ZDNet UK


Skip to Main Content

ZDNet.co.uk - Winner of Best Business Website 2007
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Blogs
  4. Reviews
  5. Prices
  6. Resources
  7. Community
  8. My ZDNet

 

ZDNet UK RSS Feeds


IT Jobs

Compliance Toolkit

GPL 3 to take hard line on DRM

Martin LaMonica CNET News.com

Published: 19 Jan 2006 10:00 GMT

  • Email
  • Trackback
  • Clip Link
  • Print friendly
  • Post Comment

The new version of the most widely used open source licence takes a "highly aggressive" stance against the digital rights management software that's widely favoured in the entertainment industry, said Eben Moglen, general counsel for the Free Software Foundation (FSF).

At a two-day event in Cambridge, Massachusetts, to launch the GPL version three, 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 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 FSF. Moglen and Free Software Foundation founder Richard Stallman are co-authors of GPL 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 ZDNet UK sister site CNET News.com.

"I recognise that that's a highly aggressive position, but it's not an aggression which we thought up. It's a defence 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.

It's not clear whether the Linux operating system kernel will be governed by version three of the GPL when the new licence 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 three'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 open source 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.

  • Email
  • Trackback
  • Clip Link
  • Print friendly Print with Kyocera

Did you find this article useful?
148 out of 224 people found this useful


Company/Topic Alerts

Create a new alert from the list below:










Loading Video Player ....

Featured Talkback

There will be further activation issues to watch out for as Microsoft plans to offer a similar service to independent software vendors whereby they can "control" licensing through activation and other measures similar to the Software Protection Platform.

By: DefenceIT

Read full story:
Microsoft outage down to 'human error'

Sentry Posts Blog

GoDaddy suspends travel-getaways.com d...

I'm very pleased to say that GoDaddy has suspended the travel-getaways.com domain. I blogged in June that to my surprise I had found I was the site administrator for travel-getaways.com,... More

1 comment

Hello, I知 a PC. I知 a Handheld.

Hello, I知 a PC. I知 a Handheld. Author: Eric Everson, Founder MyMobiSafe.com I have said it before and I am sure I値l say it again, mobile devices are simply replacing computers.... More

Post a comment

Please educate your clients!

This extremely short post appeared following a meeting with a decision maker of a potential client. During the conversation I realized that this highly respected and well paid top manager... More

2 comments