[governance] Re: Revised Draft IGC Statement #DRM in HTML5
Catherine Roy
ecrire at catherine-roy.net
Fri Jun 7 13:10:45 EDT 2013
Hi Deirdre.
I am sure someone from EFF on this list could explain it better than I
so please correct me as needed but my understanding is that EFF's formal
objection concerns an element of the HTML Working Group charter that
enables the Working Group to propose the Encrypted Media Extensions
(EME) specification which effectively represents a technology that, in
combination with Content Decryption Modules (CDMs), allows "the remote
determination of end-user usage of content". EME is used with CDMs,
which is a software component that permits access to encrypted resources
(so basically DRM).
EFF has made a formal objection on the Working Group charter to
basically argue that such work, which is formulated in the charter as
"supporting playback of protected content", is out of scope for the
Working Group deliverables. So in effect, EFF is objecting to the fact
that W3C, through its HTML Working Group, propose a specification that
will enable the use of Digital Rights Management (via CDMs) in HTML5.
It is my understanding that by supporting the EFF formal objection, IGC
is effectively saying no to DRM in HTML5.
Best regards,
Catherine
--
Catherine Roy
http://www.catherine-roy.net
On 07/06/2013 10:02 AM, Deirdre Williams wrote:
> Could someone please help to clarify things for me?
> I hadn't responded before about the Electronic Frontier Foundation
> (EFF) statement because I had no time to read the documents until this
> morning.
> My understanding is that the IGC was asked if it would support the
> recent EFF statement.
> The EFF statement is a "Formal Objection to the HTML WG Draft
> Charter", indicating that the Charter "represents a significant
> broadening of scope for the HTML WG (and the W3C as a whole) to
> include the remote determination of end-user usage of content."
> https://www.eff.org/pages/drm/w3c-formal-objection-html-wg The
> objection is NOT to DRM in HTML5 as such, although the text contains a
> detailed discussion of that issue as justification fotr the objection.
> Particularly within the working group Charter, the objection is to
> this reference in 2 -
>
> "Some examples of features that would be in scope for the updated HTML
> specification:
>
> * additions to the HTMLMediaElement element interface, to support
> use cases such as live events or premium content; for example,
> additions for:
> o facilitating adaptive streaming (Media Source Extensions
> <http://www.w3.org/TR/html-media-source/>)
> o supporting playback of protected content"
> http://www.w3.org/html/wg/charter/2012/
>
> So please - are we discussing offering support to EFF's Objection to
> the Charter, or are we creating an IGC statement on DRM in HTML5?
> And if the latter, are we doing anything about EFF's Objection, which
> was what we were asked about in the first place?
> Thank you
> Deirdre
>
>
>
> On 7 June 2013 01:54, Adam Peake <ajp at glocom.ac.jp
> <mailto:ajp at glocom.ac.jp>> wrote:
>
> Hi Catherine,
>
> Does the EFF statement cover your concerns?
>
> Best,
>
> Adam
>
>
> On Jun 7, 2013, at 2:14 AM, Catherine Roy wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> While I support this latest formulation by Adam as it is simple,
>> to the point and avoids ambiguous and perhaps (for the moment)
>> unprovable facts, I feel it is lacking with regards to users'
>> rights, which is also one of the key issues at the heart of this
>> whole matter. That is, as someone on the W3C restricted media
>> mailing list mentioned, standards should be at the margin of
>> debates, and if required to take part, should always, in the end,
>> be on the side of the user. Much like optimizing sites for
>> particular browsers that shut out certain users, there is a real
>> problem here with shutting out users who do not have the right
>> software/hardware from content (in this case, much of the
>> discussions revolve around premium content but it could extend
>> to any content that applies DRM). So, while I am not a wordsmith
>> and therefore apologize for not proposing exact wording, I would
>> like to see something more clear in the statement regarding users
>> rights and sovereignty over their euh, "equipment".
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>>
>> Catherine
>>
>> --
>> Catherine Roy
>> http://www.catherine-roy.net <http://www.catherine-roy.net/>
>>
>>
>> On 2013-06-06 04:52, Adam Peake wrote:
>>> Hi Sala,
>>>
>>> To be honest, having to remember a url and jump off to a
>>> separate site for such a small statement is a pain. In my
>>> opinion, anyway. Perhaps you can see the stats on the
>>> http://www.igcaucus.org/ page, how many people bother to visit
>>> vs the very large number who read the list?
>>>
>>> A cleaned up version of a short statement:
>>>
>>> The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus (IGC) endorses and
>>> supports the formal objection lodged by the Electronic Frontier
>>> Foundation (EFF)
>>> <https://www.eff.org/pages/drm/w3c-formal-objection-html-wg>
>>>
>>> We believe that the inclusion of digital rights management in
>>> HTML5 has the potential to stifle innovation and we object to
>>> the inclusion of digital rights management (DRM) in HTML5.
