brainwagon

A bunch of different blogs are complaining about the fact that the important 9/11 Commission report is protected by DRM. If you try to copy any text from it, you get prompted with this:

Let’s be clear. This is a federal document, paid for by your tax dollars. As such, it is entirely and indisputably in the public domain. If, however, you try to circumvent the DRM that protects this document that we all own, you are guilty of circumventing a digital rights management system, which is a federal crime. What this means is that a technological measure has circumvented your rights. This isn’t just a case of fair use: you actually own this material (as we all do).

I had previously been annoyed by the idea that this copy of the Constitution was protected by DRM, and it doesn’t seem like it is getting any better.

[tags]Public Domain,9/11 Commission,DRM,Digital Rights Management[/tags]