[A2k] Canada mandates DRM-free library deposit

[Ian Brown]

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=1613&Itemid=135

Many readers will know that over the summer I launched a 30 Days of
DRM series that focused on the concerns associated with DRM and anti-
circumvention. Day Seven called for DRM-free library deposits.  Well,
one down and 29 to go - my weekly Law Bytes column (Ottawa Citizen
version, homepage version) highlights recent changes to Canada's
legal deposit regulations designed to accommodate the emergence of
online publications and to address the DRM issue.  Canada introduced
mandatory legal deposit in 1953, requiring publishers to provide
copies of all published books to the National Library of Canada. With
little fanfare, the rules for legal deposit have gradually been
adapted to the Internet and digital technologies.  In 2004, the
government granted the Library and Archives Canada, the successor the
National Library, the right to sample web pages in an effort to
preserve noteworthy Canadian websites.  The Internet sampling
provision has been used to gather copies of political party websites
as well as a handful of notable blogs.

As of January 1st of this year, the rules have changed yet again as
Canadian Heritage Minister Bev Oda introduced new regulations to
accommodate the emergence of online publications and to address the
concerns raised by digital technologies that potentially impede
access. The latest changes will require many online-only publishers
to begin submitting their publications to the LAC.  The rules
disappointingly stop short of requiring all publishers to submit
electronic versions of paper-based documents, however.  Such a
requirement should be considered in the future to facilitate the
creation of a national digital library.

The new rules also address mounting concern about the potential
impact of DRM to deny future generations access to the publications
in digital form.

DRM has been viewed as a threat by many within the library community,
who fear that they and their patrons may literally be locked out of
digital works as DRM systems are used to restrict otherwise
legitimate access or become obsolete. In response, Ottawa has
implicitly acknowledged that the DRM-related concerns necessitate
legal intervention.  The regulations now require publishers to
decrypt encrypted data contained in a publication and to remove or
disable systems designed to restrict or limit access to the
publication before submitting it to the LAC.  Moreover, publishers
are required to also provide the LAC with a copy of the software
necessary to access the publication, the technical information
necessary for access, and any "meta-data" associated with the
electronic publication.

These regulations mark the first time that the Canadian government
has stepped in to protect the public interest against the potential
negative consequences of DRM.  Given these new legal deposit program
provisions, thousands of libraries across Canada may soon demand
similar protections for their electronic publication collections,
which now account for as much as 25 percent of library budgets.