Hey, there! Log in / Register

Saturday 1pm to 3pm at the Boston Public Library's main branch... DefectiveByDesign.org

Libraries: Kick DRM out!

http://DefectiveByDesign.org has announced an action against libraries
that support DRM on their collections.

Boston locals can join them this
Saturday from
1pm to 3pm at the
Boston Public Library's main branch,

and non-locals are encouraged to stage an action against
their own library if it's using DRM.

http://journal.wjsullivan.net/212943.html
http://defectivebydesign.org

see also
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_manage...
http://defectivebydesign.org/about

Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

If you're going to organize some sort of protest (especially against something generally considered benign, like kittens, or libraries), some might recommend providing the definition of that which thou doth protest.

up
Voting closed 0

Thou dost protest. He doth protest. Doth is third person. EOM.

up
Voting closed 0

A man of the doth?

up
Voting closed 0

"Digital rights management" - basically, it's the sort of software that tries to prevent you from sharing an electronic file or makes it self-destruct in 10 seconds or whatever.

Really, Zak, I can understand why you think everybody in the entire world would know what that means - I get caught up in the geekspeak, too - but don't you think you should tell us whether BPL is DRMing its electronic files? Otherwise, who cares?

up
Voting closed 0

Really, Adam, can you just IP ban him? He spams the front page with non-sense constantly.

You even had to delete a few on the 5th!

I've seen him copy and paste spamming comments on other blogs also, such as off on a tangent. It be one thing if it was informative, and made any sense, but he obviously has issues and just throws anything out there. Who uses a blog front page to ask a random question when it isn't their blog/ seriously!

up
Voting closed 0

The reason I haven't banned him is because of posts like this. Yes, it's sort of written in code, but it's actually about a legitimate event that somebody besides him might care about. What I probably should do is:

Force moderation on all news posts here so nothing really goes live unless I (or my team of phantom editors) checks a box first.

Figure out why the Ignore-a-user module I installed a couple weeks back didn't work.

up
Voting closed 0

> ...whether BPL is DRMing its electronic files?

Check with people like Telecommunications Manager Henry Bernasconi
http://bpl.org/general/management.htm
or Regional Program Administrator Mike Colford
http://www.bpl.org/brls/about.html#staff
http://blog.bpl.org/brls/

Or Reference Information Systems Specialist M Heroux
http://mblc.state.ma.us/mblc/staff/index.php

up
Voting closed 0

Defective By Design sums up their beef with library DRM on their homepage, right at the top. You might try typing "DRM" into the Google, too. If you really want to know, that is.

A useful post from the Zak. Wonders never cease.

up
Voting closed 0

The protest is to convince the BPL to remove DRM from its systems. Good idea for a protest, kudos to the Zak for posting about something actual people might care about, points still subtracted for not explaining more clearly that this IS a local issue.

up
Voting closed 0

You already supplied those links. Supplying them again won't make anybody click on them any harder.

up
Voting closed 0

Dost. Thank you.
I did click on the Defective By Design link, but they never say what DRM is short for. Google provides an answer, but I still think that it's a relatively obscure reference for those of us who don't work in the software industry.
My personal campaign against the excessive use of acronyms and for dangling prepositions continues on!

up
Voting closed 0

You wrote
> ...what DRM is short for

digital restrictions management is described at
http://defectivebydesign.org/about

up
Voting closed 0

Hey "the zak", can you learn how to link to stuff properly?

up
Voting closed 0

Hi, Don. Excuse the cross-posting, but I wanted to make sure that we join the conversation in all of the venues in which you post.

Listen, we all know that DRM is annoying at best. But at the BPL, we're able to offer content that would not be available to anyone in digital format otherwise because publishers feel comfortable with DRM. I hope that changes, but until then, I'm not sure what you're asking us to do.

Here's the official response. Rest assured that it was written by a real human being who knows what he's talking about, namely me:

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

One of the most popular new services provided by the Boston Public Library is OverDrive, a vendor-supplied lending system for electronic books, audio books, music, and videos. Digital Library Reserve, the vendor from whom we license this content has secured thousands of popular, high-quality titles from many major publishers under the condition that digital rights management (DRM) measures are taken to ensure that the material cannot be redistributed. Furthermore, the specific DRM schema used on OverDrive titles allow material to circulate for distinct periods of time, permitting the library to honor its licensing contract and to provide a service paralleling the loan of physical material. No personal patron information is shared with OverDrive or other third-parties in the download or DRM process. Please see the BPL privacy policy for more information. (http://www.bpl.org/general/policies/privacy.htm)

While we are well aware of the frustration DRM schema can cause end users, we feel that the high numbers of use (nearly 100,000 downloads since September, 2005) send a strong signal that our customers want access to the material OverDrive provides. For many years, the BPL has offered material in a variety of formats that require specific hardware and/or contain copy-protection technologies (DVDs, Macrovision-protected VHS tapes), but we’ve never been asked to discontinue circulation of this material because not every customer has the ability to use them.

Almost all of the titles available through OverDrive are also available in other formats. Customers who are unable to use DRM-protected content can certainly access the same content via CDs, DVDs, print books, and magnetic media. We also provide links to several other sources for digital eBooks, audio, and video that are in the public domain, and therefore do not require DRM.

Boston Public Library is committed to providing free access to community-owned resources and will continue to search for partners who can provide material to the most number of users possible.

Scot Colford
Applications Manager
Boston Public Library
[email protected]

up
Voting closed 0

Introducing DRM changes the line between what is your own, and
what belongs to the Englobulators.

up
Voting closed 0

> The issue is: the Library, by using "DRM", supports the general
> principle that we should be under surveillance and that our
> computers should be under the control of the Englobulators at all
> times. No, we should not be under constant surveillance and no,
> we should keep our computers our own. That means no DRM. None
> whatsoever.
>
> Don, you may quote this, with attribution, and a warning that I
> cannot, this month, enter the public conversation.
>
> oo--JS.

up
Voting closed 0