Copy right, or copy wrong – where is digital rights management leading us?

The democratic process which creates laws to regulate technology cannot possibly keep up with the evolution of technology. This could turn out to be one of the greatest challenges to our freedom which we will have to face over the next hundred years.

Books have traditionally been a tangible asset which we could pass on from generation to generation. Copyright has traditionally protected books, and authors, and told us that upon purchasing a book, it was ours to own, read, and pass on as we saw fit. Book burning, or the destruction of books, has become the ultimate symbol of anti-intellectualism. George Orwell’s novel ‘1984’ was published in 1949 and described a world in which the government could re-write history at will, and at their convenience. In 1953 Ray Bradbury published 'Farenheit 451' which described a world where the government could come in and destroy books at will.

The world of audio and digital books has changed the way information is exchanged, and has disempowered us all. If the publishing corporations get their way, upon purchasing these new forms of media we are demoted from an owner of that material to a user of the material. Purchasing an audiobook from i-tunes involves agreeing to a licensing agreement which contains more words than many of the books they sell. Digital rights management software will allow publishers to retract and destroy published information at will, under the guise of copyright protection, without due process. Think Farenheit 451. Think 1984. Think of the implications.

There is a place for copyright. Authors and ideas need protection. Lawyers and large corporations are creating systems which allow for the destruction of books, the retraction of information under the guise of protection. They are endowing themselves with rights not yet bestowed to them by any court by asking us to agree to the terms of large documents that none of us have the time or energy to read.

The state of California has recently made a move to scrape text books for e-books. There are many advantages to the system, but, without proper regulation we are potentially allowing companies the rights to change and retract the information that educates our youth instantaneously.

A concept such as evolution could be removed from the classroom with a push of a button – with no trace or evidence left behind.