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<h2>Proprietary DRM</h2>
<div class="infobox">
<hr class="full-width" />
<p>Nonfree (proprietary) software is very often malware (designed to
mistreat the user). Nonfree software is controlled by its developers,
which puts them in a position of power over the users; <a
href="/philosophy/free-software-even-more-important.html">that is the
basic injustice</a>. The developers and manufacturers often exercise
that power to the detriment of the users they ought to serve.</p>
<p>This typically takes the form of malicious functionalities.</p>
<hr class="full-width" />
</div>
<div class="article">
<p>Here are examples of proprietary programs and systems that
implement <em>digital restrictions management</em> (DRM):
functionalities designed intentionally to restrict what users can do.
These functionalities are also called <em>digital handcuffs</em>.
</p>
<p>DRM is reinforced by
<a href="http://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2014/feb/05/digital-rights-management">
censorship laws</a> that ban software (and hardware) that can break
the handcuffs. Instead of these laws, DRM itself ought to be illegal.
Please support our campaign
to <a href="http://DefectiveByDesign.org/">abolish DRM</a>.
</p>
<div class="important">
<p>If you know of an example that ought to be in this page but isn't
here, please write
to <a href="mailto:webmasters@gnu.org"><webmasters@gnu.org></a>
to inform us. Please include the URL of a trustworthy reference or two
to serve as specific substantiation.</p>
</div>
<div class="column-limit" id="proprietary-drm"></div>
<ul class="blurbs">
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<li id="M202401180">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2024-01</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p id="uhd"><a
href="/proprietary/uhd-bluray-denies-your-freedom.html">UHD
Blu-ray disks are encrypted with AACS, one of the worst kinds of DRM</a>.
Playing them on a PC requires software and hardware that meet stringent
proprietary specifications, which developers can only obtain after
signing an agreement that explicitly forbids them from disclosing any
source code.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M202312060">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2023-12</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a
href="https://badcyber.com/dieselgate-but-for-trains-some-heavyweight-hardware-hacking/">Newag,
a Polish railway manufacturer, puts DRM inside trains to prevent
third-party repairs</a>.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>The train's software contains code to detect if the GPS
coordinates are near some third party repairers, or the train has not
been running for some time. If yes, the train will be “locked
up” (i.e. bricked). It was also possible to unlock it by
pressing a secret combination of buttons in the cockpit, but this
ability was removed by a manufacturer's software update.</p></li>
<li><p>The train will also lock up after a certain date, which is
hardcoded in the software.</p></li>
<li><p>The company pushes a software update that detects if the
DRM code has been bypassed, i.e. the lock should have been engaged
but the train is still operational. If yes, the controller cabin
screen will display a scary message warning about “copyright
violation”.</p></li>
</ul>
</li>
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<li id="M202311301">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2023-11</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20231213150111/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/12/technology/iphone-repair-apple-control.html">To
block non-Apple repairs, Apple encodes the iMonster serial
number in the original parts</a>. This is called “parts
pairing”. Swapping parts between working iMonsters of the same
model causes malfunction or disabling of some functionalities. Part
replacement may also trigger persistent alerts, unless it is done by
an Apple store.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M202305100">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2023-05</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>HP delivers printers with a
universal back door, and recently used it to <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/may/10/how-can-hp-block-me-from-using-a-cheaper-printer-cartridge">
sabotage them by remotely installing malware</a>. The malware makes the
printer refuse to function with non-HP ink cartrides, and even with old
HP cartridges which HP now declares to have “expired.”
HP calls the back door “dynamic security,”
and has the gall to claim that this “security” protects
users from malware.</p>
<p>If you own an HP printer that can still use non-HP cartridges,
we urge you to disconnect it from the internet. This will ensure that
HP doesn't sabotage it by “updating” its software.</p>
<p><small>Note how the author of the Guardian article credulously
repeats HP's assertion that the “dynamic security”
feature protects users against malware, not recognizing that the
article demonstrates it does the opposite.</small></p>
</li>
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<li id="M202209000">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2022-09</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a hreflang="ja"
href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/B-CAS">B-CAS</a> <a
href="#m1">[1]</a> is the digital restrictions management (DRM) system
used by Japanese TV broadcasters, including NHK (public-service TV).
