went to Corey Doctorow’s session at the Ideas Festival.

thoroughly enjoyed his interesting, stimulating talk.

it’s pretty scary how people, including myself, don’t seem to pay enough attention to issues that will, undoubtedly affect, or are already affecting, us all on a global level.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) or Digital “Restrictions” Management is already shaping our techno-social environments. what’s obvious to us now - things like the dvd region code telling the rightful owner off, and sony’s ridiculous attempt to covertly install spyware on their own customers’ (yes, those honest people who would buy copies of celine dion’s latest cd, for example -_-;) computers - are actually a tip of the iceberg. soon enough, we will have to face and reluctantly accept various definitions and technological restrictions enforced by giant corporations like Sony and BBC, which will in turn alter multiple facets of our daily life. one of the examples given by Doctorow was how a particular media content can be licensed to a single “family unit.” now, the problem is rather obvious here. how would you define a family unit? what if your child goes away for education? what if you get divorced, in which cases may involve children frequently moving between the parents’ residences? and what if you’re in a same-sex relationship in a country where the same-sex marriage has not yet been legalised (or will it ever in every country)? regardless of our wishes, those companies will make those definitions - political, economic, social, technological, and cultural.

we’re living in a wired world. we cannot escape it.
like in the animation “Serial Experiements Lain,” everyone’s connected.

if we remain unaware of what’s going on with DRM, technology will no longer be some gadgety tools working for our convenience; it will be the most powerful tool that will conveniently serve the needs of the oppressors who will at every opportunity instantly snatch away our rights not only as technology consumers, but as human beings. we need to make sure that we understand the significance of DRM, and actively participate in developing fair and practical ways to protect the freedom and creativity of humanity from being - so publically yet disturbingly privately - legally molestered.

for more information and/or inspirations, check:

electronic frontier foundation: http://www.eff.org/
electronic frontiers australia: http://www.efa.org.au/
creative commons: http://creativecommons.org/

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