Motion Picture Association of America

The Motion Picture Association of America's logo

The Motion Picture Association of America exploits the DMCA to restrict the user's right to control movies that they've legally purchased. They want to put DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) on files and online -- for your "own good."

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The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) promotes digital restrictions management (DRM) in its quest to suppress fair use, stifle creativity, and prevent the flow of ideas and information in society.

Since the release of the VCR, the MPAA has lobbied for technologies that prevent your right to use, explore, share, and control movies you've purchased. What started with "uncopyable" VHS tapes moved to things like reigon controlled DVD players. Today, the MPAA has taken their fight against user rights to digital media, pushing for DRM on all digital works.

"Content owners use DRMs because it provides casual, honest users with guidelines for using and consuming content based on the usage rights that were acquired. Without the use of DRMs, honest consumers would have no guidelines and might eventually come to totally disregard copyright and therefore become a pirate, resulting in great harm to content creators." -Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the MPAA 2004-2010, in an interview with BBC.

The MPAA joined the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) in order to lobby for DRM and EME (encrypted media extensions) to become part of web standards, affecting every person who connects to the Internet.

In 2016, they continued to spread their influence by pressuring the FCC to stop an effort to allow users more choice and control over their media by giving them the option to find third-party cable boxes, rather than renting a set-top box from cable companies.

Want to read more about the MPAA? Check out the MPAA on Defective by Design.

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