“Defective by Design (DBD) is planning a protest at many U.S. Apple Stores Saturday, June 10th at 10:30am. Their protest is against Apple’s DRM which makes it possible to purchase music legally via iTunes and listen to it on your iPod and up to 5 computers,” iMacazine reports. “DBD has made similar protests against other forms of ‘Digital Restrictions.’ During their protests they show up in yellow Hazmat suits and inform passers-by of their cause. According to the DBD site targeted cities include San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Long Island, and New York.”
Defective by Design’s Gregory Heller writes:
Two weeks ago we launched DefectiveByDesign.org – the Campaign to Eliminate DRM – since then, more than 2000 technologists have joined us and taken the pledge to stop DRM through direct action. Now we are taking the campaign to a national stage in an effort to increase discussion of DRM. This Saturday, June 10 at 10:30am (local time) Flash Mobs will gather in San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Chicago, Long Island and New York converging on Apple stores to warn customers of the dangers of DRM in the iPod and iTunes.
Apple claims that people would steal from them if they didn’t use DRM, and that they have to protect themselves. This is how they would like to portray it, but it’s not how it is. Inclusion of DRM in products sold by Apple and other companies is inspired by their greed and desire to control us. To accomplish their goals, they want to monitor, report, and regulate your every interaction with your computer and electronics.
All music purchased from the iTunes music store has DRM in it. That means, at the moment, you can only have a certain number of copies. It used to be you could have 10, then Apple changed it to 7. Nothing stops them from changing it again, to 5, or 3 or 1. With DRM Apple can change the rules AGAIN, and at any time. DRM gives them that power over you. Your devices will have to do their bidding. That is what DRM is about, taking the control away from you, and giving it to Big Media and companies like Apple. The hardware and software they sell you will enforce their rules, by removing your rights. As the largest distributor of DRM infected technology, Apple has set a new low in the mistreatment of our freedoms.
Take back your technology. Say no to DRM in your computer, in your home, and in your pocket.
More info here.
MacDailyNews Take: “Defective by Design” sounds like the perfect name for this group and, as an added bonus, also splendidly describes Heller’s prose. An aptly-titled “twofer,” if you will. You don’t like DRM? Then dress up in your yellow suits and hats and protest outside the headquarters of the “Big Four” music labels: Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Warner Music Group, and EMI Group. They’re the ones responsible for DRM and for treating their customers like criminals, not Apple. While DBD are obviously shooting for maximum publicity by going after Apple, that still does not excuse their misguided aim. Protesting against DRM at Apple retail stores is like protesting against federal gasoline taxes at the corner gas station when you should be marching in Washington: wrong target and wrong venue, “Defective by Design.”
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Break out the iCattleprods.
I predict 6-8 people show up, a few crazy stares… and little else
they shouldnt be protesting against apple, they should be protesting against the greedy music corporations that don’t let their music sell without every security measure possible!!
Yeh-heh-hehessssss, only in America could you have a group that purposely names themselves ‘Defective by Design’! I think the defects start at de top with these guys.
Come onnnnn . . . what’s next? A protest outside your local TV station because Leno sucks? A gathering outside McDonald’s to complain about fattening food and no real meat in de burgers? A ‘Flash Mob’ in front of Scores to protest de high price of lap dances?
Hey, wait a minute . . .
Would it be wrong, if confronted by these people, to throw permanent ink on their faces?
This time MDN is 100% right on. Apple fought with the record industry to get the least annoying DRM they could.
When the recording industry tried to coerce Apple to raise prices on new releases (without lowering prices on old releases!), Steve called them on their greediness and stood his ground.
If you really can’t handle DRM, then you can either buy the damned CD or obtain the non-DRMed music illegally.
I’m happy paying one or two bucks for the one or two songs I want from any typical album that comes out. If I REALLY love the WHOLE album, I go and buy the CD for $17 at the local music store.
How can people be so completely naive that they argue that they should be able to buy music online with no DRM? Have we transcended the need for policing all of a sudden? Are we now ready to get rid of the legal system, the police, the government and the military, and the locks on our doors, now that everyone is totally honest and considerate? I think not.
As usual, the protesters, the victims, the oppressed all bleat injustice. But when pressed to offer up an alternative solution silence ensues.
talk about shooting the messenger.
I hate DRM but MDN is correct. The music labels are responsible for forcing it on us.
