itunes

Hi, I'm Sarah and I am working at the FSF this summer as part of a newly launched internship program. I will be posting new DRM news each Friday. If you'd like to know more about me read my letter of introduction. If you see stories we should mention here, please let me know.

Netflix, Why Do You Hate My Operating System?' Periodically, over the past couple of weeks my friend has been coming over to my apartment to watch movies with me. He has a membership to Netflix and I was delighted to learn that Netflix offers streaming of movies at no extra charge with many of its DVD rental plans. The convenience and wide selection of movies made me seriously consider signing up for my own Netflix account. I completely lost any such interest in signing up for an account when I found out Netflix doesn't support my GNU/Linux operating system and promotes proprietary software.

The DRM imposed on Netflix makes streaming unable to automatically work with GNU/Linux, unless I download proprietary software applications and even then, it's still not guaranteed to work. Basically, Netflix's DRM restrictions ask me to surrender my control over my laptop (by downloading these proprietary applications) in order to watch movies. Netflix should not even ask me to give up my freedoms in order to use their services.

More than six months ago Defective by Design asked users to “Send Netflix one of our holiday promise cards to say why you are boycotting their streaming service, and ask them to remove the DRM by June 2009... If Netflix fails to meet this ever-so-polite request, we'll be working on a mass cancellation of Netflix service in the new year.”

It is now the "new year", a whole seven months since Defective by Design and many Netflix users have politely asked Netflix to remove DRM from it streaming movies. Netflix has ignored its customers' requests to remove this DRM. It has refused to provide support to those who do not run Mac OS X or Windows. Their neglect of customers' requests show that Netflix clearly has no regard for their customers' rights. It's time to think about dropping subscriptions to Netflix.

Photo by Josh Bonnain, CC-BY

DRM News for this week:

Actually...DRM Isn't Dead By now you've probably seen the headlines “RIAA says DRM is Dead”. Wouldn't it be wonderful if one of DRM's biggest cheerleaders, the RIAA, retracted its support for this restrictive software? Unfortunately, it is too good to be true. Jonathan Lamy, representative of the RIAA, was misquoted by TorrentFreak saying "DRM is dead, isn't it?”, but what Lamy actually said was "There is virtually no DRM on music anymore, at least on download services, including iTunes." While is it true many music providers are now moving toward offering DRM free music downloads, certainly not all of them are. Not only that, but many other products besides music files continue to be restricted by DRM. In the end, whether or not Lamy actually said DRM is dead is irrelevant, we all know that the truth, regrettably, is otherwise.

Apple Withdraws Legal Threats from Bluwiki; EFF follows suit In November 2008 Apple legally threatened Bluwiki for a user created wiki page that discusses the possibility, which was unresolved, of how to use software other than Apple software on iPods and iPhones to sync media content. Bluwiki is a wiki that operates without censorship, pop-ups or banner ads. Apple sent a cease and desist e-mail to Bluwiki, claiming the pages violated the DMCA's anti-circumvention provisions and infringed on copyrights they held. Bluwiki responded by taking down the pages and sought legal help. "The EFF and the San Francisco law firm of Keker & Van Nest sued Apple on behalf of OdioWorks, which runs Bluwiki, asking a court to reject Apple's claims and allow Bluwiki to restore the discussions." This month Apple withdrew its legal threats and the EFF withdrew its charges against Apple in response. Apples withdrawal of these allegations are encouraging, but Apple has still left a threatening permeate impression: Not only has Apple infected their devices with DRM, but users can't even discuss alternative bits of software to use without the fear of being sued.

Tesco Digital Removes DRM from its Tracks Not only does Tesco Digital offer DRM-free music on in its 15 million tracks, it will allow users to convert tracks they've previously purchased from Tesco Digital from WMA to MP3. This conversion will be offered for free until the end of the month.

Update: Palm Pre Will Now Sync With iTunes Last week I wrote about Apple's "bug fix-update" for iTunes on the Palm Pre. This "bug-fix" would essentially no longer allow the user to sync to iTunes from their Palm Pre. This week Palm responded with their own update, and the Pre now syncs with iTunes again. The war between these two proprietary companies continues. Be careful, don't get caught in the crossfire.

