UK Report on "Digital Rights Management"

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Brian Randell <Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk>
Date: June 9, 2006 7:07:57 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: UK Report on "Digital Rights Management"

Hi Dave:

The UK's Houses of Parliament's All Party Parliamentary Internet  
Group  has just issued a report "Digital Rights Management", which  
can be found at:

http://www.apig.org.uk/current-activities/apig-inquiry-into-digital- 
rights-management/DRMreport.pdf

From its Summary of Recommendations:

> #65 We recommend that the Government consider granting a much wider- 
> ranging exemption  to  the  anti-circumvention  measures  in the   
> CDPA  for  genuine academic research.
>
> #86 We recommend that when the advice from the Legal Deposit  
> Advisory Panel has been received, the Department for Culture, Media  
> and Sport hold a formal public consultation, not only on the  
> technical details, but also on the general principles that have  
> been established.
>
> #92 We recommend that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport  
> review the level of funding for pilot projects that address access  
> to eBooks by those with visual disabilities; and that action is  
> taken if they are failing to achieve positive results.
>
> #105 We  recommend  that  the  Office  of  Fair  Trading  (OFT)  
> bring  forward appropriate  labelling  regulations  so  that  it  
> will  become  crystal  clear  to consumers what they will and will  
> not be able to do with digital content that they purchase.
>
> #113 We recommend that the OFT labelling regulations we proposed,  
> in #105 above, should ensure that the risks are clearly spelled  
> out, at the point of purchase, whenever  consumers  could  lose   
> access  to digital  content  if  systems  are discontinued, or  
> devices fail, or players are replaced by systems from a different  
> manufacturer.
>
> #118 We recommend that OFCOM publish guidance to make it clear that  
> companies distributing TPM systems in the UK would, if they have  
> features such as those in Sony-BMG's  MediaMax  and  XCP  systems,  
> run  a  significant  risk  of  being prosecuted for criminal actions.
>
> #132 We  recommend  that  the  Department  of  Trade  and  Industry  
> investigate the single-market issues that have been raised with us,  
> with a view to addressing the issue at the European level. We  
> accept the argument that other industries may soon find their  
> markets distorted by DRM systems and so we recommend rapid  
> development  of the  principles  by  which  the  single  market   
> can  continue  to operate effectively.
>
> #135 We recommend that the government do NOT legislate to make DRM  
> systems mandatory.
>
> #147 We recommend that the Department of Trade and Industry revisit  
> the results of their review into their moribund "IP Advisory  
> Committee" and reconstitute it as several  more  focused  forums.  
> One  of  these  should  be  a  "UK  Stakeholders Group" to be  
> chaired by the British Library. It should specifically address the  
> complex issues surrounding DRM, not just from the point of view of  
> experts on the  technology,  but  with  a  wide-ranging  membership  
> that  includes representatives of consumers, libraries and the  
> creators of content - as well as the 'usual suspects' from the  
> rights holders and content distribution industries.

Some other snippets:

> #65 We recommend that the Government consider granting a much wider- 
> ranging exemption  to  the  anti-circumvention  measures  in the   
> CDPA  for  genuine academic research.
>
> #86 We recommend that when the advice from the Legal Deposit  
> Advisory Panel has been received, the Department for Culture, Media  
> and Sport hold a formal public consultation, not only on the  
> technical details, but also on the general principles that have  
> been established.
>
> #92 We recommend that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport  
> review the level of funding for pilot projects that address access  
> to eBooks by those with visual disabilities; and that action is  
> taken if they are failing to achieve positive results.
>
> #105 We  recommend  that  the  Office  of  Fair  Trading  (OFT)  
> bring  forward appropriate  labelling  regulations  so  that  it  
> will  become  crystal  clear  to consumers what they will and will  
> not be able to do with digital content that they purchase.
>
> #113 We recommend that the OFT labelling regulations we proposed,  
> in #105 above, should ensure that the risks are clearly spelled  
> out, at the point of purchase, whenever  consumers  could  lose   
> access  to digital  content  if  systems  are discontinued, or  
> devices fail, or players are replaced by systems from a different  
> manufacturer.
>
> #118 We recommend that OFCOM publish guidance to make it clear that  
> companies distributing TPM systems in the UK would, if they have  
> features such as those in Sony-BMG's  MediaMax  and  XCP  systems,  
> run  a  significant  risk  of  being prosecuted for criminal actions.
>
> #132 We  recommend  that  the  Department  of  Trade  and  Industry  
> investigate the single-market issues that have been raised with us,  
> with a view to addressing the issue at the European level. We  
> accept the argument that other industries may soon find their  
> markets distorted by DRM systems and so we recommend rapid  
> development  of the  principles  by  which  the  single  market   
> can  continue  to operate effectively.
>
> #135 We recommend that the government do NOT legislate to make DRM  
> systems mandatory.
>
> #147 We recommend that the Department of Trade and Industry revisit  
> the results of their review into their moribund "IP Advisory  
> Committee" and reconstitute it as several  more  focused  forums.  
> One  of  these  should  be  a  "UK  Stakeholders Group" to be  
> chaired by the British Library. It should specifically address the  
> complex issues surrounding DRM, not just from the point of view of  
> experts on the  technology,  but  with  a  wide-ranging  membership  
> that  includes representatives of consumers, libraries and the  
> creators of content - as well as the 'usual suspects' from the  
> rights holders and content distribution industries.


--
School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon  
Tyne,
NE1 7RU, UK
EMAIL = Brian.Randell () ncl ac uk   PHONE = +44 191 222 7923
FAX = +44 191 222 8232  URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/~brian.randell/



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