Repeal the DMCA

October 3rd is Defective By Design's "Day Against DRM." For those of you that don't know what DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) is, here is a quick rundown of the technical and legal aspects of it:

• DRM is any technology that controls, through technical measures, what you can or cannot do with your media. Examples include:
  • The 'No Fast Forward' tag on DVDs
  • The encryption on songs bought from iTunes, preventing you from sharing or buring too often your music
  • The expiration date on songs from Napster, disabling your music after a certain time period
  • The 'Do Not Record' technology on TiVos
  • The encryption technology that prevents you from copying DVDs
• Copyright law does not cover any of these technologies. You have the right, under copyright law, to copy your DVDs and iTunes music for personal use.
• The DMCA is an act that states, in elaborate language, that it is illegal to circumvent any of these technological 'protection' measures. Which means, if you code it, it's law. A programmer could create a technology that would only allow you to view a DVD once, and, even though you have the right to copy it for later viewing under Copyright law, it is illegal to break the 'Do Not Copy' code under the DMCA.

This cannot stand. This will not stand. We cannot allow our culture to be endangered in this way. If you live in the OKC area, join me on October 3rd in stickering Circuit City and anywhere else supporting the technologies of the DMCA. Email: ohnodoctor a*t gmail*com