I’m having trouble with iTunes and now I’m locked out of my purchased music if I use another music player. So much for “owning” my iTunes music.
What’s the “alternative solution”?
I couldn’t be more pissed off at eejits like these. I just had to sent them an email. What tools! MDN take is correct this time.
JESUS FREAKIN’ CHRIST
JUST BURN THE SONGS TO A CD!!!!
Whoa . . . this is serious.
I think they can do it . . . I mean, they’re using “flash mobs”.
There’s no defence against that.
DRM is goin’ down in about 3 weeks . . .
Hm… Obviously, none of you get the point of public protestation: raising maximum awareness about a political issue. Or, “shooting the messenger” is a very effective means of getting the point across.
If the DBD people where to protest outside any of the major label’s HQs, which arguably WOULD be the right thing to do, there’d be a lot less visibility brought to the action. The mere fact that Apple is garnering a lot of press is VERY good for DBD’s bottom line.
Consider this: FairPlay DRM is “not that annoying”, granted, but any DRM is annoying in any case. Apple has the first and foremost market share in DRM’d music online sales, therefore Apple (FairPlay) seems like a reasonable target.
Just a question of loudly raising an issue.
Drunk Cheney,
Any reason why you can’t burn your music to a CD and re-rip so that you can put it anywhere else you choose?
“What’s the ‘alternative solution’?”
The alternative solution is even more lawsuits from the MPAA. Personally, I’m not convinced this is a bad idea–don’t make everyone suffer, just those who illegally copy music.
The only thing that is defective is this group of Windoz wussie’s.
It is the record companies that required iTunes to add DRM before they could even start the music store. Blaming Apple is totally wrong!
By the way, one CAN do online music sales WITHOUT DRM.
Case in point: http://www.bleep.com is Warp Music’s (Britain’s premier electronic music label) online music store, extracted from their FAQ:
“- Bleep tracks are standard Mp3 files that are compatible with all computers, ipods and Mp3 players (unlike AAC format (with Fairplay DRM) offered on iTunes or Microsoft’s WMA format)
– Bleep tracks are very high quality, encoded with the renowned codec LAME using the ‘–alt-preset standard’ Variable Bit Rate setting. This uses a higher bitrate for encoding loud sections of a track, and a lower bitrate on quieter sections – it is widely acknowledged to give the best sound quality while maintaining manageable file sizes.
-Bleep files have no ‘DRM’ or copy protection built in. We believe that most people like to be treated as customers and not potential criminals – DRM is easily circumvented and just puts obstacles in the way of enjoying music.”
Dig?
“…they should be protesting against the greedy music corporations…”
Or maybe they should be protesting against all the f***ing thieves who made it necessary to institute DRM in the first place. If nobody had been stealing it, it wouldn’t have been locked up.
The “greedy corporations” wouldn’t care if I made a hundred copies for myself, as long as I didn’t distribute their content free across the net. I’d imagine if anyone in this silly “flash mob” ever produced anything original, they’d feel much the same way.
The only ones who have a real problem with Apple’s DRM solution are either thieves or spoiled brats with too much time on their hands. Really, why don’t they go volunteer at a local soup kitchen if they want to be public spirited–well, I guess they would have as much fun if they’re weren’t dancing around in yellow suits with their friends…
Kate
“Protesting against DRM at Apple retail stores is like protesting against federal gasoline taxes at the corner gas station when you should be marching in Washington.”
And if you protest at every corner gas station if the country? Wouldn’t that be a lot more efficient than a puny march in DC? I mean, apart from saving on fuel? ;^)
Besides, you don’t write to your President, you write to your Congressperson or Senator, there’s a lot less filters to dodge.
Do these clowns think this will make Apple drop Fairplay just because they don’t like it?
Methinks the record companies might object.
Simple solution.
You no like? Don’t use the iTunes Music Store.
If only they were planning to show up in D.C.
I could definitely buy a case of tomatoes and leave em outside in the sun till their protest. Have a nice little greeting ready and waiting.
That settles it, I’m buying my father’s birthday present, an iPod Nano, this weekend at an Apple store on Saturday. What a bunch of losers.
It’s a lie that you are restricted to how many copies you can make. You delete your playlist and put it in a new playlist and you can make more copies of a file.
This is typical of anarchists who have no clue about the benefits of protecting intellectual property. The big music companies are greedy and they abuse their customers for sure, but Apple makes it easier to have the minimum DRM that protects content creatores and gives the users as much freedom as possible ni a compromise.
