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 […]
Post Tagged with: "30 days of drm"
30 Days of DRM – Day 06: Interoperability (Public Protection and Markets)
The interoperability problems associated with DRM have emerged over the past year as a focal point for debate with legislators and regulators in Europe beginning to intervene to address the issue. The interoperability concerns arise from the fact that DRM'd content is frequently linked to specific hardware, leaving consumers unable to transfer the content from device to device. For example, Apple iTunes uses a technology known as FairPlay to limit consumers ability to transfer songs that they have purchased to devices other than the iPod (as well as limit the number of copies and uses of the download), while services such as Napster and Puretracks use a Microsoft-supported DRM system that will not play on an iPod. The end result is lock-in (literally) as consumers find themselves tied to a specific hardware device with the cost of switching now including the loss of their investment in new content.
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)
If government is to incentivize the use of DRM by enacting anti-circumvention legislation, it must also address the significant consumer protection issues that are likely to follow. Most consumers know little if anything about DRMs and the limitations that may be placed on consumer entertainment products such as CDs, DVDs, video games, or digital download services. While there may some limited disclosures – DVDs indicate the region code, if your eyesight is good enough you might notice that some copy-controlled CDs warn on the back corner that they may not play on all computers, and digital download services all feature lengthy user agreements that few consumers will ever read – they are plainly insufficient and the government should not support the legal fiction that "informed" consumers are knowingly purchasing products that contain a host of limitations.
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)
Yesterday's posting focused on the role that the Competition Bureau should play in addressing DRM misuse. While that role is an important one, it is by no means sufficient to address the misuse problem. The Bureau will undoubtedly be hampered by inadequate resources, institutional bias against taking "risky" cases, and statutory limitations that constrict its role to abuse of dominance cases. Therefore, in addition to Bureau oversight, the law should contain provisions that establish strong disincentives to overreaching or abusive use of DRMs.
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)
Today's installment focuses on the need for an amendment to the Competition Act should Canada introduce anti-circumvention legislation. The Act should be amended to ensure that the Competition Bureau is not restricted in its ability to bring actions against abusive behaviour stemming from the application of an anti-circumvention provision.
This argument is a bit technical, but important.
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