Tuesday, August 26, 2008

One place with a key to unlocking confusion on digital locks: a Rusell McOrmond Blog post

(Digital) Locks are multipurpose tools, and can be used or abused

In an interview by Jesse Brown of CBC’s Search Engine, Jim Prentice suggested that “even for private personal use … one should not be breaking a digital lock”. This statement, along with many others made in the interview, suggest that Minister Prentice does not understand the controversy around the uses and abuses of digital locks. His suggestion that the recording industry has been moving away from digital locks also reminds us that he is unaware that most of the controversy is not around locks applied to content, but locks applied to devices (Even in the “DRM” debate, Content is not King).

Minister Prentice is not alone in not understanding the issues. In conversations with Canadian creators who are thus far proponents of anti-circumvention laws, they believe these locks are like the locks on their own houses — locks being used to keep intruders out.

Are you confused about digital lock talk too?
Then read the rest of this blog by Rusell McOrmond here.