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Digital Restrictions Management and Treacherous Computing
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Digital Restrictions Management and Treacherous Computing
by
John Sullivan
Contributions
Published on
Jan 30, 2006 01:26 PM
DRM is often written as "Digital Rights Management", but this is misleading, since it refers to systems that are designed to take away and limit your rights. So, we suggest you use the term "Digital Restrictions Management" instead. We also suggest "Treacherous Computing" as a replacement for the misleading "Trusted Computing".
DefectiveByDesign.org
is the FSF's campaign to eliminate DRM - head here for lots of information on DRM and ways to take action
Opposing Digital Rights Mismanagement
, an interview of Richard Stallman by BusinessWeek Online about DRM
Boycott Blu-Ray
Reaction to the DRM clause in GPLv3
, blog entry by David "novalis" Turner
Free software without the freedom?
, blog entry by John Sullivan about DRM
Statements regarding DRM
2015:
Library of Congress issues limited exemptions to DMCA anti-circumvention provisions but leaves users without full control over their own computing
2014:
FSF condemns partnership between Mozilla and Adobe to support Digital Restrictions Management
2013:
The W3C's soul is at stake
by Richard Stallman
2010:
The iPad is iBad for freedom
Past actions
2016 marked the
tenth anniversary of the International Day Against DRM.
In March 2016,
the FSF led a protest
at the World Wide Web Consortium office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, opposing a proposal to add Encrypted Media Extensions to Web standards.
Also in March 2016, the FSF
submitted a comment
(with over 1200 cosigners) to the U.S. Copyright Office regarding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention provisions.
In 2015,
activists from Bangladesh to Boston took action
for the International Day Against DRM.
In 2014,
the global community rallied
for the International Day Against DRM.
In 2013, a coalition of Internet freedom organizations
urged the W3C to reject Encrypted Media Extensions
in the HTML5 standard.
In May 2012, a coalition of like-minded organizations joined the FSF for the
International Day Against DRM.
In 2010,
Defective by Design delivered a four-foot tall "tablet" petition
against the iPad to Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
In 2009, a coalition led by the FSF's Defective by Design campaign
demanded that Amazon drop DRM from the Kindle.
In August 2007,
protesters in hazmat suits
gathered outside the BBC to protest the use of DRM in the media company's iPlayer.
Also in 2006, the FSF asked U2 bandleader
Bono to take a stand against DRM.
In 2006,
hazmat suits greeted Microsoft developers as they gathered for a conference.
In 2006, Richard stallman wrote
a letter to the Boston Public Library
condemning their use of DRM for public library audio books. You can help by sending your own letter to
the Director of Library Services
, and by contacting your own local library about its use of DRM in its eBook and digital media collections. Please let us know what you learn, and CC us on any letters
you send at

October 3rd, 2006 was the first
International Day Against DRM.
In 2006, 4565 people signed this pledge
to refuse music CDs that use DRM.
Other sites of interest
Trusted Computing: An Animated Short Story
by Benjamin Stephen and Lutz Vogel
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