http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1040_22-6028284.html
New open-source license targets DRM, Hollywood
By Martin LaMonica, CNET News.com
Published on ZDNet News: January 18, 2006, 11:55 AM PT
Check back with CNET News.com later this week for a complete Q&A with
Eben Moglen.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--The new version of the most widely used open-source
license takes a "highly aggressive" stance against the digital rights
management software that's widely favored in the entertainment industry,
said Eben Moglen, general counsel for the Free Software Foundation.
At a two-day event here to launch the General Public License version 3,
which governs use of countless free and open-source programs, Moglen
said the license includes anti-DRM provisions that could put it in
conflict with movie studios and even digital video recorder maker TiVo.
On Monday, the Free Software Foundation published a draft of the GPL
version 3, which is expected to be completed in about a year. The draft
states that GPL software cannot use "digital restrictions" on copyright
material unless users can control them.
Moglen said that DRM technology, which places limits on how consumers
can play movies, music or other digital content, is "fundamentally
incompatible" with the principles of the Free Software Foundation.
Moglen and Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman are
co-authors of the GPL version 3.
"Mr. Stallman made perfectly clear that his point of view is: It's
enough. It's enough that the world has to pay attention to that (DRM)
problem the way the world needed to pay attention to the patent problem
10 years ago," Moglen said in an interview with CNET News.com.
"I recognize that that's a highly aggressive position, but it's not an
aggression which we thought up. It's a defense related to an aggression
which was launched against the people whose rights are our primary
concern," he added.
Moglen said DRM systems that take control out of people's hands or
violate their privacy do not respect free software users' rights and
therefore are in conflict with the forthcoming GPL provisions.
The planned anti-DRM changes to the GPL are significant because the
entertainment industry regularly uses Linux-powered computers in the
production process, notably for special effects and animation. In
general, movie studios support DRM technology to prevent piracy.
It's not clear whether the Linux operating system kernel will be
governed by version 3 of the GPL when the new license is released;
creator Linus Torvalds specifically didn't follow the Free Software
Foundation's recommendation to describe a software project as governed
by version 2 or "any later version." However, many other components of
the operating system, such as the GLIBC library of supporting software
and the GCC compiler, are expected to move to GPL 3.
Moglen and Stallman have voiced concern specifically with TiVo, which
uses Linux, because the company collects information on consumers'
actions. Moglen said TiVo complied with version 2 of the GPL "by the
skin of its teeth" and said the company will find more difficulty
complying with GPL version 3's anti-DRM provisions.
"Having a personal video recorder which reports every button you push to
headquarters when you use the remote control--and which won't run
software if you modify the box so it snoops on you a little less--is not
user-respecting conduct," he said.
"What TiVo needs to do--what everybody needs to do who makes electronic
devices--is to stop injuring users to help movie companies. We don't
want our software used in a way which batters the head of the user to
please somebody else. Our goal is the protection of users' rights, not
movies' rights," Moglen said.
He said Hollywood studios that use free software, namely Linux, to
create animated movies yet deny users' freedoms are "flat unfair."
Separately, Moglen sought to allay concerns that the GPL version 3
requires application hosting companies to provide the source code for
software delivered as a service over the Internet.
"It is clear that in this draft we have not changed those rules at all,"
he said.
CNET News.com's Stephen Shankland contributed to this report
© 2006 CNET News.com
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