Re: [Fsfe-uk] DRM, TPM, or what? was: TV show about copyright, the Internet and DRM

[Alex Hudson]

On Wed, 2006-05-10 at 12:40 +0100, Dave wrote:
> > The language is "You may not use technical measures to obstruct or
> > control the reading or further copying of the copies you make or
> > distribute" - my file permissions don't affect the reading or further
> > copying of other people's copies, and the GFDL doesn't entitle people to
> > access to my copies.
> 
> 'copies you make' sounds like it applies to the copy you have say in
> ~/private/docs/ and so chmod 600'ing that file obstructs or controls
> the reading or further copying of that copy by other users logging
> into that machine.

No, the licence doesn't extend to those users. If it did, you'd be
having to provide the source to all your GPL'd apps as well when those
users took copies of the binaries on your system. 

You have no obligation to those users at all, "not giving them a copy"
does not count as "obstruction". In order to infringe that section of
the licence, you have to first have an obligation to someone, and then
also fail to fulfil that obligation. 

I think it's probably a valid criticism that the FDL doesn't allow dual
DRM'd/transparent distribution, but I don't necessarily think that's a
freeness issue (I don't see any practical problem arising from that
situation, but could be convinced I guess). I don't buy the other
criticisms of the DRM clause; they don't seem to stand up to scrutiny.

> If it was 'make AND distribute', your reasoning makes sense, but 'or'
> seems pernicious...

Let's say it was "make and distribute". If you had manufacturer A, who
published GFDL'd books and supplied electronic copies to person B, that
person B could modify those copies to be DRM'd and redistribute those
modified copies. They only way you could stop that would be to argue
that person B is "making" copies rather than "modifying" them, but that
sounds shaky to me so long as person B isn't the one doing the copying.

"Make or distribute" keeps the flexibility of that section, and I think
the FDL does a great job of "copylefting" the anti-DRM provision, as it
were.

Cheers,

Alex.