To fanactics and zealots there is no compromise. This jihad against Apple is disingenuous, and it will fail.
flyermoney –
Hey, man – bleep.com’s not worried about piracy because few have ever heard of any of their offered music. Most of those bands sell, at best, a few copies of their home-produced cd’s per year to grandma and uncle Al. They’d be more than happy if one of their obscure tunes caught on and got big through piracy.
The thing is, though…once they got big, and real money was at stake and they saw a chance to move out of their parent’s basement, they’d be adopting whatever method of DRM that was most effective.
Dig?
Hey DBD,
Make sure Microsoft and it’s PlaysForSure DRM is on your hit list too! You need to have some FairPlay in your campaign
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“I could definitely buy a case of tomatoes and leave em outside in the sun till their protest. Have a nice little greeting ready and waiting.”
I think we can take ’em. And we don’t need to dress alike and follow each other around. We can also tell them that their spaceship is waiting at the appointed location. An offer them new sneakers for the ride.
quote – To accomplish their goals, they want to monitor, report, and regulate your every interaction with your computer and electronics.
Hey defective design, get over your self. Nobody cares that you listen to Barry Manilow, except maybe Barry Manilow.
Pardon me for being steamed, but with everything else that’s going wrong with this country, they waste their time on DRM? It’s entertainment, you idiots! Don’t like it? Do something else! Take a walk, read a book, kiss a girl, anything!
For fsck’s sake, the country and world are going to hell in a handbasket! There are many vitally important issues worth protesting or demonstrating for! (I won’t go into them here to avoid starting a political flamewar.) And what gets these morons out the door? MUSIC?!?!
What a pompous bunch of needy self-centered little twits. I wish they were demonstrating in my city. I’d love to give them a piece of my mind.
DBD should be thanking Apple for keeping music at 99 cents a song and helping the once struggling music industry from the depths of peril!
I agree with others, this needs to be directed at the music labels and not at Apple Computer. It’s not Apple’s original idea. To do this to Apple just to gain attention tot he cause is unjust and unfair.
I hope there will be a good number of Mac faithful on hand to defend Apple.
Maybe it all starts with the artists. With todays technology, bands can get themselves on to the web with videos, musc and downloads.
Apple should offer some sort of contract with bands that want to sell their music themselves outside of the labels. Maybe a ‘new bands’ area of iTunes.
Its too bad that labels have as much power they have and how little consumers can do about it; except boycotting ALL music purchases for about a year and have bands sell their own music off their own websites.
The right to protest is important and dear. But does anyone pay attention to how protests may be most effective– ever?
Smart, interesting, and cutting versus common, typical, and quasi-whining? Protesting has the same effect as car alarms lately– so common (and alike), no one pays attention hardly at all.
If you’re going to make a point, make one. Don’t borrow from the same old formula: complaint.
Thank you LordRobin, for calling it like it is. You da man.
I think defective also describes people who are unwilling or mentally incapable of taking 5 freakin seconds and learn how to burn a CD, thus removing the DRM.
So it’s been APPLE following me around in those black helicopters all this time!
I thought it was the C.I.A. before!
NOW I’M ASCARED!!!
“So it’s been APPLE following me around in those black helicopters all this time!”
Um, I’m pretty sure they were Aqua colored copters. They were rainbow colored years ago.
Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd, and there is no such thing as bad publicity.
@Ampar – “We can also tell them that their spaceship is waiting at the appointed location. An offer them new sneakers for the ride.“
Marshall Applewhite send his utmost thanks from the Hale-Bopp comet.
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PETA would rather kill human beings than allow anyone to hurt an animal.
Now thats a group DBD can espouse to become.
^^^sends
flyermoney:
I just checked out the site you mentioned. They have no popular music at all.
Do you think that anyone, including Apple, could have bargained a less restrictive arrangement than iTunes offers for popular music?
But if this flash mob was protesting, say Microsoft, the flash mob would be the greatest idea since the iPod.
During their protests they show up in yellow Hazmat suits and inform passers-by of their cause.
Maybe I’ll show up and inform THEM I’m there to do business with Apple, and they should get outta the way.
Everyone’s entitled to an opinion, but good grief. Can’t they find anything better to protest?
if you don’t like it, don’t spend your money on it. problem solved.
i wonder how many dvd movies these people buy? what’s the difference between a movie and an mp3 with DRM?
i hope they plan on protesting the movie companies too.