It is sold
by the B-CAS company, which has a de-facto monopoly on it. Initially
intended for pay-TV, its use was extended to digital free-to-air
broadcasting as a means to enforce restrictions on copyrighted
works. The system encrypts works that permit free redistribution
just like other works, thus denying users their nominal rights.</p>
<p>On the client side, B-CAS is typically implemented by a card
that plugs into a compatible receiver, or alternatively by a tuner
card that plugs into a computer. Beside implementing drastic copying
and viewing restrictions, this system gives broadcasters full power
over users, through back doors among other means. For example:</p>
<ul>
<li>It can force messages to the user's TV screen, and the user
can't turn them off.</li>
<li>It can collect viewing information and send it to other
companies to take surveys. Until 2011, user registration was
required, so the viewing habits of each customer were recorded. We
don't know whether this personal information was deleted from the
company's servers after 2011.</li>
<li>Each card has an ID, which enables broadcasters to force
customer-specific updates via the back door normally used to update
the decryption key. Thus pay-TV broadcasters can disable decryption
of the broadcast wave if subscription fees are not paid on time.
This feature could also be used by any broadcaster (possibly
instructed by the government) to stop certain persons from watching
TV.</li>
<li>As the export of B-CAS cards is illegal, people outside Japan
can't (officially) decrypt the satellite broadcast signal that may
spill over to their location. They are thus deprived of a valuable
source of information about what happens in Japan.</li>
</ul>
<p>These unacceptable restrictions led to a sort of cat-and-mouse
game, with some users doing their best to bypass the system, and
broadcasters trying to stop them without much success: cryptographic
keys were retrieved through the back door of the B-CAS card, illegal
cards were made and sold on the black market, as well as a tuner for
PC that disables the copy control signal.</p>
<p>While B-CAS cards are still in use with older equipment, modern
high definition TVs have an even nastier version of this DRM (called
ACAS) in a special chip that is built into the receiver. The chip
can update its own software from the company's servers, even when
the receiver is turned off (but still plugged into an outlet). This
feature could be abused to disable stored TV programs that the power
in place doesn't agree with, thus interfering with free speech.</p>
<p>Being part of the receiver, the ACAS chip is supposed to be
tamper-resistant. Time will tell…</p>
<p id="m1"><small>[1] We thank the free software supporter who
translated this article from Japanese, and shared his experience of
B-CAS with us. (Unfortunately, the article presents DRM as a good
thing.)</small></p>
</li>
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<li id="M202203210">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2022-03</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Apple prevents people from upgrading their Mac hardware <a
href="https://www.theverge.com/2022/3/21/22989226/apple-mac-studios-removable-ssd-blocked-software-replacement">by
imposing DRM on its removable SSD storage</a>.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M202202190">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2022-02</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Hewlett-Packard is <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/money/2022/feb/19/how-cheap-ink-cartridges-can-cost-you-dear">
implementing DRM in its printers</a> so they refuse to print with
ink cartridges from another supplier.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M202202150">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2022-02</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a
href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/02/worst-timeline-printer-company-putting-drm-paper-now">
Dymo is now embedding DRM in the paper rolls for its label
printers</a> to make those printers reject equivalent paper rolls made
by other companies. This is implemented by an RFID tag, which keeps
track of how many labels remain on the roll, and blocks further
printing when the roll is empty—an efficient way to prevent
reusing the same RFID with a third-party roll.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M202111040">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2021-11</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Apple's new tactic to restrict users from
repairing their own device and impose DRM on people is to <a
href="https://www.ifixit.com/News/54829/apples-new-screen-repair-trap-could-change-the-repair-industry-forever">completely
disable its Face ID functionality</a> when you replace its screen.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M202110130">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2021-10</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Adobe <a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20211014123717/https://pluralistic.net/2021/10/13/theres-an-app-for-that/#gnash">has
licensed its Flash Player to China's Zhong Cheng Network</a> who is
offering the program bundled with spyware and a back door that can
remotely deactivate it.</p>
<p>Adobe is responsible for this since they gave Zhong Cheng
Network permission to do this. This injustice involves “misuse” of
the DMCA, but “proper,” intended use of the DMCA is a much bigger
injustice. There is <a href="/philosophy/right-to-read.html">a series
of errors related to DMCA</a>.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M202105300">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2021-05</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/may/30/gadgets-have-stopped-working-together-interoperability-apple">Apple
is systematically undermining interoperability</a>. At the hardware
level, it does this via nonstandard plugs, buses and networks. At
the software level, it does this by not letting the user have any
data except within one app.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M202103100">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2021-03</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Amazon's monopoly and DRM is <a
href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/03/10/amazon-library-ebook-monopoly/">stopping
public libraries from lending e-books and
audiobooks</a>. Amazon became powerful in e-book world by <a
href="/philosophy/why-call-it-the-swindle.html">Swindle</a>,
and is now misusing its power and violates people's rights using
