[WSIS CS-Plenary] Say NO to Digital Shackles : sign the open letter to Steve Jobs

Fri Mar 9 03:30:37 GMT 2007

For all those for do care for Freedom!

Say no to Digital Shackles, no to DRMs !

http://defectivebydesign.com/actions/open_letter/steve_jobs

Sign the open letter to Steve Jobs today!
23 days, 14 hours, 31 minutes, 57 seconds until we decide
-- Pledge or Prank?.

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An Open Letter to Steve Jobs
Introduction:

We surpassed our target of 1000 signatures in just 5 hours! Now lets see
how many we can get by April 1.
Sign this letter to Steve Jobs asking him to back his pledge on DRM by
April 1. We will send the letter, with your comments to Steve, on April
1, and include a big thank you because he has taken one of these
actions, or a jesters hat for him to wear if he hasn't. We will publish
the best/funniest comments through out the month!

Dear Steve Jobs,

We would like to thank you for your public statements about Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM), and your pledge to drop DRM from iTunes
if the four major record labels---EMI, Warner, Universal and Sony---let you.

As you know, the Free Software Foundation's campaign against DRM,
DefectiveByDesign.org, has specifically targeted Apple since it launched
in May 2006. As activists against DRM, we have supported these
high-profile protests outside Apple stores in the US and in the UK
because, as the largest purveyor of DRMed music, Apple carries a large
part of the responsibility for the situation in which consumers now find
themselves.

But Apple is under pressure not just from anti-DRM activists and from a
consumer boycott of DRM, but also from consumer rights regulators in
Europe who have declared iTunes's DRM (FairPlay) illegal. In Norway
regulators have given you until October 1, 2007 to open up iTunes or be
forced to close down under penalty of daily fines. Similar moves are
being made by consumer regulators across Europe.

To many observers your blog pledge looks like a way to reduce pressure
on Apple from these regulators, and head off calls from the industry to
license FairPLay to other distributors.

It has been three weeks now since you published your pledge to drop DRM,
and there have been many responses from commentators who have outlined
actions you could take to back up your words. The fact that you have not
taken any action leads us to ask the question: How genuine is your pledge?

We have identified three ways you could show your sincerity about DRM.
Taking action on any one of these fronts would be a powerful
demonstration that you mean business.

1) Drop DRM on iTunes for independent artists

Many independent artists and labels distribute their music through
iTunes and many wish to do so without DRM, but you won't let them. You
could show good faith immediately by dropping DRM for those artists and
labels.

This will make it clear which artists are actually locked to one of the
four big labels, allowing your customers to avoid those labels and the
burden of DRM. Independent artists, who respect the desire of the fan to
be free from DRM restrictions, will receive more support.

You can set the ethical example and be the first "major" to drop DRM, by
freeing independent artists. You have the direct power to do this.

2) Drop DRM on iTunes for Disney movies and video

In your blog post you say, "[The] alternative is to abolish DRMs
entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music
encoded in open licensable formats." That is a powerful image, and one
that we and the free software movement shares with you. But why is your
imagination limited to a world without DRM on music? You don't once
mention movies or video.

We understand that Apple is busy signing contracts with movie studios
and TV networks to allow Apple to sell video and movies to iPod users.
These videos are delivered with DRM. The arguments that you make in your
blog apply equally to movies as they do to music.

In 2006 you sold Pixar to Disney, and in the process became the largest
single shareholder in Disney and joined the board of directors. Disney
was the first to agree to distribute its movies through iTunes. Disney
is a major movie distributor but not a major music publisher.

You can set the example in the arena of video and movies. Disney can be
the first "major" to drop DRM. You have the direct power to do this.

3) Take a public stand against DRM and legislation mandating DRM by
funding a campaign to repeal the Digital Millenium Copyright Act's
(DMCA) prohibitions.

In your blog you say that we could "... abolish DRMs completely", and
that Apple would "embrace it in a heartbeat". These words are very close
to calling for DRM to be eliminated. We encourage you to make such a
statement explicitly.

This is an important action because of the legislative threats we face.
Senator Feinstein (D - Calif.), in this congressional session, has
reintroduced the Platform Equality and Remedies for Rights Holders in
Music Act (PERFORM Act). The Act would require webcasters who stream in
MP3 (or other non-DRM formats) to impose DRM. This would include the
radio stations currently available through iTunes, which currently rely
on MP3 streams.

The impact of DRM and the DMCA will have chilling effects on our freedom
of speech. In a world where our radio shows, TV shows, news, and
political coverage, come laden with DRM---because digital TV, digital
radio and webstreaming have been mandated to use DRM---we will have lost
the legal right to make commentary using source materials. Free speech
through parody and quotation will have disappeared.

As someone who has imposed a DRM scheme on millions of people and made
millions of dollars doing so, it is time for you to take a stand against
DRM as unethical and as a threat to our freedoms.

You can set the example by calling for the elimination of DRM and by
funding a campaign to repeal the DMCA's prohibition on devices that
overcome DRM. You have the direct power to do this.

While we welcome your pledge to drop DRM, action has yet to follow. Some
changes you discuss will require the cooperation of other people in the
media industry, but the three areas that we have outlined here do not.
You have the full power to allow independent artists to sell their music
on iTunes without DRM, to remove DRM from Disney videos and movies, and
to fund a campaign to repeal the DMCA's prohibition on devices that
overcome DRM. We, the undersigned, call upon you to take action now.

Yours Truly,

-------------------

Best

Francis

-- 

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Francis F. MUGUET Ph.D

MDPI Foundation Open Access Journals
Associate Publisher
http://www.mdpi.org   http://www.mdpi.net
muguet at mdpi.org       muguet at mdpi.net

ENSTA   Paris, France
KNIS lab.  Director
"Knowledge Networks & Information Society" (KNIS)
muguet at ensta.fr   http://www.ensta.fr/~muguet

World Summit On the Information Society (WSIS)
Civil Society Working Groups
Scientific Information :  http://www.wsis-si.org  chair
Patents & Copyrights   :  http://www.wsis-pct.org co-chair
Financing Mechanismns  :  http://www.wsis-finance.org web

UNMSP project : http://www.unmsp.org
WTIS initiative: http://www.wtis.org
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