DRM is bad. It is destroying fair use. It is invading our privacy. A little of it dressed up pretty with good design doesn’t make it ok.
I love apple products, and I used to like the culture, but Apple seems to be going far with restrictive practices.
They just got slapped by the courts for attempting to force bloggers to reveal sources. If they had won, they would have seriously damaged the rights of online journalists for years to come, all because someone leaked some proprietary information and Apple thought they were big enough to strongarm the little guys.
Just because it’s cheap doesn’t make it right to change the rules whenever they want. We should have fair use rights and Apple shouldn’t take them away, even if they are taking less away than the studios.
Jobs should stand up and be a good American and protect our rights to fair use and free press.
But if this flash mob was protesting, say Microsoft, the flash mob would be the greatest idea since the iPod.
Hardly. I’d rank them among the clowns who camp outside a new Apple Store, waiting for the grand opening.
Never mind the fact it’s too dangerous to line up outside MS. Flying chairs and all, you know…
http://www.civicactions.com/?q=team/gregoryheller
Whatta maroon!
They’re also the luvvy-duvvy anti-war lobbyists remember..and about as clued up on the real world and its threats as coco the clown.
All the music in the world along with millions works of art do not belong to anyone, but the God. Make music free, you greedy egoists!
All the music in the world along with millions works of art do not belong to anyone, but the God. Make music free, you greedy egoists! Music is a kind of thing that interacts with your soul, enlightens you from the inside. It has nothing to do with people’s wallets. Charging for music is like charging for water.
The name Defective by Design is very misleading as it suggests that Apple products are defective, which ther aren’t.
This can be very damaging to Apple and may hurt sales, if people don’t know what the protestors are protesting about.
I don’t usually do this but I had to send them an email:
“Burn
The
Songs
To
A
CD
There’s no limit, the limit is on playlists and you can create as many of those as you want. I could buy 1000 songs from iTunes, and in a short time, remove their DRM. What’s the problem?
Apple’s is the only DRM where you can easily remove the DRM (and it’s not a hack, it’s a supported feature).
Microsoft’s (the people who are actually paying you to do this, remember them?) DRM is draconian in the extreme and unremovable.
Of course the real culprits are the record companies, but if you protested outside their premises, you would likely end up in the cells for the night, and the publicity that Microsoft is after would not occur.
Get your facts straight, get your hands out of Microsoft’s kickbacks, and you might sleep better at night.”
Oh brother, what’s next? These people must not have lives at all. What a bunch of monkeys…. Yoww!
Stupidity must really suck!
Wanna bet that these are the bozos the download all their music from pirated site?
Yeah you loosers, idiots!
America is the a great country where every idiot has frredom to do the most stupid things!
So how much did SanDisk pay these people?
“Charging for music is like charging for water…”
Only someone who has never created anything thinks like this. Artists deserve recompense for their work, just like anyone else.
If you don’t like it, it doesn’t have to be that way. I am in the process of backing up all my protected AAC files, converting all my music to CD then back in as MP3.
Once that is done it will be a lot easier to keep up on.
1) How can you protest a choice – you can go buy CD’s – nobody said you have to buy from the iTunes Music Store
2) Apple’s doesn’t care about the DRM – its the record companies who want it
3) The DRM used at the iTunes Music Store is not very restrictive
You can buy a CD, and legally rip every song on it to an mp3 on your computer. Saves time not having to pop CDs in and out. Enter the new format for the future, online stores and getting music directly digital.
It’s not more convenient, it’s not better quality, and it’s not want the *customers* want. They charge more, give you less, and force their controls and restrictions on it.
DRM = Dummies Repeating Mistakes. It’s a crime to break the law to uphold the law, it’s a crime to infringe on people’s rights to deal with copyright infringers.
Penalizing the whole for the choices of the few never works, neither does “Assumed Guilty until proven innocent”
Ooh a Flash Mob… that’s so 2005. Maybe it’s Microsoft employees. Either way it’s pathetic. Just rip CDs, like I do, they have zero DRM.
Let’s say they succeed and Apple remove their DRM. The record companies then swiftly sue them and stop them from selling any further music. Clever.
Ampar – No, they’re matte black helicopters now. The funny thing is, they cost $150 more than the regular helicopters.
Why ? just apple….napter..urge ..sony …they all have it too ….this is so pointless!!
