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+<!--#include virtual="/server/header.html" -->
+<!-- Parent-Version: 1.84 -->
+<title>Opposing Digital Rights Mismanagement
+- GNU Project - Free Software Foundation</title>
+<!--#include virtual="/philosophy/po/opposing-drm.translist" -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/banner.html" -->
+
+<h2>Opposing Digital Rights Mismanagement<br />
+<span style="font-size: .7em">(Or Digital Restrictions Management, as we now call it)</span></h2>
+
+<p>by <a href="http://www.stallman.org/"><strong>Richard Stallman</strong></a>
+</p>
+<p><em>First published by BusinessWeek Online.</em></p>
+
+<blockquote class="announcement"><p>
+<a href="http://defectivebydesign.org">Join our campaign against DRM</a>.
+</p></blockquote>
+
+<p>In 1989, in a very different world, I wrote the first version of the GNU
+General Public License, a license that gives computer users freedom. The
+GNU GPL, of all the free software licenses, is the one that most fully
+embodies the values and aims of the free software movement, by ensuring
+the four fundamental freedoms for every user. These are freedoms to 0)
+run the program as you wish; 1) study the source code and change it to
+do what you wish; 2) make and distribute copies, when you wish; 3) and
+distribute modified versions, when you wish.
+</p>
+<p>
+Any license that grants these freedoms is a free software license. The
+GNU GPL goes further: it protects these freedoms for all users of all
+versions of the program by forbidding middlemen from stripping them off.
+Most components of the GNU/Linux operating system, including the Linux
+component that was made free software in 1992, are licensed under GPL
+version 2, released in 1991. Now, with legal advice from Professor Eben
+Moglen, I am designing version 3 of the GNU GPL.
+</p>
+<p>
+GPLv3 must cope with threats to freedom that we did not imagine in
+1989. The coming generation of computers, and many products with
+increasingly powerful embedded computers, are being turned against us
+by their manufacturers before we buy them&mdash;they are designed to
+restrict what we can use them to do.
+</p>
+<p>
+First, there was the TiVo. People may think of it as an appliance to
+record TV programs, but it contains a real computer running a GNU/Linux
+system. As required by the GPL, you can get the source code for the
+system. You can change the code, recompile and install it. But once you
+install a changed version, the TiVo won't run at all, because of a
+special mechanism designed to sabotage you. Freedom No. 1, the freedom
+to change the software to do what you wish, has become a sham.
+</p>
+<p>
+Then came Treacherous Computing, promoted as &ldquo;Trusted
+Computing,&rdquo; meaning that companies can &ldquo;trust&rdquo; your
+computer to obey them instead of you. It enables network sites to tell
+which program you are running; if you change the program, or write
+your own, they will refuse to talk to you. Once again, freedom No. 1
+becomes a sham.
+</p>
+<p>
+Microsoft has a scheme, originally called Palladium, that enables an
+application program to &ldquo;seal&rdquo; data so that no other
+program can access it. If Disney distributes movies this way, you'll
+be unable to exercise your legal rights of fair use and de minimis
+use. If an application records your data this way, it will be the
+ultimate in vendor lock-in. This too destroys freedom No. 1 &mdash; if
+modified versions of a program cannot access the same data, you can't
+really change the program to do what you wish. Something like
+Palladium is planned for a coming version of Windows.
+</p>
+<p>
+AACS, the &ldquo;Advanced Access Content System,&rdquo; promoted by
+Disney, IBM, Microsoft, Intel, Sony, and others, aims to restrict use
+of HDTV recordings&mdash;and software&mdash;so they can't be used
+except as these companies permit. Sony was caught last year installing
+a &ldquo;rootkit&rdquo; into millions of people's computers, and not
+telling them how to remove it. Sony has learned its lesson: it will
+install the &ldquo;rootkit&rdquo; in your computer before you get it,
+and you won't be able to remove it. This plan explicitly requires
+devices to be &ldquo;robust&rdquo;&mdash;meaning you cannot change
+them. Its implementors will surely want to include GPL-covered
+software, trampling freedom No. 1. This scheme should get
+&ldquo;AACSed,&rdquo; and a boycott of HD DVD and Blu-ray has already
+been announced
+(<a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20140217075603/http://bluraysucks.com/">http://bluraysucks.com/ [archived]</a>).
