Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ World Wide Web Consortium abandons consensus, standardizes DRM with 58.4% support, EFF resigns

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

Should digital rights management (DRM) be a world wide web standard? It's a tough question and so it's not surprising that the WWW Consortium (W3C) split almost down the middle on it. Now I've done work in DRM; I even have a patent in the area. But I have also argued consistently that DRM should be enforced in the resource, not the network. This decision violates that principle, and if implemented, would have the effect of converting the web from a public resource to a private network. Combine this with upload filters and there is end-to-end lockdown. This is what publishers want, and it's why they won't compromise. Their position should have been rejected. Their private interest does not outweigh public good.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Apr 19, 2024 6:18 p.m.

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