“If the DBD people where to protest outside any of the major label’s HQs, which arguably WOULD be the right thing to do, there’d be a lot less visibility brought to the action.”
No, there will be no more visibility hanging around a few stores than there would hanging around the major label HQ’s” Oh, wait, there’s all that foot traffic in Apple Stores which will be irritated that someone’s yelling at them when all they want to do is shop for a Mac Mini. Sounds like a way to create animosity when, in other circumstances, this person may have been willing to listen to the argument.
MDN Magic Word
congress
This group will must be a CONgress because they haven’t been making PROgress!
“By the way, one CAN do online music sales WITHOUT DRM.”
Yes, but only if the music sucks so bad that no one would want to steal it. Let one of their “artists” break out into a runaway hit and see how quickly they’ll want to protect their profits.
‘Defective by Design’ group protests against Apple Stores.
Is anyone who reads this headline going to think this is about DRM?
It is an attack on iPods thinly disguised as a legitimate protest against a popular cause.
There has to be iPod competitor money behind this somewhere along the line.
“But if this flash mob was protesting, say Microsoft, the flash mob would be the greatest idea since the iPod.”
Nope, not if they were protesting about music because, again, they get their marching orders from the Music Labels.
Now protesting for sucky software? Yeah, front steps, yellow suits, picket signs, security guards, the whole nine.
Hey, let’s all sign up to go and then not show up LOL!
Freedom of speach?
Theres not even a place to comment on the DBD site.
Whats up with that?
new FUD tactic. plain and simple. Guess the boyz at the also rans and mikro$uck are investing in a little advertising here……
dammit……how fricken hard is it to burn a fricken cd in itunes, and re-import, what a bunch of stoopid aholes, they deserve to be stuck steaqling or using napster………man
Barter, Nick, please…
As per Bleep.com: A few copies of their home-produced cd’s per year to grandma and uncle Al? They have no popular music at all?
Pardon me?
Bleep distribute internationally known and respected electro artists such as Amon Tobin, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada etc. These are a lot more popular than you think, certainly not MTV material such as Jessica Simpson or Britney Spears, but that does tell a lot about quality, IMHO.
In fact, they are immensely popular, you’re just not savvy about the electro scene, which incidentally sells a lot of discs, but as most are pressed and distributed by independent channels, they don’t show up in the major charts, or are heard on the big TV or radio stations which have sold their souls to the Majors long time ago.
nineboy –
“Freedom of speach? Theres not even a place to comment on the DBD site. Whats up with that?”
Yes, there is. First register as a member in order to post, then click on the “add a comment” link at the top of the article page. I’ve already set the record straight there, and of the few comments posted so far, almost all agree that targeting Apple is stupid.
Also, you seem confused about what constitutes freedom of speech. Your freedom of speech is not someone else’s obligation to facilitate your speech. Now, I’m a good liberal, but even the most die-hard liberals don’t equate rights and freedoms with entitlements if they have any sense.
flyermoney –
“Bleep distribute internationally known and respected electro artists such as Amon Tobin, Aphex Twin, Autechre, Boards of Canada etc. These are a lot more popular than you think, certainly not MTV material such as Jessica Simpson or Britney Spears, but that does tell a lot about quality, IMHO.”
Look, it’s all very nice that there are some artists and minor labels who are enlightened enough to offer their material without DRM. But, the simple fact is that the big labels just aren’t willing to do that, and the blame for this should not fall on Apple.
Personally, I hope that more and more artists will choose the DRM-free path and that this will eventually bring the major labels around. I’m not holding my breath. If the big labels start getting serious about DRM on CDs, though, then I’ll be truly steamed.
“2) Apple’s doesn’t care about the DRM – its the record companies who want it”
– To be so naive…
It’s a shame they aren’t targeting St. Louis. I’m going to be at the Apple Store there today. I like watching herds of idiots moving through the mall.
OH!! People with too much time on their hands. *sings to a tune* You gotta feel sorry for fools who actually do this kind of thing.
Dear Protesters,
Why didn’t anyone show up yesterday?
Design and I waited and waited, then we finally had to go home.
Sincerely,
Defective
Do any of you know how to spell?
The bottom line is that irrespective of Apple’s opinion of DRM, it doesn’t matter. Sure they have a lot of power since they control the digital market to such a great extent, but if they came out and said they were dropping their DRM then you’d soon find all the record companies pulling out pretty sharpish. It’s all well and good going after apple and even convincing them but the record companies are who you need to convince first.