<a href="https://www.defectivebydesign.org">Digital Restrictions
Management</a>.</p>
<p>The article is written in a way that endorses DRM in general, which
is unacceptable. <a href="/proprietary/proprietary-drm.html">DRM is
an injustice to people</a>.</p>
</li>
<li id="M202010180">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2020-10</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Microsoft is <a
href="https://www.slashgear.com/windows-10-users-are-grumpy-over-forced-updates-and-unwanted-apps-18643135/">forcing
Windows users</a> to <a
href="https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/manage-updates-in-windows-643e9ea7-3cf6-7da6-a25c-95d4f7f099fe">install
upgrades it pushes</a> using <a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-back-doors.html#windows-update">its
universal back doors</a>. These upgrades can do various harms to
users such as restricting computers
<!-- Copied from some functions and/or forcing
users to defenselessly do whatever Microsoft tells them to do.</p>
</li> workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201908150">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2019-08</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Apple is putting DRM on iPhone
batteries, and the system proprietary software <a
href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/59nz3k/apple-is-locking-batteries-to-specific-iphones-a-nightmare-for-diy-repair">turns
off certain features when batteries are replaced other than by
Apple.</a></p>
</li>
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<li id="M201904040">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2019-04</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Ebooks “bought” from Microsoft's store check that
their DRM is valid by connecting to the store every time their
“owner” wants to read them. Microsoft is going to close
this store, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47810367">
bricking all DRM'ed ebooks it has ever “sold”</a>. (The
article additionally highlights the pitfalls of DRM.)</p>
<p>This is another proof that a DRM-encumbered product doesn't belong
to the person who bought it. Microsoft said it will refund customers,
but this is no excuse for selling them restricted books.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M201902080">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2019-02</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>The HP <a
href="https://boingboing.net/2019/02/08/inkjet-dystopias.html">
“ink subscription” cartridges have DRM that constantly
communicates with HP servers</a> to make sure the user is still
paying for the subscription, and hasn't printed more pages than were
paid for.</p>
<p>Even though the ink subscription program may be cheaper in some
specific cases, it spies on users, and involves totally unacceptable
restrictions in the use of ink cartridges that would otherwise be in
working order.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201810150">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2018-10</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Printer manufacturers are very innovative—at blocking the
use of independent replacement ink cartridges. Their “security
upgrades” occasionally impose new forms of cartridge DRM. <a
href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/pa98ab/printer-makers-are-crippling-cheap-ink-cartridges-via-bogus-security-updates">
HP and Epson have done this</a>.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M201806250">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2018-06</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>The game Metal Gear Rising for
MacOS was tethered to a server. The company <a
href="http://www.gamerevolution.com/news/400087-metal-gear-rising-mac-unplayable-drm">
href="https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/400087-metal-gear-rising-mac-unplayable-drm">
shut down the server, and all copies stopped working</a>.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201711250">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-11</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>The DMCA and the EU Copyright Directive make it <a
href="https://boingboing.net/2017/11/25/la-la-la-cant-hear-you.html">
illegal to study how iOS cr…apps spy on users</a>, because
this would require circumventing the iOS DRM.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M201705150">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-05</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Google now allows Android
apps to detect whether a device has been rooted, <a
href="http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/05/13/netflix-confirms-blocking-rootedunlocked-devices-app-still-working-now/">and
href="https://www.androidpolice.com/2017/05/13/netflix-confirms-blocking-rootedunlocked-devices-app-still-working-now/">and
refuse to install if so</a>. The Netflix app uses this ability to
enforce DRM by refusing to install on rooted Android devices.</p>
<p>Update: Google <i>intentionally</i> changed Android so that apps <a
href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-use-of-google-drm-means-rooted-android-devices-are-banned-170515/">can
detect rooted devices and refuse to run on them</a>. The Netflix app
is proprietary malware, and one shouldn't use it. However, that does
not make what Google has done any less wrong.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M201704130">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-04</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a href="https://itstillworks.com/kindle-drm-17841.html">
The Amazon Kindle has DRM</a>. That article is flawed in that it
fails to treat DRM as an ethical question; it takes for granted that
whatever Amazon might do to its users is legitimate. It refers to
DRM as digital “rights” management, which is the spin
term used to promote DRM. Nonetheless it serves as a reference for
the facts.</p>
<p>We refer to that product as the <a
href="/philosophy/why-call-it-the-swindle.html"> Amazon Swindle</a>
because of this and <a href="/philosophy/ebooks.html"> other malicious
functionalities</a>.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201704070">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-04</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p id="iphone7-sabotage">The
iPhone 7 contains DRM specifically designed to <a
href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/kbjm8e/iphone-7-home-button-unreplaceable-repair-software-lock">
brick it if an “unauthorized” repair shop fixes it</a>.
