[WSIS CS-Plenary] Re: [governance] [A2k] Re: [Wsis-pct] IP Justice Comment to IGF on Top Policy Issues forAthens

[Richard Stallman]

    I am wondering if the emphasis on the term DRM is the wrong one.   I  
    believe the objections are partly about technical protection measures  
    (TPMs), which make it impossible to access works.   The various  
    versions of the GPL are themselves types of DRMs, as are the creative  
    commons, Apache or Berkley licenses.

The term DRM is normally used to refer to systems that impose
restrictions on the user's use of works.  Stretching the term to refer
to conditions based solely on copyright law is closing your eyes to
the distinction we are talking about.  All that does is confuse the
discussion.

Use of DRM has major consequences because it can restrict you in
ways that copyright law alone does not do.
  

The class of licenses you mentioned is not a coherent one.  It groups
some free software licenses (the GNU GPL, the Apache license, the
various BSD licenses) with another set of licenses, the Creative
Commons licenses.  The two do not belong together.

Two of the Creative Commons licenses are free; the rest are not.  But
none of them is supposed to be used for software.

I point this out because I think that part of your message could also
spread confusion.  People might think that the Creative Commons
licenses are similar to the other licenses in your list.