p2pnet - rss feed: 30 Days of DRM: 5 and 6
p2pnet.net News:- Michael Geists’s 30 Days of DRM highlights some of the exceptions and limitations that the government should include if a Canadian DMCA is introduced.
You can also contribute to the discussion through the 30 Days of DRM Wiki.
Below are items 6 and 5. Go here for 4 and 3, and here for 2 and 1.
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.
Michael Geist
[Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He can be reached by email at mgeist[at]uottawa.ca and is on-line at www.michaelgeist.ca.]
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