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DRM

New DRM-Free Label Announced 90

Posted by samzenpus from the seal-of-approval dept.
jrepin writes "Awareness has been spreading among individuals, businesses and other organizations that DRM is a completely unnecessary restriction of freedom, and it drives people away. As that awareness spreads, going 'DRM-Free' becomes more and more valuable for patrons. To really build upon that image and to provide a resource for people to learn about why being DRM-Free matters, a logo was created for suppliers to proudly advertise that their files all come unencumbered by restrictive technologies. Some among early adopters are O'Reilly Media, ClearBits, Momentum Books, and ccMixter."
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New DRM-Free Label Announced More

New DRM-Free Label Announced

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  • Wow. That's gonna last about five minutes before they have to turn the lights off.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Naw, in the phreem-arc-it tradition of the United States, a multi-national corporation with major ties to the government will either sue in order to make it illegal to brand anything as DRM-free, or make sure it is legal to brand DRM contaminated crap as being DRM-free.

      • Re:That will last about five minutes (Score:4, Informative)

        by cpu6502 ( 1960974 ) on Wednesday August 15, 2012 @08:43PM (#41004919)

        You mean like they made it illegal to brand "GM free" foods? Yeah. Lovely country we have here... the government sure does protect us from those bad companies selling tainted food. We might actually be better-off without the 3-letter agencies.

        Here's another site I want to nominate for the DRM-free logo. They even hand-out free books for download:
        http://www.baenebooks.com/ [baenebooks.com]
        http://www.baenebooks.com/c-1-free-library.aspx [baenebooks.com]

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by hawguy ( 1600213 )

          And another site that sells DRM-free eBooks: http://www.smashwords.com/ [smashwords.com]

        • They have another way to get free DRM Free ebooks also, All the CDs that were included with the hard back books are available for download either as an ISO file or as individual titles at http://baencd.freedoors.org/ [freedoors.org] There are a lot of good books there!
        • I don't think this is similar enough to foods to where that comparison is apt. Corn is corn, if you're going to buy an ear of corn and notice it's GM, you can buy a different one that's not GM, and it will taste basically the same.

          Buying music, however, not many consumers buy based on label. Songs are exclusive. I can't choose to buy "Gimmie Shelter" by the rolling stones from a DRM-free label, I could only buy it from the label that has the rights to that song. So there's no branding advantage to DR

          • I can't speak for others, but this label (if applied correctly) is a dream come true for me. I've been pretty careful about buying anything these days because being careless will end you up having spent half your money on DRM'd crap that you'll lose access to for whatever silly reason at whatever time -someone else- thinks is okay. Or not, and some server just b0rks. Or your internet connection flakes out and you spend hours without half your media.

            The DRM-free label will get me more interested and trusting

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Hatta ( 162192 )

            Organic and non-GMO are labels people care about because they've been marketed to effectively. With the right marketing, DRM-free would have as much appeal. It should be even easier, because using DRMd products has actual negative consequences, whereas the organic label just means it costs more and you should be smug about it.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

            History repeats itself. Back in the late '80s or early '90s, computer users rebelled against software (especialy games) that had DRM, for the same reasons people are rebelling against it now (the pirate version is superior to the paid-for version) and after a couple of companies that refused to remove DRM went bankrupt, the others folded and DRM was dead, only to come back in the late '90s when the industry had a new generation of suckers.

            As to music, you notice that that's one place where DRM went away? Yo

          • >>> if you're going to buy an ear of corn and notice it's GM, you can buy a different one that's not GM, and it will taste basically the same.

            Except that it has no label, because the corporations lobbied the government to outlaw "no GM" labels. The whole point of this thread is that corporations will likely lobby to outlaw "no DRM" labels too, in order to protect their business.

            • I've got no problem forcing GM foods to be labelled "this food has been genetically modified", as long as organic food is forced to be labelled "this food was sprayed with organic shit" ;-)

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

          We might actually be better-off without the 3-letter agencies.

          Like EPA, FDA? Nope, I can't agree. You like dirty air and lakes, and no labeling in food AT ALL? No mandated testing of new drugs?

          Some 3 letter agencies I agree with; ATF, TSA, NSA, sure. Get rid of them. Let me get my pitchfork...

