[Fsfe-uk] [affs-ctte] EU Communication on the Management of Copyright and Related Rights

[John Bracegirdle]

I sent an email to AFFS yesterday, and got a reply so I am posting it
here for consultation:

On 2004-06-15 11:05:55 +0100 John Bracegirdle <address@hidden> wrote:
> I was wondering if AFFS had responded to the UK Patten Office's
request for consultation ... <Snip Rant>

On Wed, 2004-06-16 at 03:21, MJ Ray wrote: 
>Not yet AFAIK, although I am aware of it. Do you have time to help
draft a response?
>I guess we should alert fsfe-uk and affs-members too. Thanks for the
reminder.

On 2004-06-15 11:05:55 +0100 John Bracegirdle <address@hidden> wrote:
>Thanks for replying, I have some time but not much of an argument
<snip>

As far as I can see (and I'm short sighted) the main point seems to be
DRM can make interoperability even worse than it is now and if you give
it legal protection interoperability will be illegal!

Another point seems to be that legal protection for DRM can make fair
use of content illegal, for example Adobe Acrobat lets you to 'allow'
disabled people to use screen readers but you can also 'not allow' them,
this is almost certainly breaking the disability discrimination
legislation. Current UK law as I understand says that DRM copyright
protection overrides fair use and if there is a case of abuse of rights
a complaint can be made to the government.

Regards,

John