Ars Technica points out that Sony, the last DRM holdout, is now advising users how to circumvent its own DRM.
Post Tagged with: "drm"
Copyright Choices and Voices
Last week, I delivered an hour-long speech on copyright to the Canadian Federation of Students (the slides are here and posted below and a podcast is here). Since the audio on the podcast version of the talk is poor, I want to reiterate my central message. In the past, I have spoken frequently about the opportunity for Canada to make its own choices on copyright reform. After highlighting the remarkable array of new developments for content creation, content sharing, and knowledge sharing, I have emphasized the need for copyright laws that look ahead, rather than behind. In particular, I have pointed to the dangers associated with anti-circumvention legislation, to the need for more flexible fair dealing, to the desirability of eliminating crown copyright, and to the benefits of open access and open licensing. I typically conclude by stating that this can be Canada's choice and that we must choose wisely.
This speech had a different conclusion, however. Sometime over the next two or three weeks, Industry Minister Jim Prentice will rise in the House of Commons and introduce copyright reform legislation. We can no longer speak of choices because those choices have already been made. There is every indication (see the Globe's latest coverage) this legislation will be a complete sell-out to U.S. government and lobbyist demands. The industry may be abandoning DRM, the evidence may show a correlation between file sharing and music purchasing, Statistics Canada may say that music industry profits are doing fine, Canadian musicians, filmmakers, and artists may warn against this copyright approach, and the reality may be that Canadian copyright law is stronger in some areas than U.S. law, yet none of that seems to matter. In the current environment and with the current Ministers, politics trumps policy.
The new Canadian legislation will likely mirror the DMCA with strong anti-circumvention legislation – far beyond what is needed to comply with the WIPO Internet treaties – and address none of the issues that concern millions of Canadians. The Conservatives promise to eliminate the private copying levy will likely be abandoned. There will be no flexible fair dealing. No parody exception. No time shifting exception. No device shifting exception. No expanded backup provision. Nothing.
The government will seemingly choose locks over learning, property over privacy, enforcement over education, (law)suits over security, lobbyists over librarians, and U.S. policy over a "Canadian-made" solution. Once the bill is introduced, look for the government to put it on the fast track with limited opportunity for Canadians to appear before committees considering the bill. With a Canadian DMCA imminent, what matters now are voices. It will be up to those opposed to this law to make theirs heard.
Update: Many people have asked what they can do to make their voices heard on this issue. Last year, I posted 30 Things You Can Do about anti-circumvention legislation. Many of those recommendations still apply, starting with a letter (letter, not email – no stamp required) to your Member of Parliament, the Ministers of Industry and Canadian Heritage, and the Prime Minister.
UK Music Retailers Urge Labels to Drop DRM
The Financial Times reports that the UK's Entertainment Retailers Association is urging the major record labels to drop DRM, arguing that "it is stifling growth and working against consumer interests."
DRM-Free Music Outsells Protected Songs Four to One
Ars Technica reports on the data from 7 Digital, a UK digital music store.
Music Industry Needs Dose Of Innovation, Not Intervention
My weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, Ottawa Citizen version, The Tyee version, homepage version) focuses on the contrast between artists such as Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails that are adopting new distribution models, and the recording industry, which continues to lobby for anti-circumvention legislation. In the weeks leading up to today's Speech from the Throne, CRIA and others lobby groups have urged the government to prioritize intellectual property protection.
While the data suggests that peer-to-peer file sharing is at best only a minor reason for the decline (more significant is competition from DVD and video game sales and the emergence of big box retailers such as Wal-Mart who have pushed down retail prices and decimated sales of older titles), events over the past month have provided the clearest indication yet that musicians and music sellers are charting a new course that is leaving the major record labels behind.
In the mid-1990s, the industry focused on retaining its core business model by emphasizing two strategies. First, it relied on copy-control technologies, supported by additional legal measures, to curtail unauthorized copying. Second, it lobbied for the establishment of a private copying levy on blank media to compensate for the copying that technology could not control.
Ten years later, that strategy is now in tatters.
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