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GPL 3 to Take Hard Line on DRM

Posted by Zonk on from the it's-bad-mmmkay dept.

sebFlyte writes "ZDNet is reporting that Eben Moglen, the FSF's lead lawyer and the co-authour of GPL3, has explained that DRM is 'fundamentally incompatible' with the aims of the FSF and will be given short shrift in the latest version of the free software licence, which bans the use of 'digital restrictions' in GPL3 governed software. In his words: '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... 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.'" We discussed the new GPL on Monday.

3 of 574 comments (clear)

  1. Re:My problem with DRM... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sounds to me like you should look a distribution method called a "book".

    1) Harder to copy than a web-accessible PDF
    2) Conveniently sold in stores across the country.
    3) Open access by flipping pages.

  2. Re:Sony fiasco related? by oringo · · Score: 2, Funny

    even if they find their GPL'd code being used in a way that violates the agreement.

    I say let's DRM all the GPL'd source codes with digital signature and make all GPL'd programs send usage information to FSF so that they can catch the bad guys!

  3. In other news... by eosp · · Score: 2, Funny
    BEAVERTON, OR (AP) - A large group of angry Linux users surrounded the home of Linus Torvalds, demanding that password support be put back into Linux. However, according to Torvalds, this would violate the terms of the GNU General Public License, saying that such "digital restrictions" would prevent well-meaning users from accessing their computers.

    Meanwhile, a large number of sites, including the popular search engine Google, have been defaced by hackers claiming to come from a team called Micros^H^H^H^H^Hammon.