The Swindle Strikes Again! Amazon's CEO, Jeff Bezos, Apologizes Amazon deleted purchased copies of George Orwell's 1984 and Animal Farm from customer's Kindles. Apparently, these electronic copies were not authorized properly by the publisher, so Amazon simply deleted the copies remotely. Amazon couldn't have chosen more symbolic books to remove could they? This is proof, once again, of the power DRM gives Amazon over your content. Amazon's CEO Jeff Bezos apologized for the remote deletion of the ebooks after criticism began to pour in about the Kindle's use of proprietary software and Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). While we appreciate and welcome his apology, Amazon's ebooks continue to remain encrusted with DRM. As Peter Brown put it, "Unfortunately this matter requires more than just changing internal policy. The real issue here is Amazon's use of DRM and proprietary software. They have unacceptable power over users, and actual respect necessitates more than an apology -- it requires abandoning DRM and releasing the Kindle's software as free software." While this apology is appreciated very much, Amazon still has unacceptable control over the user. If Amazon wishes to take that step to remove DRM from its ebooks, we would be more than happy to help with this transition.

Nokia and DRM, Apple shuts out the Palm Pre, Hollywood confiscates moviegoers' phones, great GPL Games

Hi, I'm Sarah and I am working at the FSF this summer as part of a newly launched internship program. I will be posting new DRM news each Friday. If you'd like to know more about me read my letter of introduction. If you see stories we should mention here, please let me know.

I thought I'd preface this week's DRM news with a quick illustration of the difference between "DRM" and "encryption." DRM is often used synonymously with encryption and is also frequently promoted with deceptive words like “protection.” This leads to DRM being synonymous in some people's minds with security. DRM certainly uses encryption, but the way DRM uses encryption is not exactly the same way it is generally used when people refer to “encryption.”

Encryption is usually some sort of algorithm shared between two parties that makes information unreadable to others. Once you know the “key” to this algorithm it then becomes readable. Encryption is what lets you have private communication between two parties over an open network. Without it, you wouldn't be able to enter a password or a credit card number on a website without it being visible to others.

Products with DRM use encryption, but in a way that prevents you, the user, from seeing that “key.” The most common use of DRM is to prevent media content like songs, videos and ebooks from being copied or shared. In this case, the goal is not to keep credit card information from others' prying eyes. Here, DRM is implemented by one party to stop you from using a product that you bought, in ways you otherwise would be able to. DRM encryption doesn't protect you. What it does is let the company that sold you the product limit the ways you can use your software by not giving you the key.

For example, the Amazon Swindle ebooks have a re-download limit for the amount of times you can re-download a book you paid for. On Microsoft's Web site it says, “Windows Media digital rights management (DRM) is a flexible platform that makes it possible to protect and securely deliver a la carte and subscription content for playback on a computer, portable device, or network device connected to an IP network.” How can if be flexible if I have to be connected to an IP network to play my subscription? Anno 1404, a video game, has a re-download limit and requires the user to be online while playing.

DRM isn't uncommon, nor is it uncommon for companies to falsely say that you, the user, is being “protected” or “secured” when encrusting a product with DRM. Many avoid explaining what they actually mean by the “protection” DRM provides. What they mean by protection is that they control the way you can use their product, in the process violating your freedoms. Encryption and DRM encryption are two separate concepts, and many companies like to merge the two together to muddle up the distinction between actual security and DRM restrictions.

For more on the problems with DRM, check out this article: Why DRM Will Never Work.

On to this week's news about DRM:

Nokia is Testing an Online Music Store in India, With DRM. Nokia is planning on launching an online music store in India which will be restricted by Microsoft DRM. A spokesperson is reported as saying, "The store will help promote legal music". If this spokesperson is referring to DRM as a way to prevent filesharing, she is grossly mistaken. It has been proven again and again to be ineffective at preventing filesharing. Stomping all over users' rights to promote legal music with a way that has been proven ineffective just doesn't make much sense.

DRM is Still not Enough for Hollywood! Hollywood has begun confiscating cell phones at movie previews to prevent filesharing. This is a pretty drastic measure considering it has not been proven that a pre-released movie has ever been leaked by a recording on a cell phone. In almost every case, leaks have been "inside jobs," leaked by someone involved in the creation of the film.

Apple Shuts Out Syncing iTunes to Palm Pre Beware: if you have a Palm Pre and install Apple's most recent “bug fix-update” for iTunes, you will no longer be allowed to sync your Pre with iTunes. This is just another instance of Apple locking out third-party devices forcing you to use their hardware if you want to use their software. Apple, yet again, tightens its grip over how you can experience your technology. This is what happens when you put yourself in the crossfire between two proprietary software companies.

Awesome DRM Free Games Licensed Under the GNU GPL Nexuiz, The Mana World, and Warzone 2100 are dedicated to using free software to develop computer games licensed under the GNU GPL, encouraging users to copy and improve them. Nexuiz is a first person deathmatch shooter game including different gamemodes like team deathmatch, capture the flag, and domination. The Mana World project develops massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) using 2D graphics. In Warzone 2100, your task is to rebuild civilization amongst the aftermath of a nuclear missile war. These games are free to download and copy, making them great alternatives to games restricted with DRM. Happy Gaming!