      • They probably already can... since technically the files being provided are restricted by the license and the DRM software only attempts to enforce those licenses, not apply additional restrictions.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

          the DRM software only attempts to enforce those licenses, not apply additional restrictions.
          Bullshit. In the first place, I don't "licence a movie," I buy it. The license is between the copyright holder and the distributor. I signed no contract, I traded cash for merchandise. Yet the DRM on a DVD forces me to watch unskippable piracy ads (despite the fact that pirates never see those ads and I PAID for the damned thing) and often trailers and other crap as well.

          It's perfectly legal for me to copy a song off

  • Ugly (Score:5, Insightful)

    by rebelwarlock ( 1319465 ) on Wednesday August 15, 2012 @08:09PM (#41004541)
    That logo is hideous. Who's going to be putting that on their packaging?
    • Have you seen the fair trade and organic foods labels? Also uglp. Apparently they managed to get a list of first adopters that aren't all nobodies, which is pretty cool

    • I don't see anything wrong with it. It's a circle with
      DRM
      FREE
      in the middle at a ~30 degree angle. It's clean and effective, and I'd certainly buy a product like that vs. the copyprotected/DRM version.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        It's off-putting. It's a circle with a line through it like a no-smoking sign (or no pets, etc.). They are using a symbol we use to mean "don't" do something to get people to do something: buy their product.

      • Actually it's not nearly as bad as what I first thought the logo was, namely [imagely?] the image at the top of the slashdot page, the white straightjacket...

    • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

      by EZLeeAmused ( 869996 )
      Well, they had to do something to keep people from stealing those products.

    • We must be looking at different logos. This looks okay to me:

      https://static.fsf.org/dbd/DRM-free/DRM-free.png [fsf.org]

    • As far as FSF artwork goes, the logo is pretty good.

    • Re:Ugly (Score:4, Insightful)

      by black3d ( 1648913 ) on Thursday August 16, 2012 @12:55AM (#41006847)
      Agreed, that's a pretty bad logo. Kudos to them for the idea. It needs to be promoted, but not with that. It'd too cluttered. Text is a bad thing. It should be optional, underneath, beside, etc, but not wrapped around as part of the logo. The idea of brand recognition is that the logo becomes instantly identifiable, which means it DOESN'T need to have a detailed explanation of what DRM-FREE means, in the long term. Put the text "with it" now somehow, but not as the actual logo. :\

    • For a moment I thought that "Defective by design" refererred to the uglyness of their failed logo.

      While a really nice initiative they should reconsider the visual identity of the campaign

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by hcpxvi ( 773888 )
      That logo is hideous. Who's going to be putting that on their packaging?
      At least it doesn't look like two people performing an act unsuitable for discussion on a family website ( See here [guardian.co.uk] for the canonical example). You can pay graphic designers a LOT more money than was spent on the DRM Free logo and still get something that is astonishingly bad.
    • From the "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex" serie. http://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=%22laughing+man%22 [google.com]

  • DRM-free Should be the DEFAULT (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Mitreya ( 579078 ) <mitreya.gmail@com> on Wednesday August 15, 2012 @08:10PM (#41004545)

    People looking for ebooks in places like Amazon often have trouble figuring out which ebooks have DRM and which don't because Amazon does not advertise that information.

    How can they NOT make that information easily available?
    Why do people not return books more as soon as they run into an unadvertised DRM problem?

    • They don't know any better. Hopefully this will help with that.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by hawguy ( 1600213 )

      People looking for ebooks in places like Amazon often have trouble figuring out which ebooks have DRM and which don't because Amazon does not advertise that information.

      How can they NOT make that information easily available?
      Why do people not return books more as soon as they run into an unadvertised DRM problem?

      Because when people who are not Slashdot readers buy a book at Amazon, and it works on their Kindle they are happy. Few ordinary users try to move eBooks between platforms, and if they do try and fail, they shrug their shoulders and stop trying.

      But maybe this label will help make more people aware of what they are giving up when they buy DRM infected content. The music studious seem to have learned their lesson since most (all?) music is available unencumbered.

    • Amazon sells DRM-free books? How do I get them off my kindle (or amazon) and into another reader..... like Word. ;-)

      • Calibre, which is FOSS and cross-platform btw.
        And you can get a drm-stripping plugin for it too.

