Legal deposit, first established in France in 1587, is a commonly used to preserve national heritage by mandating the collection of all published works. The National Library administered legal deposit in Canada from 1953 until 2004, when responsibility was assumed by the Library and Archives Canada. The LAC describes the […]
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30 Days of DRM – Day 06: Interoperability (Public Protection and Markets)
Even the industry has begun to acknowledge the problem. It was much discussed at an OECD conference in Rome earlier this year and Yahoo! has expressed its frustration with DRM. Of course, those rejecting the DRM-based approach are finding great success – witness the Canadian music industry, where the large independent labels have left CRIA and largely avoid DRM, as well as eMusic, which offers "clean" MP3s, and has grown into the world's second biggest music download service.
Regulators have also become involved as concern over consumer fairness and marketplace competition mounts. France toyed with legislation earlier this year that would have mandated that Apple reveal technological specifications to its competitors so that they could design compatible devices. As a result, songs bought on iTunes would theoretically play on any digital music device. Officials in several Scandanavian countries are now examining similar concerns.
It is important to understand that this interoperability problem is not solely a product of DRM. Rather, it is the result of combining DRM with anti-circumvention legislation.
30 Days of DRM – Day 05: DRM Labelling and Consumer Awareness (Public Protection)
For many consumers, these DRM products are simply not fit for purpose – they often won't play on your DVD player, on your iPod, or permit usage that most would expect is permissible. Moreover, consumers frequently can't obtain a refund for their purchases as many retailers won't accept returns on opened CDs and DVDs and digital download services do not offer refunds to disgruntled downloaders.
The federal government might argue that this is provincial problem, since consumer protection issues typically fall under provincial jurisdiction. The reality, however, is that the federal government can and should play its part to address the issue.
30 Days of DRM – Day 04: DRM Misuse Sanctions (Markets)
Last fall's Sony rootkit case, in which Sony placed hundreds of thousands of personal computers at risk for viruses and other security breaches by surreptitiously placing DRM on dozens of its music CDs, is a model illustration of the havoc that DRM misuse can generate. While the Sony case is not an abuse of dominant position case, there are good policy reasons to create disincentives to ensure that overzealous companies will not misuse DRM.
Several potential disincentives come to mind.
30 Days of DRM – Day 03: Oversight of DRM Misuse (Markets)
This argument is a bit technical, but important.