MIT Libraries have cancelled access to an online database after the publisher demanded that users download a DRM plugin (hat tip – Open Access News).
MIT Drops Subscriptions Due to DRM Demands
2 Comments
Recent Posts
How Much Further Will Lawful Access Go?: Police Chief Tells Bill C-22 Hearing That Three Years of Metadata Retention Would Be “Ideal” 
Bill C-22’s Groundhog Day: Why the Government’s Dismissal of Signal, Apple and the U.S. Congress Concerns Runs Back the Disastrous Online News Act Playbook 
Slick Videos Won’t Save Lawful Access: Why The Government’s Bill C-22 Defence Avoids the Charter, Privacy and Security Concerns Raised By Critics 
The Law Bytes Podcast, Episode 268: Sara Grimes on the Moral Panic Behind Banning Kids from Social Media and AI Chatbots 
U.S. Congressional Leaders Warn Canadian Lawful Access Plans Harm U.S. National Security and Economic Interests
Good for them! First the University of Wisconsin tells the RIAA to go away, then the University of Nebraska tells them to pay up for wasting its time, now this. Sounds like companies are going to be figuring out the hard way that while the public may put up with their DRM crap for a time, intellectual foundations are too smart to fall for it, and they’re increasingly educating the public. I love it.
FIDO wireless drops US roaming on NAURDA
FIDO Cellphone outraged customers using wireless data, by unilaterally cutting off agreed coverage of the entire USA, recently. When is an agreement not an agreement? Ask Rogers and FIDO. Industry standard agreements maintain features as sold. Cell and data account features may be different at any given original agreement time. Loyal customers typically rely on FIDO (subsidiary of Rogers) to honor their industry commitment to deliver so called \’grandfathered\’ features or prices maintained, but no longer sold. February 13 FIDO did doodoo on users relying on their longstanding \’North American Unlimited Roaming and Data Agreement\’ NAURDA. This cut of over half the area, let alone the main feature (USA) of that account was advertised and sold for, still costs users the same price per month. FIDO even added new hiked charges to roaming, and Kilobyte rates! Interesting e-mails suggest some FIDO executive now can pick out the agreements they wish to chop, calling them, amazingly, not agreements they have to honor, or grandfather. Some reactions cited at http://www.HowardForums.com under \’Canadian Carrier Discussion\’, to \’GPRS roaming in the USA will no longer be part of Fido\’s packages\’
p.s. your website is both interesting and practical. Thank you.