[PLUG-TALK] Help Defective by Design coalition fight to keep DRM out of Web standards (fwd)

[Rich Shepard]

---------- Forwarded message ----------

Yesterday Defective by Design, through the Free Software Foundation, joined
twenty-six other organizations in releasing a joint letter to the World Wide
Web Consortium (W3C), the Web's standards-setting body, condemning Encrypted
Media Extensions (EME). EME is a proposal to incorporate support for
[Digital Restrictions Management]
(http://www.defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm) (DRM) into HTML, the core
language of the Web.

Please join the FSF and our allies in stopping EME and keeping DRM out of
HTML by [signing] (http://www.defectivebydesign.org/no-drm-in-html5) the
petition that goes along with the sign-on letter! Our goal is to reach
50,000 signatures by May 3rd, the [International Day Against
DRM](http://www.dayagainstdrm.org), at which point we'll hand-deliver them
to the W3C.

The coalition opposing EME includes the FSF and its sister organizations FSF
Europe, Latin America, and India; the Electronic Frontier Foundation;
Creative Commons; Fight for the Future; Open Knowledge Foundation; Free
Culture Foundation; April; Open Technology Institute; and several chapters
of the Pirate Party. It's uplifting to see that so many influential
organizations are ready to stand with us against this threat to freedom on
the Web.

In the letter (full text [here]
(http://www.defectivebydesign.org/sign-on-against-drm-in-html)), we point
out that "DRM restricts the public's freedom, even beyond what overzealous
copyright law requires," and warn that for the W3C, "ratifying EME would be
an abdication of responsibility; it would harm interoperability, enshrine
nonfree software in W3C standards and perpetuate oppressive business models.
It would fly in the face of the principles that the W3C cites as key to its
mission and it would cause an array of serious problems for the billions of
people who use the Web."

EME is sponsored by a handful of powerful companies who are W3C members,
like Microsoft, Google, and Netflix. These companies have been promoting DRM
both for their own reasons and as part of their close relationships to major
media companies.

FSF executive director, John Sullivan, said, "Building DRM hooks into HTML
is another attempt by Hollywood and its friends to gain control over our
home and mobile computers in order to restrict the way we use media on the
Web. DRM turns these companies into gatekeepers capable of filtering and
controlling not just movies and music but also educational materials --
anything digital. The FSF and its partners won't allow these companies to
sneak this change into the Web's core language. We want the World Wide Web,
not the Hollyweb."

A group of organizations coming together makes a powerful statement,
but to be truly influential, we need to build public support. Nobody
*really* wants DRM in HTML if they don't have to have it. Here's what you
can do to help:

   * If you haven't already, [sign our petition]
     (http://www.defectivebydesign.org/no-drm-in-html5) against Encrypted
     Media Extensions.

   * [Share this post with your friends]
     (https://www.fsf.org/share?u=http://www.defectivebydesign.org/dbd-condemns-drm-in-html&t=Internet%20freedom%20organizations%20unite%20against%20DRM%20in%20Web%20standards).
     Use the hashtag #hollyweb if you mention it on a microblogging site.

Also, we recommend that you check back on [May 3rd]
(http://www.dayagainstdrm.org) -- we have a plan for the petition delivery
at the W3C, and it's going to be pretty interesting.

Zak Rogoff
Campaigns Manager

P.S. You can see the FSF's press release about the sign-on letter at
<https://www.fsf.org/news/coalition-against-drm-in-html>. The EFF also
has an excellent blog post about EME at
<https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/03/defend-open-web-keep-drm-out-w3c-standards>.
The full text of the EME proposal is at
<https://dvcs.w3.org/hg/html-media/raw-file/tip/encrypted-media/encrypted-media.html>.