The Day Against DRM is celebrated this year on December 10 and the Free Software Foundation asks users to help send a message to the content providers that use them «letting them know that this type of digital restriction is unacceptable in each and every one of its forms«.
DRM is a highly controversial practice used for decades. A part of the industry and copyright managers assures that DRM (in Spanish Digital Rights Management) is an essential practice to control access to their products and protect copyright under the argument that without it there would be an unbridled copying of their content, which would reduce revenues and threaten the very business models that bring these products to market.
Rights organizations like FSF and the vast majority of consumers believe that DRM it’s a huge roadblock restricting what they can do with content that they have religiously paid for, from a simple copy of a DVD for own backup purposes. In addition, the attempt to circumvent these technologies is prosecuted by law and is a crime under US or European Union regulations.
Although the FSF points to the «freedom of computer users, artistic expression, freedom of speech and the media«, There are also practical reasons to be against these technologies, since there are few occasions in which DRM seriously impairs software performance in terms of performance and usability. We have seen it on numerous occasions especially with video games and with solutions like Denuvo.
Paradoxically, pirated copies that have been removed from restrictions performed better than official ones. In other words, by its very nature it only affects legitimate purchases. In addition, its uselessness has been evident and all the systems used have been overcome sooner or later. They have not served to stop piracy and they have only harmed the ‘legal’ user you pay for content. The world upside down…
Fifteenth Day Against DRM
Under the campaign Defective by Desing, the non-profit organization dedicated to the promotion of free software returns to the fray one more year since in 2006 it began this campaign that tries to draw attention to the harmful effects of DRM and invites its followers to protest against what it considers digital locks.
And it is that DRM has spread like a plague and today it is spreading in applications, books, games, movies or music, both those that are hosted locally and those that are streamed.
This year Disney +
The FSF says that the ongoing pandemic «it has only tightened the dominance that streaming services have as some of the most dominant forms of entertainment media and Disney + is among the worst«. «After years of aggressive sponsorship to extend the term of copyright, they have now set their sights on ‘protecting’ their various franchises in a different way: chaining them with digital constraints«.
«If Disney’s stated mission is to continue to ‘inspire hope and awaken the curiosity of all ages,’ using DRM to limit that curiosity is still the wrong move.«, They assure from the Foundation. This year, “we will use one of Disney’s proprietary media to spread its ‘service’ and the DRM included with it: its mobile app.
«If you are already a user of Google Play (Android) or Apple’s app stores, you can support the International Day Against DRM by expressing your objection to the subjugation of your users. Other streaming services like Netflix have the same issues, but by targeting a newer one with such massive investment and capital behind it, we can make sure they hear us out. Disney + is newer – that gives you time to change«. they say.
FSF also targets the mobile app for being non-free software. «If you are not already an Android or iOS user, we do not recommend starting an account just to participate in this action. You can also choose to email Disney executives by following our template«, They explain.
Certainly this type of restriction has been a scourge for a long time. You value if you want to participate in this International Day against DRM. FSF explains some ways to participate in the protest. This year focused on Disney + for being the last to arrive, but that uses the rest of streaming services and multiple providers of software, books, games or music.
