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dreams · 03-26-2009, 04:37 AM

Found this report at arstechnica about the Federal Trade Commission's long-awaited Seattle conference on DRM. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...eptive-drm.ars

"FTC: We'll "come calling" about deceptive DRM

The Federal Trade Commission held its long-awaited Seattle conference on DRM. As expected, agreement was hard to come by, but the agency made clear that it has had enough of hidden DRM schemes and companies that pull the plug on authentication servers and leave the users who didn't pirate content with nothing.
By Nate Anderson | Last updated March 25, 2009 3:15 PM CT"

A couple of quotes from the article.. please check it out.

"The Federal Trade Commission kicked off its big DRM conference in Seattle Wednesday morning by saying that the goal was not to "take sides" over the question of whether DRM is good or bad—but the conference nevertheless opened with a warning.

Mary Engle, an FTC Acting Deputy Director, began her remarks by warning that those who use DRM had better get serious about disclosing it and the limits that it places on products. She referenced the Sony BMG rootkit debacle, saying that "sellers who use DRM technology to enforce the terms of bargains with consumers need to be particularly careful to disclose in advance" what those bargains are.

And just stuffing the disclosure into the fine print of an End User License Agreement (EULA) isn't good enough. "If your advertising giveth and your EULA taketh away," she said, "don't be surprised if the FTC comes calling.

She stressed that it was not permissible for companies to play Lucy to consumers' Charlie Brown, holding the football and promising that this time she won't yank it away at the last minute. Promising "if you buy our DRM downloads, we won't shut down the authentication serves this time," she said, wasn't enough."

........ another quote...

"One thing that received general agreement from all parties was that better disclosure was essential. Even the pro-DRM side stressed that nothing is gained for an industry by angering its customers, and that customers get furious about things like the SonyBMG rootkit."

It will be interesting to see what happens when it continues...

03-26-2009, 04:37 AM	#1
dreams It's about the umbrella Posts: 25,112 Karma: 56250158 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony 505\| K Fire \| KK 3G+Wi-Fi \| iPhone 3Gs \|Vista 32-bit Hm Prem w/FF	FTC: We'll "come calling" about deceptive DRM Found this report at arstechnica about the Federal Trade Commission's long-awaited Seattle conference on DRM. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/n...eptive-drm.ars "FTC: We'll "come calling" about deceptive DRM The Federal Trade Commission held its long-awaited Seattle conference on DRM. As expected, agreement was hard to come by, but the agency made clear that it has had enough of hidden DRM schemes and companies that pull the plug on authentication servers and leave the users who didn't pirate content with nothing. By Nate Anderson \| Last updated March 25, 2009 3:15 PM CT" A couple of quotes from the article.. please check it out. "The Federal Trade Commission kicked off its big DRM conference in Seattle Wednesday morning by saying that the goal was not to "take sides" over the question of whether DRM is good or bad—but the conference nevertheless opened with a warning. Mary Engle, an FTC Acting Deputy Director, began her remarks by warning that those who use DRM had better get serious about disclosing it and the limits that it places on products. She referenced the Sony BMG rootkit debacle, saying that "sellers who use DRM technology to enforce the terms of bargains with consumers need to be particularly careful to disclose in advance" what those bargains are. And just stuffing the disclosure into the fine print of an End User License Agreement (EULA) isn't good enough. "If your advertising giveth and your EULA taketh away," she said, "don't be surprised if the FTC comes calling. She stressed that it was not permissible for companies to play Lucy to consumers' Charlie Brown, holding the football and promising that this time she won't yank it away at the last minute. Promising "if you buy our DRM downloads, we won't shut down the authentication serves this time," she said, wasn't enough." ........ another quote... "One thing that received general agreement from all parties was that better disclosure was essential. Even the pro-DRM side stressed that nothing is gained for an industry by angering its customers, and that customers get furious about things like the SonyBMG rootkit." It will be interesting to see what happens when it continues...