+</p>
+<p>
+Allowing a few businesses to organize a scheme to deny our freedoms for
+their profit is a failure of government, but so far most of the world's
+governments, led by the U.S., have acted as paid accomplices rather than
+policemen for these schemes. The copyright industry has promulgated its
+peculiar ideas of right and wrong so vigorously that some readers may
+find it hard to entertain the idea that individual freedom can trump
+their profits.
+</p>
+
+<p>Facing these threats to our freedom, what should the free software
+community do? Some say we should give in and accept the distribution
+of our software in ways that don't allow modified versions to
+function, because this will make our software more popular. Some refer
+to free software as &ldquo;open source,&rdquo; that being the slogan
+of an amoral approach to the matter, which cites powerful and reliable
+software as the highest goals. If we allow companies to use our
+software to restrict us, this &ldquo;open source DRM&rdquo; could help
+them restrict us more powerfully and reliably. Those who wield the
+power could benefit by sharing and improving the source code of the
+software they use to do so. We too could read that source
+code&mdash;read it and weep, if we can't make a changed version
+run. For the goals of freedom and community&mdash;the goals of the
+free software movement&mdash;this concession would amount to failure.
+</p>
+<p>
+We developed the GNU operating system so that we could control our own
+computers, and cooperate freely in using them in freedom. To seek
+popularity for our software by ceding this freedom would defeat the
+purpose; at best, we might flatter our egos. Therefore we have designed
+version 3 of the GNU GPL to uphold the user's freedom to modify the
+source code and put modified versions to real use.
+</p>
+<p>
+The debate about the GPL v3 is part of a broader debate about DRM versus
+your rights. The motive for DRM 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.
+Defending freedom means thwarting DRM.
+</p>
+
+</div><!-- for id="content", starts in the include above -->
+<!--#include virtual="/server/footer.html" -->
+<div id="footer">
+<div class="unprintable">
+
+<p>Please send general FSF &amp; GNU inquiries to
+<a href="mailto:gnu@gnu.org">&lt;gnu@gnu.org&gt;</a>.
+There are also <a href="/contact/">other ways to contact</a>
+the FSF. Broken links and other corrections or suggestions can be sent
+to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org">&lt;webmasters@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
+
+<p><!-- TRANSLATORS: Ignore the original text in this paragraph,
+ replace it with the translation of these two:
+
+ We work hard and do our best to provide accurate, good quality
+ translations. However, we are not exempt from imperfection.
+ Please send your comments and general suggestions in this regard
+ to <a href="mailto:web-translators@gnu.org">
+ &lt;web-translators@gnu.org&gt;</a>.</p>
+
+ <p>For information on coordinating and submitting translations of
+ our web pages, see <a
+ href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+ README</a>. -->
+Please see the <a
+href="/server/standards/README.translations.html">Translations
+README</a> for information on coordinating and submitting translations
+of this article.</p>
+</div>
+
+<!-- Regarding copyright, in general, standalone pages (as opposed to
+ files generated as part of manuals) on the GNU web server should
+ be under CC BY-ND 4.0. Please do NOT change or remove this
+ without talking with the webmasters or licensing team first.
+ Please make sure the copyright date is consistent with the
+ document. For web pages, it is ok to list just the latest year the
+ document was modified, or published.
+
+ If you wish to list earlier years, that is ok too.
+ Either "2001, 2002, 2003" or "2001-2003" are ok for specifying
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+ year, i.e., a year in which the document was published (including
+ being publicly visible on the web or in a revision control system).
+
+ There is more detail about copyright years in the GNU Maintainers
+ Information document, www.gnu.org/prep/maintain. -->
+
+<p>Copyright &copy; 2006, 2017 Richard M. Stallman</p>
+
+<p>This page is licensed under a <a rel="license"
+href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">Creative
+Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.</p>
+
+<!--#include virtual="/server/bottom-notes.html" -->
+
+<p class="unprintable">Updated:
+<!-- timestamp start -->
+$Date: 2017/11/28 19:57:00 $
+<!-- timestamp end -->
+</p>
+</div>
+</div>
+</body>
+</html>