Federico Heinz: Re: [A2k] Bookshare DRM and selling out

[Manon Ress]

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[ Picked text/plain from multipart/alternative ]
I am posting for Federico Heinz.  This is not an endorsement.

From: Federico Heinz <fheinz@vialibre.org.ar>
Date: May 5, 2009 9:51:56 AM EDT
To: <Jim@Benetech.org>
Cc: <a2k@lists.essential.org>
Subject: Re: [A2k] Bookshare DRM and selling out


On 04/05/2009, Jim@Benetech.org wrote:
> [...] If the answer is: you used the word DRM to describe your
> policies, and
> we hate the word, then OK.

The problem is not just that you used the word DRM to describe your
policies,
but that you used DRM mechanisms to enforce them.

> But that's very different from the question of freedoms, which I
> think is
> really important.

Still, by using DRM mechanisms, you are establishing yourself as the
entity
that controls which freedoms people should have, even above the rule
of law
(i.e. if the law says that you are allowed to do X, but the DRM
mechanism says
you are not, DRM wins, not the law).

It doesn't matter whether you exercise that power or not: you are
implicitly
saying it is OK for someone to reserve it for themselves, and if it is
OK for
you, it should be OK for everyone, including book publishers, the music
industry, etc.

	Fede