[Bradford] Fwd: Don't let the MPAA buy the Web

[John R. Hudson]

I think it is important not to overstate this move. Of course, the MPAA
has been trying for years to control people's lives and they need to be
resisted but most of the work on HTML is done by WHATWG and not by W3C.

So the MPAA would have to persuade WHATWG or persuade W3C to fork the
HTML standards. And, even if they were able to do that, they would have
to persuade the browser makers to include their code.

Given the shift to smartphones - Windows is expected to have only 15% of
the global market for PCs, tablets and smartphones this year - they
would have to persuade Google and Apple to insert the DRM code in their
browsers to have any chance of impacting the web.

In other words, a strategy to protect our freedom needs to focus not
just on W3C but also on WHATWG, Google and Apple.

John
--
On Mon, 2014-01-20 at 10:16 +0000, d.carpenter wrote:
> Forwarding this - I hope you don't mind, but I think people may be
> interested.
> 
> 
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: DefectiveByDesign.org <info at defectivebydesign.org>
> Date: 17 January 2014 23:47
> Subject: Don't let the MPAA buy the Web
> To: David Carpenter <d.carpenter at virgin.net>
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dear David, 
> 
> Last week, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) became a
> paying and governing member of World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) (no,
> seriously). If there were any doubts that W3C was in bed with Big
> Hollywood, now it couldn't be more obvious. Together, W3C, the MPAA,
> and a handful of the world's most powerful web companies are preparing
> to build Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) deep into our public
> Web standards. We must stop them.
> 
> Can you donate $25 to help us stop DRM from locking down the Web in
> 2014?
> 
> The Web has come this far by sticking to its principles of freedom.
> The result was the world's most powerful distribution system, which of
> course the media companies now want to be a part of. They can, and
> should be a part of it, but on the same terms as everyone else, not on
> terms which give them special abilities. They can be a part of the
> Web, but not at the cost of breaking it.
> 
> While DRM is advertised as a mechanism to prevent copyright
> infringement, it is actually designed to restrict all of the
> incredible possibilities enabled by digital technologies and place
> them under the control of a few, who can then micromanage and track
> every interaction with digital media. DRM requires that every user's
> computer have a back door through which media or Web companies can
> peer into in order to enforce the restrictions. In other words, DRM is
> designed to take away every possible use of digital media, regardless
> of legal rights, and sell some of these functionalities back as
> severely limited services.
> 
> Defective by Design has been leading the charge against DRM since
> 2006. We've worked to educate publishers, record labels, and
> journalists about DRM as a threat to innovation in media, the privacy
> of readers, and freedom for computer users. We've put together
> resources like our DRM-free living guide to help people avoid DRM. And
> we've taken our message to the streets (and the online retailers) with
> our International Day Against DRM--donning everything from hazmat
> suits to elf costumes to disrupt business as usual for DRM purveyors.
> When we got wind that W3C was considering weaving allowances for DRM
> into the HTML standard, we mobilized the public and delivered a
> petition with over 22,500 signatures to W3C's doorstep, along with an
> award to recognize their role in locking down the Web.
> 
> Defective by Design is ready to take on the W3C, the MPAA, and anyone
> else peddling the misguided idea that DRM does anybody but industry
> giants any good. These are some powerful opponents who are flush with
> cash they've made from the unethical practice of digitally restricting
> our media. But public opinion is on our side. What we need now is the
> funding to amplify our message to a wider audience than ever before.
> W3C chose the MPAA, Defective by Design chooses you.
> 
> Please consider making a $25 donation to Defective by Design today.
> Every dollar you give will help us make DRM in HTML5 a PR nightmare
> for anyone pushing it.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> The DRM Elimination Crew
> 
> You can read this post online at
> https://www.defectivebydesign.org/dont-let-the-mpaa-buy-the-web.
> 
> 
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