Libraries: Kick DRM out!

DefectiveByDesign.org will be taking action this Saturday at the Boston Public Library to demand that they remove DRM technology from their collection! We will be gathering outside the entrance at the main branch of the Boston Public Library (700 Boylston St., Boston MA 02116) from 1pm until 3pm on Saturday, February 9th, 2008.

If you can't join us, we encourage you to take action against any library in your area that has DRM technology infecting its collection. You can customize our flyer and pass it out to the local patrons and librarians in your area.

The Boston Public Library (BPL) has DRM on its ebooks, audio books, music, and videos. These DRM systems sit between you and the item and restrict how and for how long you can access the information. For example, they may shut off your access to an audio book after seven days or tell you that you can't move the book from your laptop computer to your desktop. This also means that library patrons will be forced to use certain proprietary operating systems to access library materials, because patrons have to use something that is compatible with the DRM chosen by the BPL.

We have asked them before to remove DRM, but they did not listen or respond to our requests. Now, with president Bernard A. Margolis being ousted, we are demanding that they also oust all DRM technology from the library, and establish a policy for the new president to abide by -- a policy that repsects user freedom.

The BPL is funded by Massachusetts tax dollars and it is mandated by law to serve as the library of last recourse for the Commonwealth. Margolis's choice for bringing technology that locks digital ebooks and audio books was one that goes against the public's interests. We believe that the Trust is not acting in good accord with their legal mandates, which are

1) to develop, maintain, and preserve comprehensive collections of a research and archival nature to supplement the library resources of the Commonwealth, and

2) to provide to all citizens of the Commonwealth access to the reference and research collections of the Boston Public Library.

The BPL is going down the wrong path if they wish to "preserve comprehensive collections" over time. DRM uses a proprietary and secretive format that can in no way guarantee them control over their collection, and this means that DRM materials can not be archived or preserved for future generations. In February of 2006, the Libraries and Archives Copyright Alliance in the United Kingdom cited "grave concerns about the potential use of DRMs by rightholders to override existing copyright exceptions," and concluded that it may be impossible to archive many collections in the future, becase "[i]t is probable that no key would still exist to unlock the DRMs."

The BPL Trust has acted irresponsibly toward their second mandate, to provide "all citizens of the Commonwealth access to the reference and research collections of the Boston Public Library." Although they provide you with access to DRM materials, the BPL does not hold the key to unlocking them on their own--it requires you to go through a third party to get the DRM unlocked. This is unnecessary, irresponsible, and reprehensible. The only keys that should prevent us from accessing the collection are the keys to the doors of the library, and those keys should ultimately be in the hands of the BPL Trust. With DRM, the BPL does not hold the keys to its collection, and they do not have the power or control to grant us access to it. Sharing this sentiment is the British Library, who, when speaking to the All Parliamentary Internet Group in 2006, warned that the adoption of DRM technology would "fundamentally threaten the longstanding and accepted concepts of fair dealing and library privilege and undermine, or even prevent, legitimate public good access."

The real motive behind DRM technology schemes is to increase profits for those who impose them, but their profit is a side issue when millions of people's freedom is at stake; desire for profit, though not wrong in itself, cannot justify denying the public control over its technology and its libraries. Defending freedom means thwarting DRM. Join us in demanding that the BPL Trust and libraries worldwide eliminate DRM from their collections.

We'll report back on the success of our action here in Boston -- Be sure to tell us about your local actions too!

Original here