply of inexpensive content. Who really knows the mix? But the result, in every context where reasonable DRM is applied, from software to music is that sales go up when you add DRM. If putting a picture of a large gerbil in the digital content had the same effect and was cheaper, they'd do that instead and the FSF would probably rail against embedded gerbil pictures.

It's really not about who it effects... honest customers or pirates. That's what laws and the criminal system are about. It's like those RFID tags on everything that costs more than $5 at the grocery store now. All of us non-shoplifters experience the embarrassment of setting off the alarm at least once a month, and occasionally, security checks our receipt. But it's pretty much no harm, no foul. And they stop enough shrinkage that the whole expensive system is necessary to the stores.

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A guest said: (hide)

Mon Jul 03, 2006 8:24 pm

DRM increases sales?

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20051128-5635.html

You presumed that FSF or people of that similar frame of mind that want DRM out of CDs or mp3s want their music for free. They want to listen to thier music free of restrictions. It does put things in a place where some can abuse that freedom though.

I don't mind buying my music because I want to support the musicians that make the music I love. Yes even the ones under major labels the make less than 15% of record sales. It's simple respect for me. As for the people that download thier collections from some p2p application, they do it because they can. It's a passive attitude that just assumes that it's ok to do it, and damn the RIAA or labels telling them they can't. It's not the right attitude to have and these people can be convinced to change it if there's good dialogue. Putting up restrictive DRM will only further their mistrust of the "establishment". Sony is learning the hard way.

I do share my music by burning self made compilations of favourite songs. Am I wrong to do this? My friends may not buy any cds and then again they may go out and buy the cd that had that song I burned on that comp disc I gave them.

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A guest said: (hide)

Wed Aug 02, 2006 5:26 pm

who gives a #@!$ about bono?

thats reason enough to steal songs

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