Post Tagged with: "30 days of drm"

30 Days of DRM – Day 27: Government Works (DRM Policy)

Government use of DRM represents a particularly difficult issue. Some argue that government should never use DRM systems (thereby eliminating the need for a circumvention right), maintaining that it runs counter other government priorities such as openness and accountability. Even governments themselves have acknowledged the problems associated with DRM. Last week, New Zealand issued guidelines on government use of DRM and trusted computing systems featuring a lengthy list of precautions and safeguards. They included requirements of minimal restrictions on content, assurances of future accessibility, full respect for privacy rights, retention of government control over a DRM-free version, and full access for all parties entitled to obtain the public information.

The Canadian government response to the DRM must address several issues.

September 14, 2006 — 1 comment — News

30 Days of DRM – Day 26: Investigation of Concealed Code (Circumvention Rights)

Consultations on anti-circumvention exceptions in the U.S. and Australia have raised at least two circumvention rights that involve the right to circumvent to access concealed information contained in software code. In the U.S., there is a specific exception for circumvention to access the list of websites contained on "block lists" […]

September 13, 2006 — 2 comments — News

30 Days of DRM – Day 25: Statutory Obligations (Circumvention Rights)

Section 32.1 of the Copyright Act features a list of several exceptions that ensure that the Copyright Act is compatible with other federal statutes that might require copying that would otherwise constitute infringement. While none of these exceptions are particularly crucial from a user perspective, the principle of consistently retaining […]

September 11, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — News

30 Days of DRM – Day 24: Time Shifting (Circumvention Rights)

Given that my column today focuses on the WIPO Broadcast Treaty, the issue of time shifting and DRM comes to mind. The concept of time shifting arose from the U.S. Supreme Court decision involving the legality of the Sony Betamax machine. Arguments before the court focused on the fact that taping television programs simply enabled users to shift the time when they watch the taped program. More than 20 years later, the VCR (and increasingly DVRs and PVRs) are commonplace and consumers give little thought to the legal consequences of copying television programs.

While such activity is protected in the U.S., there is nothing in the Copyright Act in Canada that would expressly permit time shifting.

September 11, 2006 — 1 comment — News

30 Days of DRM – Day 23: Education Institutions (Circumvention Rights)

Much like the Libraries, Archives, and Museums provisions discussed yesterday, Canadian educational institutions also benefit from some specific exceptions under the Copyright Act. These include:

Section 29.4(1), which permits copying a work to project in a classroom for education or training purposes
Section 29.4(2), which permits reproduction or telecommunications of works as required for examination purposes
Section 29.6, which permits educational institutions and their educators to make a copy of a news program to be shown to a class, while 29.7 covers any other program communicated to the public by telecommunication for a class presentation. These provisions are subject to several requirements including royalty payments and stringent record keeping.

All of these provisions face the prospect of being curtailed by DRM as the technology can be used to limit basic copying, reproduction, and copying of television broadcasts. Once anti-circumvention legislation is added to the mix, merely attempting to exercise those rights could constitute an infringement.

September 10, 2006 — Comments are Disabled — News