“Unauthorized” essentially means anyone besides Apple.</p>
<p><small>(The article uses the term “lock”
to describe the DRM, but we prefer to use the term <a
href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#DigitalLocks"> digital
handcuffs</a>.)</small></p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201702020">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-02</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>DRM-restricted files can be used to <a
href="https://yro.slashdot.org/story/17/02/02/231229/windows-drm-protected-files-used-to-decloak-tor-browser-users">
identify people browsing through Tor</a>. The vulnerability exists
only if you use Windows.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M201701300">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2017-01</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Chrome <a
href="http://boingboing.net/2017/01/30/google-quietly-makes-optiona.html">implements
href="https://boingboing.net/2017/01/30/google-quietly-makes-optiona.html">implements
DRM</a>. So does Chromium, through nonfree software that is effectively
part of it.</p>
<p><a
href="https://bugs.chromium.org/p/chromium/issues/detail_ezt?id=686430">More
href="https://issues.chromium.org/issues/40504000">More
information</a>.</p>
</li>
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<li id="M201609200">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2016-09</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>HP's firmware downgrade <a
href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/20/hp-inkjet-printers-unofficial-cartridges-software-update">imposed
DRM on some printers, which now refuse to function with third-party
ink cartridges</a>.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201605200">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2016-05</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Oculus Rift games now have <a
href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/vv77ea/new-oculus-drm-cross-platform">
DRM meant to prevent running them on other systems</a>.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201601100">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2016-01</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>The <a
href="http://michaelweinberg.org/post/137045828005/free-the-cube">
href="https://michaelweinberg.org/post/137045828005/free-the-cube">
“Cube” 3D printer was designed with DRM</a>: it
won't accept third-party printing materials. It is the Keurig of
printers. Now it is being discontinued, which means that eventually
authorized materials won't be available and the printers may become
unusable.</p>
<p>With a <a
href="http://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/aleph-objects">
href="https://www.fsf.org/resources/hw/endorsement/aleph-objects">
printer that gets the Respects Your Freedom</a>, this problem would
not even be a remote possibility.</p>
<p>How pitiful that the author of that article says that there was
“nothing wrong” with designing the device to restrict
users in the first place. This is like putting a “cheat me and
mistreat me” sign on your chest. We should know better: we
should condemn all companies that take advantage of people like him.
Indeed, it is the acceptance of their unjust practice that teaches
people to be doormats.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201512260">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2015-12</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a
href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/bmvxp4/switzerland-wants-a-single-universal-phone-charger-by-2017">
Apple uses DRM software to prevent people from charging an iThing
with a generic USB cable</a>.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201512140">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2015-12</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Philips “smart” lightbulbs had initially been
designed to interact with other companies' smart light bulbs, but <a
href="https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20151214/07452133070/lightbulb-drm-philips-locks-purchasers-out-third-party-bulbs-with-firmware-update.shtml">
href="https://www.techdirt.com/2015/12/14/lightbulb-drm-philips-locks-purchasers-out-third-party-bulbs-with-firmware-update/">
later the company updated the firmware to disallow
interoperability</a>.</p>
<p>If a product is “smart”, and you didn't build it,
it is cleverly serving its manufacturer <em>against you</em>.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201501030">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2015-01</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p id="netflix-app-geolocation-drm">The Netflix Android app <a
href="http://torrentfreak.com/netflix-cracks-down-on-vpn-and-proxy-pirates-150103/">
href="https://torrentfreak.com/netflix-cracks-down-on-vpn-and-proxy-pirates-150103/">
forces the use of Google DNS</a>. This is one of the methods that
Netflix uses to enforce the geolocation restrictions dictated by the
movie studios.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201410080.1">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2014-10</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Adobe made “Digital Editions,”
the e-reader used by most US libraries, spy on the user <a
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20141220181015/http://www.computerworlduk.com/blogs/open-enterprise/drm-strikes-again-3575860/">for
the sake of DRM.</a></p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201311130">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2013-11</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a
