Blackmoor Vituperative

Recent weeks have brought major changes in the music industry as it relates to online digital music distribution. In March over six thousand people signed our open letter to Steve Jobs about DRM. Now Apple and EMI have now committed to distributing without Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), and there have been similar announcements from other online music stores and retailers. Last week brought news that Universal Music may be opening up some of their catalog to DRM free sales too.

One of the most outspoken opponents to ending DRM has been Edgar Bronfman, Jr., the CEO and Chairman of Warner Music Group. On Monday we launched a multi pronged campaign to ?Wake Up Warner? with DefectiveByDesign members calling Warner Music executives and an open letter to Edgar Bronfman, Jr. Take a moment to sign the letter and spread the word (http://www.defectivebydesign.org/actions/open_letter/warner_music). We will be closing the letter on Friday and sending it with your signature to send a wake up call to Bronfman from music fans and customers: DRM is dead and Warner should change its position.

Sign the letter today!
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/actions/open_letter/warner_music

In other news, the encryption for HD DVD DRM has been cracked and the key has been widely circulated in the last few days proving once again the futility of DRM schemes. DefectiveByDesign is planning actions in cities around the world and will be launching an open letter to the MPAA and studio executives urging them to abandon their support for for DRM later this month. Look for more on these actions next week!
In solidarity,

Gregory, Peter, Henri and the DRM Elimination Crew

(from DefectiveByDesign)

Apparently Digg.com has been dealing with the fallout of the HD DVD crack:

Congratulations to the Digg users who revolted against the censorship of a number today. Digg took down stories that featured the DRM encryption key for HD DVD encryption. Digg users then started reposting it until the entire front page of Digg was covered with the story and each one had thousands of Diggs.

After tens of thousands of diggs on multiple stories, Digg has decided to stop fighting it.

The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has been abusing its power with legal takedown notices to websites publishing this number. They are fighting a losing battle trying to hold on to the power they purchased for their clients pushing bad legislation like that included in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) that has made it illegal to circumvent a DRM scheme.

What happened today is an example of how preposterous DRM is. Every major DRM has been cracked, and once it is, it is useless, and the money invested in it is wasted. Companies are hell bent on locking up their paying customers with DRM, but today’s action shows it wont work. A new day has dawned.

(from DefectiveByDesign)

I don’t know that I’d paint the picture as rosy as that. Just because a few thousand consumers rebel against the Digital Rights Mafia doesn’t mean “a new day has dawned”. Hell, RIAA has sued at least that many of their paying customers (and have bullied tens of thousands more), and Sony knowingly and cheerfully infected hundreds of thousands of their customers’ computers with a rootkit. The Digital Rights Mafia clearly place a higher priority on control than they do on profit, much less customer good will. It’ll probably be another twenty years before they give up on their war against their customers, minimum.

Still, it’s nice to see people stand up and do the right thing. Speaking truth to power, and all that.

Oh, and by the way… Blu-Ray has been cracked, too (although not BD+… yet).