        • Being able to strip the DRM is not the same as receiving a DRM free file from the vendor.

          • True. Calibre can do both, however: By default, convert unencrypted .azw's to your favorite format, and with a plugin, strip any DRM first.

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by madsdyd ( 228464 )

        Current state of affairs, unless you are willing to fiddle quite a bit, is that DRM free kindle files you have bought, potentially can be very hard to extract from your kindle application. (I do not know about dedicated readers).

        For some versions of the kindle reader, it is as easy as getting the .prc file from the local storage. However, this is not a foolproof method. Recent versions of the android kindle reader stores the .prc files in app-private space (or whatever), making it only accesible if you roo

        • >>>IMHO you should seek alternatives to Kindle, if you are not prepared to read your books on a kindle device/app.

          I am. I bought the kindle because of its e-ink design. I don't like looking at backlit screens, whereas the kindle is more like reading a paper, but it would ne nice to download the DRM-free books to my hard drive.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by madsdyd ( 228464 )

            There is no question e-ink is superior to a backlit screen. However, the kindle is not the only e-ink device :-)

            I personally like my Sony Reader Wifi a lot. I also own a nook and a no-name device. Not a kindle though, because I prefer not to be locked into a specific eco-system.

    • I've not bought any ebooks with DRM in them, but when I rent a DVD that has some sort of copy protection that stops it playing with VLC then I send it back marked defective. The rental company then has to check or replace the disk. I also tick the 'don't send me this again' box, so the studio won't get any revenue. It probably makes little difference when it's just me, but if a lot of people do it then it will start costing them significantly more to carry encumbered DVDs than normal ones.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Desler ( 1608317 )

      Why do people not return books more as soon as they run into an unadvertised DRM problem?

      Because most people don't run into problems? The vast majority of people only ever read their ebooks on the exact device the ebook was made for.

  • With that list of first-adopters, it wauld be great if the label could actually become a recognizeable and valuable marker. That would be a promising development as major ebook publishers start dropping DRM. With DRM all but gone for music and, if ebooks meet a similar fate, how long can video, streaming servies, and games last?

    • how long can video, streaming servies, and games last?

      Until they shut off the DRM servers?

    • They need this on games too. People demand DRM free on audio, and now on books, but for some reason they look the other way when games are locked down the same way.

      • I think that's the beauty of this logo. Defective by Design is an FSF campaign, so they can't endorse non-free games, but this logo specifically says it is not an endorsement, so games can use it too!

  • Nicwe Logo, but... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by flogger ( 524072 ) <non@nonegiven> on Wednesday August 15, 2012 @08:17PM (#41004643) Journal
    That's a nice clear logo, but there are may people who will still prefer THIS [goo.gl] as their DRM free logo of choice.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by brit74 ( 831798 )
      People who prefer to support creators, rather than run around like everyone owes them free stuff don't use the Pirate Bay.
  • That "DRM Free" label looks suspiciously similar to the Free DRM! label -- or it will soon enough.
  • Look, I provide my shit for free, and even have some of my behind the scenes work available DRM free, but I'm not sticking that label on any of it. I'd rather just serve up the raw stuff without costing me too much, which means there are already tons of labels, branding, and even ads around YouTube, or Google Docs. I can't completely get rid of it, but I'm also trying to do lovecraft/cthulhu/erotica on no budget so I don't expect to be able to get rid of it. I'll have to run ads most likely on the main sit

  • What artists/Bands do they have signed up?

  • The whole 'DRM war' thing is over. Ever since the Sony fiasco way back, they haven't even tried putting it on physical media, and I haven't encountered DRM'd digital media in ages.

    XKCD: http://xkcd.com/546/ [xkcd.com]

    • There's a whole world of content outside of music, and nearly all of it is still heavily locked down with DRM. Most ebooks and virtually all video content spring to mind.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Trogre ( 513942 )

      I'm going to assume you're referring to music CDs only. Otherwise I guess you haven't looked too closely at DVD or Blu Ray media.

  • Now I don't want to freak the RIAA out or anything but ALL music coming out of my speaker port has no DRM at that point. I think maybe they may have overlooked that. I don't think they know how music or sound works.

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