href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2013/11/drm-cars-will-drive-consumers-crazy">
DRM in cars will drive consumers crazy</a>.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201310070">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2013-10</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p id="bluray"><a
href="http://web.archive.org/web/20131007102857/http://www.nclnet.org/technology/73-digital-rights-management/124-whos-driving-the-copyright-laws-consumers-insist-on-the-right-to-back-it-up">
href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131007102857/http://www.nclnet.org/technology/73-digital-rights-management/124-whos-driving-the-copyright-laws-consumers-insist-on-the-right-to-back-it-up">
DVDs and Bluray Blu-ray disks have DRM</a>.</p>
<p>That page uses spin terms that favor DRM, including <a
href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#DigitalRightsManagement">
digital “rights” management</a> and <a
href="/philosophy/words-to-avoid.html#Protection">“protect”</a>,
and it claims that “artists” (rather than companies)
are primarily responsible for putting digital restrictions management
into these disks. Nonetheless, it is a reference for the facts.</p>
<p>Every Bluray Blu-ray disk (with few, rare exceptions) has DRM—so
don't use Bluray Blu-ray disks!</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201212180">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2012-12</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Samsung “Smart” TVs have <a
href="https://wiki.samygo.tv/index.php?title=SamyGO_for_DUMMIES#What_are_Restricted_Firmwares.3F">
turned Linux into the base for a tyrant system</a> so as to impose
DRM. What enables Samsung to do this is that Linux is released
under GNU GPL version 2, <a
href="/licenses/rms-why-gplv3.html">not version 3</a>, together with
a weak interpretation of GPL version 2.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201102250">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2011-02</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>Android <a
href="https://developer.android.com/reference/android/drm/package-summary.html">
contains facilities specifically to support DRM</a>.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M201002180">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2010-02</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>DRM does more nastiness to published works than merely stopping
people from looking at and/or copying them. Even when it allows you to
look, it harasses you in many ways. Cory Doctorow's article presents
<a href="https://boingboing.net/2010/02/18/infographic-buying-d.html">
DVDs as an example</a>.</p>
<p>We condemn the propaganda term “pirate” when it
is applied to people that share copies. Many of these DVDs are
made and distributed commercially; in reference to that practice,
“pirate” might be partly justified. But not when they
protect users from harassment.</p>
<p>The fundamental cause of this harassment, and the fundamental
wrong of the DRM in DVDs, is the requirement to use nonfree software
to play the DVD. Fortunately we have free replacement software.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M200811210">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2008-11</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a
href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/11/apple-downgrades-macbook-video-drm">
DRM (digital restrictions mechanisms) in MacOS</a>. This article
focuses on the fact that a new model of Macbook introduced a
requirement for monitors to have malicious hardware, but DRM software
in MacOS is involved in activating the hardware. The software for
accessing iTunes is also responsible.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M200803040">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2008-03</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-bandwidth_Digital_Content_Protection">
HDCP</a> is a DRM system that encrypts video and audio data from
the processor to the monitor. It is implemented mainly in hardware,
but the system software also participates, which makes it qualify
as malware.</p>
<p>Besides controlling users, HDCP denies their fair-use rights and
causes numerous practical problems.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M200802190">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2008-02</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a
href="https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/02/adobe-pushes-drm-flash">
DRM in Flash Player</a>.</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M200708130.1">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2007-08</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p><a href="http://arstechnica.com/apple/2007/08/aacs-tentacles/">DRM href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2007/08/aacs-tentacles/">DRM
in Windows</a>, introduced to cater to <a
href="/proprietary/proprietary-drm.html#bluray">Bluray</a>
href="/proprietary/proprietary-drm.html#bluray">Blu-ray</a> disks.
(The article talks about how the same malware would later be
introduced in MacOS. That had not been done at the time, but it was
done subsequently.)</p>
</li>
<!-- Copied from workshop/mal.rec. Do not edit in proprietary-drm.html. -->
<li id="M200703310">
<!--#set var="DATE" value='<small class="date-tag">2007-03</small>'
--><!--#echo encoding="none" var="DATE" -->
<p>iTunes videos have DRM, which allows Apple to <a
href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FairPlay">dictate where its
customers can watch the videos they purchased</a>.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
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