Dave Horvath
6 Jun 2006 9:24
A recent inquiry made by Members of Parliament (MPs) has brought up several cases against music and video producers who regularly use Digital Rights Management (DRM) to help thwart piracy of copyrighted materials.
The public inquiry's purpose was to view DRM technologies from leading media industry groups. With DRM becoming increasingly popular with digital media such as music, movies and operators of online stores, it became apparent by the MPs that some scrutiny be taken to ensure that British law isn't being superseded by DRM practices.
The MPs released a report encouraging producers that choose to distribute their wares with DRM protection should label the media accordingly so the consumer knows, prior to purchase, exactly what they are getting into. It also ensures that upon purchase, if DRM protection is circumvented, the consumer was made well aware of what infringements they may or may not have broken.
The report went on to urge the makers of DRM systems to be aware of consequences of using aggresive protection practices on their products. This report was in direct relation to practices used by media giant Sony BMG in which they employ a virus-like DRM method which hides the copy protection on a CD to avoid the information to be copied. Corporations like this needed to be made aware that using such practices in the UK run a risk of being prosecuted for criminal acts.
Members of the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group hope that this report will widen the government's view on digital media and how it relates to the consumers. One Executive Director in support of such movements, Suw Charman said, "DRM was less about protecting copyright and more about creating a system in which people rent rather than own the media they spend money on. We think people rightly feel that once they buy something, it stays bought."
Source:
BBC