>>>
>>> We fully endorse the arguments raised by the EFF in their
>>> statement "EFF's Formal Objection to the HTML WG Draft Charter"
>>> <https://www.eff.org/pages/drm/w3c-formal-objection-html-wg>
>>>
>>> The EFF statement we're considering to support is itself long
>>> and speaks for itself. See no need to add more than above.
>>>
>>> Adam
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Jun 6, 2013, at 4:30 AM, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro wrote:
>>>
>>>> In case, people missed it. The revised Statement is live at:
>>>>
>>>> http://www.igcaucus.org/digressit/archives/112 where you can
>>>> add your comments and suggest text.
>>>>
>>>> Kind Regards,
>>>> Sala
>>>>
>>>> On Thu, Jun 6, 2013 at 2:50 AM, Salanieta T. Tamanikaiwaimaro
>>>> <salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com
>>>> <mailto:salanieta.tamanikaiwaimaro at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Dear All,
>>>>
>>>> Further to the discussions on the mailing list, I have
>>>> revised the first version to the one below. I have
>>>> highlighted the sentence still in contention and also note
>>>> that there are mixed reactions to the balance of the
>>>> protection of intellectual property rights through mediums
>>>> like the DRM to protect innovation and challenges to
>>>> threats of impeded "Access". This is a very interesting
>>>> debate and one I believe should be thoroughly explored by
>>>> the IGC where we can come to some common ground (if we are
>>>> able to). I have not had the time to read Frank La Rue's
>>>> new report but it would be interesting to see his report of
>>>> what the world is saying in relation to this conflict. I am
>>>> of course interested in what the IGC has to say.
>>>>
>>>> Roland and Avri raised some very interesting points that
>>>> deserve discussion. As we speak, the Statement will be
>>>> hosted on the Statement Workspace on the IGC website. I
>>>> have tried to capture every comment in the attached
>>>> document. I find that Statement Workspaces are far more
>>>> effective in neatly allowing people to comment on each
>>>> sentence etc, so my apologies if the attached document is
>>>> inherently messy.
>>>>
>>>> What are your collective thoughts on what Roland suggested
>>>> that whilst there are many battles, this is not one we
>>>> should spend time on? The key issues for your deliberation
>>>> would be:-
>>>>
>>>> * What is the IGC's position on Digital Rights Management?
>>>> * What is the IGC's position on Digital Rights Management
>>>> in HTML 5?
>>>>
>>>> Thank you to all those for suggesting text and new wordings
>>>> and phrases. I have tried to capture your views below. All
>>>> the mistakes are of course mine. Let us have your thoughts.
>>>> As soon as the Statement is on the Workspace, Norbert will
>>>> inform us and this will allow us to track comments on the
>>>> revised statement.
>>>>
>>>> *_Revised Draft Statement on Support for EFF’s Objection_*
>>>>
>>>> The Civil Society Internet Governance Caucus (IGC) objects
>>>> to the inclusion of digital rights management (DRM) in
>>>> HTML5. We endorse and support the formal objection lodged
>>>> by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and that the
>>>> draft proposal from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)
>>>> could stifle Web innovation and block access to content for
>>>> people across the planet.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> We believe that the proposed standard by W3C is a serious
>>>> threat to an open and free internet. The inherent danger of
>>>> the proposal would be to shut out open source developers
>>>> and competition, destroy interoperability and lock in
>>>> legacy business models.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Much of the developing world relies on open source
>>>> developers to enable OR CREATE mechanisms that allow for an
>>>> open environment of sharing resources related to
>>>> agricultural practices, education, health and diverse
>>>> content. In such regions, access to information is a
>>>> challenge and with serious resource constraints, but it is
>>>> an open and free internet (and the resultant ease of
>>>> collaboration/sharing information) that empowers communities.
>>>>
>>>> For the foregoing reasons we reiterate our strong objection
>>>> to the support for DRM technologies in HTML5, and our
>>>> agreement with the EFF's arguments in this regard.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Salanieta Tamanikaiwaimaro aka Sala
>>>> P.O. Box 17862
>>>> Suva
>>>> Fiji
>>>>
>>>> Twitter: @SalanietaT
>>>> Skype:Salanieta.Tamanikaiwaimaro
>>>> Tel: +679 3544828 <tel:%2B679%203544828>
>>>> Fiji Cell: +679 998 2851 <tel:%2B679%20998%202851>
>>>> Blog: salanieta.blogspot.com <http://salanieta.blogspot.com/>
>>>>
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>>>
>>
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>
>
> ____________________________________________________________
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> --
> “The fundamental cure for poverty is not money but knowledge" Sir
> William Arthur Lewis, Nobel Prize Economics, 1979
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