Defective by Design
From Includipedia, the inclusionist encyclopedia
Defective by Design is an anti-digital restrictions management (DRM) initiative by the Free Software Foundation. DRM technology restricts users’ ability to freely use their purchased movies, music, literature and software in ways they are accustomed to, with ordinary non-restricted media.
The philosophy of the initiative Defective by Design is that DRM (Digital Rights Management sometimes called Digital Restrictions Management) is designed to be deliberately defective, to restrict the use of the product. This, they claim, cripples the future of digital freedom. The group aims to target "Big Media, unhelpful manufacturers, and DRM distributors" and to bring public awareness of the issue and increase participation in the initiative. It represents one of the first efforts of the Free Software Foundation to find common cause with mainstream social activists, and to encourage free software advocates to become socially involved. As of late 2006, the campaign was claiming over 12,000 registered members.
Defective by design was originally a term used by beta testers who were upset about how a bug in a particular beta software would always resolve by the test managers as by design. As a result of this, beta testers would later protest the decision to call the apparent bug a "by design issue" (something which cannot be ironed out), and would argue that a particular product is defective by design.[citation needed]
Contents |
[edit] View on the impact of DRM
DRM is encoded into various multimedia (including audio, video, and console games) and is intended to prevent copyright infringement by limiting or prohibiting duplication of the multimedia. DRM can prevent users from duplicating a CD or a DVD, prevent someone watching a DVD from skipping a preview, or create problems with interoperability between competing products. Although tech-savvy users are often able to find a way around DRM, this can be difficult and may require use of the analog hole. For others DRM might not only prevent them from using their media in illegal ways, but legal ways as well.
[edit] History
Defective By Design is a joint effort by the Free Software Foundation and CivicActions, a company that develops online advocacy campaigns. The chief organizers are Gregory Heller of CivicActions, Peter T. Brown, executive director of the Free Software Foundation, and Henri Poole, a CivicActions member who is also a director of the Free Software Foundation.
The campaign was launched in May 2006 with an anti-DRM protest at WinHEC. The protest featured Free Software Foundation (FSF) members in yellow hazmat suits "handing out pamphlets explaining that Microsoft products are — in the words of the key slogan for the campaign — 'defective by design' because of the DRM technologies included in them."[1]
Since then, the campaign has launched a number of actions with varying degrees of success. The campaign claims that its phone-in campaign against the Recording Industry Association of America and related organizations around the world resulted in thousands of calls from people questioning the industry's position on DRM. On the other hand, efforts to meet with Bono of U2, a prominent supporter of Apple's DRM-regulated iTunes, has so far met with no success.
DefectiveByDesign.org proclaimed October 3, 2006 to be a "Day Against DRM", and organised several events outside key Apple stores in the US and the UK.[2] Again hazmat suits were worn by protesters and leaflets were handed out to the public explaining Apple's use of DRM in their iTunes music store and on their iPod media players.[3]
[edit] Tagging campaign
The Defective by Design site encourages users to use the tagging feature of Amazon.com to mark certain products with the 'defectivebydesign' tag.[4] Items targeted include DVD players, Windows Vista, the Zune, and iPod.
The tag has shown up on other sites that allow tagging. On Slashdot the tag is seen on stories dealing with DRM and Windows Vista.
[edit] References
- ^ Bruce Byfield (May 23, 2006). FSF launches anti-DRM campaign outside WinHEC 2006. NewsForge. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
- ^ PeterB (August 31, 2006). October 3rd Declared "Day Against DRM". defectivebydesign.org. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
- ^ Nate Anderson (October 3, 2006). Welcome to "Day Against DRM". Ars Technica, LLC. Retrieved on 2007-04-18.
- ^ Amazon Product Tagging Campaign. defectivebydesign.org. Retrieved on 2007-04-24.
[edit] External links
- Defective by Design homepage
- Can you trust your computer? — essay by Richard Stallman from the FSF
[edit] 'defectivebydesign' tag
| GNU Project |
|---|
it:Defective by Design ms:Defective by Design ja:Defective By Design
Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since August 2007 | Articles with invalid date parameter in template | GNU project | Free Software Foundation | Movement against intellectual property | Computer-related organizations | Advocacy groups | Non-governmental organizations | Activism | Copyright campaigns
