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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 14/06/2013 12:14 AM, Chaitanya
Dhareshwar wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAEP5zKT_+W7xeLuN5At0Vi=3W+3MRjkEy2k+QsDk2Q44tVZxVQ@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
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<div>In one instance of DRM that caused a rift with consumers, <a
moz-do-not-send="true" title="Amazon.com"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon.com"><font
color="#0066cc">Amazon.com</font></a> remotely deleted
purchased copies of <a moz-do-not-send="true" title="George
Orwell" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell"><font
color="#0066cc">George Orwell</font></a>'s <i><a
moz-do-not-send="true" title="Nineteen Eighty-Four"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four"><font
color="#0066cc">Nineteen Eighty-Four</font></a></i> and
<i><a moz-do-not-send="true" title="Animal Farm"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_Farm"><font
color="#0066cc">Animal Farm</font></a></i> from
customers' <a moz-do-not-send="true" title="Amazon Kindle"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazon_Kindle"><font
color="#0066cc">Amazon Kindles</font></a> after providing
them a refund for the purchased products.<sup id="cite_ref-44"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management#cite_note-44"><font
color="#0066cc"><font><span>[</span>44<span>]</span></font></font></a></sup>
Commentators have widely described these actions as <a
moz-do-not-send="true" title="Orwellian"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwellian"><font
color="#0066cc">Orwellian</font></a>, and have alluded to
<a moz-do-not-send="true" title="Big Brother (Nineteen
Eighty-Four)"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_%28Nineteen_Eighty-Four%29"><font
color="#0066cc">Big Brother</font></a> from Orwell's <i>Nineteen
Eighty-Four</i>.<sup id="cite_ref-45"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management#cite_note-45"><font
color="#0066cc"><font><span>[</span>45<span>]</span></font></font></a></sup><sup
id="cite_ref-46"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management#cite_note-46"><font
color="#0066cc"><font><span>[</span>46<span>]</span></font></font></a></sup><sup
id="cite_ref-47"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management#cite_note-47"><font
color="#0066cc"><font><span>[</span>47<span>]</span></font></font></a></sup><sup
id="cite_ref-48"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management#cite_note-48"><font
color="#0066cc"><font><span>[</span>48<span>]</span></font></font></a></sup>
After an Amazon CEO <a moz-do-not-send="true" title="Jeff
Bezos" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Bezos"><font
color="#0066cc">Jeff Bezos</font></a> issued a public
apology, the <a moz-do-not-send="true" title="Free Software
Foundation"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation"><font
color="#0066cc">Free Software Foundation</font></a> wrote
that this was just one more example of the excessive power
Amazon has to remotely censor what people read through its
software, and called upon Amazon to free its e-book reader and
drop DRM.<sup id="cite_ref-49"><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management#cite_note-49"><font
color="#0066cc"><font><span>[</span>49<span>]</span></font></font></a></sup>
Amazon then revealed that the reason behind its deletion was
the ebooks in question were unauthorized reproductions of
Orwell's works, which were not within the public domain and to
which the company that published and sold them on Amazon's
service had no rights.<sup id="cite_ref-50"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management#cite_note-50"><font><font
color="#0066cc"><span>[</span>50<span>]</span></font></font></a></sup></div>
<div> </div>
<div>ref: <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management</a>
</div>
<div> </div>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
Here is another well-known example:<br>
<br>
<br>
"The Sony BMG CD copy protection rootkit scandal of 2005–2007
concerns copy protection measures implemented by Sony BMG on about
22 million CDs. When inserted into a computer, the CDs installed one
of two pieces of software which provided a form of digital rights
management (DRM) by modifying the operating system to interfere with
CD copying. Both programs could not be easily uninstalled, and they
unintentionally created vulnerabilities that were exploited by
unrelated malware. One of the programs installed even if the user
refused its EULA, and it "phoned home" with reports on the user's
private listening habits; the other was not mentioned in the EULA at
all, contained code from several pieces of open-source software in
an apparent infringement of copyright, and configured the operating
system to hide the software's existence, leading to both programs
being characterized as rootkits.<br>
<br>
Sony BMG initially denied that the rootkits were harmful. It then
released, for one of the programs, an "uninstaller" that only un-hid
the program, installed additional software which could not be easily
removed, collected an email address from the user, and introduced
further security vulnerabilities.<br>
<br>
Following public scorn, government investigations and class-action
lawsuits in 2005 and 2006, Sony BMG partially addressed the scandal
with consumer settlements, a recall of about 10% of the affected
CDs, and the suspension of CD copy protection efforts in early
2007."<br>
<br>
Source :
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_BMG_copy_protection_rootkit_scandal</a><br>
<br>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
Catherine Roy
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.catherine-roy.net">http://www.catherine-roy.net</a></pre>
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