[A2k] THE RIO 2006 DECLARATION ON DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

[Michelle Childs]

Below is a link to and the text of the recent declaration adopted at the
icommons meeting in Rio. It makes many of the points we made in the draft
Paris Accord in very acessible prose. My one concern is that made by the
recent UK MP's report that a right to circumvention may not be enough in
the future when locks are embedded into hardware and software and so there
also needs to be a right to remove the lock or have it removed.
Michelle

http://wiki.icommons.org/index.php/Declaration_on_DRM
Declaration on DRM
>From iCommons wiki
THE RIO 2006 DECLARATION ON DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

PREAMBLE
AS THE ATTENDEES OF THE 2006 iCOMMONS iSUMMIT, WE BELIEVE that the
implementation of technical control of content through digital rights
management systems (DRM) can hinder the development of arts and culture.

WE BELIEVE that creators and distributors have legitimate interests in
protecting their works, but that DRM is not an effective or necessary
means to achieve those interests.
WE BELIEVE that use of DRM is characteristic of a social order based
around control and access permission, instead of cooperation towards
common goals. Rules that were once arrived at through public deliberation
and enforced through legal regulation become results of private decisions
made by owners of DRM systems. The functioning of public institutions such
a libraries, archives, universities and research centers, may be harmed by
protection of content through DRM systems.

WE BELIEVE that creative reuse is one of the bases of culture, and that
creative reuse is a central freedom to take full advantage of new digital
technologies. DRM hurts amateur and not-for-profit artists that cannot pay
content licensing fees and until now have functioned in a space provided
by fair use provisions.

WE BELIEVE that DRM strengthens the position of intermediaries =96 media
companies and publishers =96 at the cost of the rights of authors, as it is
the former who introduce and control such measures. With the help of DRM,
producers can set up strict distribution standards and force artists to
adhere to them, even if these might be against their interest and restrict
artistic freedoms.

WE BELIEVE that competition is maximized when consumers receive the most
rights =96 meaning content that is not encumbered with DRM systems. DRM
means that the choice of media player is tied to the content itself, and
can be used to create monopolies in the media player markets by content
providers.

NOW THEREFORE, we, the undersigned,

(1) call for the creation of exceptions to anti-circumvention regimes that
permit circumvention where it is undertaken for a lawful purpose;

(2) call for the creation of exceptions to anti-circumvention regimes that
permit the circulation of circumvention devices that can be used to enable
a lawful use;
(3) call for the exploration of new approaches such as flat fee or
compulsory licensing of digital content;

Retrieved from "http://wiki.icommons.org/index.php/Declaration_on_DRM"


--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
http://www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA .Tel.:
+1.202.332.2670,Fax: +1.202.332.2673

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
1 Route des  Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727