Although DRM has failed to accomplish its main goal (stopping piracy), it has been successful at bringing people from every corner of the globe together… in their hatred for DRM. Loathing for the technology has reached such a pitch that consumers around the world no longer whine only in the privacy of homes and apartments. They’re taking to the streets, organizing marches and rallies and teaching events to educate the unenlightened. The newest campaign is in South America, where the Centro de Tecnologia e Sociedade (CTS) at a Brazilian law school has joined forces with consumer group Idec to mount an anti-DRM campaign of its own.
The group doesn’t advocate an end to copyright; indeed, they talk about the importance of “legitimate compensation of the creators.” But they worry that DRM can be used to curtail fair use rights or to prohibit uses that would otherwise be legal (buying a DVD legally in the US, for instance, then returning to Brazil only to find that it won’t play). These are all arguments we’ve heard before, but it’s fascinating to see how far they have spread.
Source: ars technica