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Protesting Apple's DRM

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the while-babies-starve dept.

tedet writes "On the heels of the recent DRM news from Bruce Perens, the UK Parliament, and the Norwegian Omsbudman, Defective By Design is planning a flash protest this coming Saturday targeting Apple Stores throughout the United States. Defective by Design is targeting Apple because '[a]s the largest distributor of DRM infected technology, Apple has set a new low in the mistreatment of our freedoms.' We can expect more hazmat suits, and they created some art specific to this action. Hopefully these direct actions by Defective by Design will get the U.S. up-to-speed with its continental counterparts." (Of course, some people are happy with Apple's DRM as a compromise which helped legitimize online music sales.)

2 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. What about other Apple products? by moe.ron · · Score: 0, Troll

    Is this protest really all about ITunes or are they also concerned with the DRM protections in OSX that prevent you from installing OSX on non-Apple hardware. Or how about the protections in Apple hardware to prevent you from installing a non-Apple OS on it? I actually forget there's DRM in ITunes because it is so weak and easily ignored, but what they've done with Macs and OSX is neither weak nor easily ignored. If you have a license to OSX, why should Apple decide what you install on it? If you own a Mac, why should Apple decide what you install on it?

    1. Re:What about other Apple products? by moe.ron · · Score: 0, Troll

      Well, I think we should note that a copy of Windows which can be installed on a machine other than the one it was purchased with costs an extra $100. So Apple isn't entirely alone in this practice; by far the majority of operating system software purchased is tied to a specific computer. Many people don't realize that it's illegal to move that OEM copy of Windows to a different machine but it is.

      Right, but if I go to Staples and buy a retail copy of WinXP, I can take that and install it on a machine from any vendor. Apple ties you down to their hardware. While I can understand why they do this, they're a hardware vendor first and foremost, it is also the single example of DRM from Apple that really ticks me off. I was all set to buy OSX until I found out I would have to buy a Mac to run it on.

      I'm not aware of any protections on any Apple hardware which prevent the installation of a non-Apple OS. Early Intel Macs came with an EFI-based firmware which Windows doesn't support, but that was a technical restriction, not a DRM one.

      Thanks for clarifying. I knew Windows wouldn't run on the new Intel Macs, but was clear on why. I was under the impression this was something intentionally done on Apple's part.