[FSFE PR][EN] [GNU/FSF Press] Press Release: anti-DRM campaign DefectiveByDesign

[Peter Brown]

CAMPAIGN CALLS UPON BONO to take a stand against the digital restrictions
found in new technology and music.

----June 30, 2006

The direct action campaign DefectiveByDesign.org, today called for all
technologists to sign the petition calling upon Bono the lead singer of U2,
to take a stand against Digital Restrictions Management (DRM)
<http://defectivebydesign.org/petition/bonopetition>. The campaign aims to
collect 10,000 signatures, at which point they will seek an audience with
Bono, and discuss with him the threats posed by DRM.

The group has focused on Bono because of his social activism and leadership
in the music industry. Bono and the band U2 have helped encourage the media
companies to distribute music online. U2's endorsement of the iPod has led
to a huge financial windfall for Apple's iTunes. The problem is, all Apple's
iTunes music is distributed with DRM handcuffs. The campaign is asking Bono
to take a lead in encourage the removal of these handcuffs.

"Apple once proclaimed - Rip, Mix, and Burn - but when the Majors offered
them an exclusive deal to distribute their music files, they quickly stepped
into line and imposed DRM on their customers." said DefectiveByDesign
campaign manager Gregory Heller "Apple are now embarrassed by their once
famous marketing slogan, as they try to make excuses for these digital
restrictions."

DefectiveByDesign describes DRM as a simply a scheme by the Big Media
corporations to control consumers and keep artists locked into unfair
contracts - reports say many artists receive as little as 7 cents, for each
99 cent iTunes track downloaded.  The petition asks Bono to come out in
support of technology free of restrictions, and in doing so expose the myth
that musicians demand locks on technology and culture.

This petition is the forth in a series of direct actions that
DefectiveByDesign.org have taken. They have already targeted Microsoft and
Apple's DRM schemes, and published the telephone numbers of the Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA) executives, encouraging hundreds of
consumer complaints against the trade organization.

----30----

About Defective By Design

DefectiveByDesign.org is a broad-based, anti-DRM campaign run by the Free
Software Foundation, that is targeting Big Media, unhelpful manufacturers
and DRM distributors. It aims to make all manufacturers wary about bringing
their DRM-enabled products to market. The campaign aims to identify
"defective" products for the consumer. Users are being asked to stand up in
defense of their existing freedoms and to take action by joining at
DefectiveByDesign.org

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting
computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer
programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom)
software - particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants
- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread
awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of
software. Their Web site, located at www.fsf.org, is an important source of
information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support their work can be made at
http://fsf.org/join They are headquartered in Boston, MA, USA.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mail.fsfeurope.org/pipermail/press-release/attachments/20060630/d4d11d64/attachment.html
-------------- next part --------------
_______________________________________________
FSF And GNU Press mailing list <info-press at gnu.org>
http://lists.gnu.org/mailman/listinfo/info-press