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Bono, Get Your Head out Of the Sand!

Explanation:

On June 29th of last year we started an open letter to Bono asking him to stand with us in calling for the elimination of DRM. Seven thousand people have signed that petition and written messages asking him to support the cause. We have been in contact with Bono and his "people" at various points in the year, but now we have been told that he will not respond, and that we should accept this as a rejection of our appeal. Interestingly, Bono has been far more active elsewhere, lobbying for the campaign to extend British copyright.

Send Bono a direct message that DRM is unethical, and it is time he got his head out of the sand on this issue.



Dear Bono,

About a year ago, folks like me started joining DefectiveByDesign.org and signing on to an Open Letter asking you to stand with us in opposition to Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). Now, at last, your management company has told us that you are rejecting the Open Letter, and that we should surmise your support for Digital Restrictions on society.

Do you understand that Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) is unethical? That attempts by big business to take control of our computers and electronic devices with the aim of controlling what we do with digital files is dangerous for society?

The problem for DRM proponents like you and your record label, Universal Music Group, is that DRM doesn't work as advertised - and you are helping perpetuate a lie. It's a lie that DRM stops counterfeiting - it doesn't. What it does do is trample my rights and creates a situation where, if I were to circumvent a DRM scheme to be in control of my computer, it would be a criminal act - thanks to legislation like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Legislation that Universal lobbied for.

So what does DRM do? First, it monitors what I do, Often, it reports on my activities to a central authority. It locks me to one vendor of software. It limits what I do with the stuff I own. DRM typically drives up the cost of the hardware, shortens battery life, and it usually degrades overall performance. I end up with a defective product on a defective device.

The Open Letter was written to you, because as someone who has reached out to powerful figures to effect positive change for society, we thought asking you, Bono - a musician and a copyright holder - someone with a vested interest in DRM and the status quo - that you would see the harm, and put aside your own short term financial interests and help lead artists to understand that DRM is bad for art and bad for society.

But, like the rest of Big Media you have stuck your head in the sand. I am writing to suggest you take it out.


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