Supporters of anti-circumvention legislation often dismiss consumer concerns by arguing that "if you don't like DRM, don't buy the product." In other words, no one is forcing anyone to buy products with DRM. Leaving aside the fact that this may not be true – students may increasingly find that they are required to buy electronic texts for their courses that come in DRM-only packages – consumers often don't know that they are buying products with technological restrictions. 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.
Post Tagged with: "Copyright Canada"
61 Reforms to C-61, Day 38: TPMs – No DRM Regulatory Authority
One of the ongoing concerns with anti-circumvention provisions is the prospect that the legal rules create incentives to use – and possibly misuse – DRM. France, which many people hold up as an example of a country that prioritizes copyright and creator protection, has many of the same concerns about […]
Canwest Covers Bell PVR and C-61 Issue
Canwest covers the Bell "record forever" PVR issue and the effect of Bill C-61. Update: Additional coverage from Le Journal de Montreal.
61 Reforms to C-61, Day 37: TPMs – No Requirement to Unlock for Exceptions
Many countries have recognized the danger that combination of DRM and anti-circumvention legislation may effectively eliminate user rights or copyright exceptions in the digital environment. Creating exceptions is one way to address the issue, but another is to adopt an approach of "with rights comes responsibilities." In this case, if companies are going to obtain new legal rights for DRM, they must also shoulder the responsibility of unlocking their content when requested to do so by users for legal purposes. This is a common theme in copyright laws around the world which often identify courts, tribunals or mediators as the source to ensure that rightsholders do not use DRM to eliminate user rights. Three examples of many:
Bell’s Expandable PVR and C-61
Several people have written about a new Bell commercial that is running during the Olympics promoting its expandable PVR. The PVR includes an option that allows users to transfer recorded programs to an external hard drive for archiving purposes. The commercial notes the benefits of "unlimited" disk space since users […]
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