Re: Summary: [Fsfe-uk] TV show about copyright, the Internet and DRM

[Chris Croughton]

On Fri, May 05, 2006 at 11:41:41AM +0100, Jason Clifford wrote:

> On Fri, 5 May 2006, MJ Ray wrote:
> 
> > Let's learn from the French. In the DADVSI (latest copyright law)
> > coverage, even in the tabloid newspapers, technological protection
> > measures (TPM, or MTP in French) seems to be used a lot. It even
> > sounds a bit like TVP, textured vegetable protein, which people
> > don't like finding on their meat pie labels.
> 
> Why continue to us the word "protection". By doing so you are granting the 
> central plank of their case to those who want more restrictive copyright 
> powers.

It's 'protection' in the same sense as the Mafia use it -- pay us or
we'll send da boyz round and do yer.  Or as in 'protectionism', we'll
slap heavy tariffs on anyone else because our own prices are so high we
don't want to compete.

> Surely the real description for DRM is "Restriction" Perhaps a better term 
> would be Technical Restriction Measures. This more properly describes the 
> fact that these measures seek to restrict the rights of consumers and 
> others to the goods they have bought.

I think most people are familiar enough with the negative meanings of
'protection'.  People like The Register have been trying to get the
message "The 'R; in DRMis for 'Restriction'" across without success
except to the already-converted, what is needed is a different letter.
And I like the association with TVP, something else which isn't what it
is claimed to be...

Chris C