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UK MPs call for digital rights reform
No mandatory DRM and better info for consumers, please...

By Will Sturgeon

Published: Monday 05 June 2006

The UK All Party Internet Group (Apig) has released the results of a consultation into proprietary protections on copyrighted materials such as music and movies and concerns among consumers about what they can and cannot do with the digital media they own.

Perhaps most important is the focus Apig has put on addressing public concerns about making copies of files or moving them from device to device.

The report said: "There is a significant mismatch between what consumers believe they ought to be permitted to do with copyrighted material and what the law allows."

Consumers are increasingly encountering protection that prevents them from copying media they have bought despite feeling they should have the right to do so, it said. Similarly, the purchase of digital content that is 'locked in' to one platform or device is raising concerns.

Apig is recommending the Office of Fair Trading brings forward the introduction of labelling regulations "so that it will become crystal clear to consumers what they will and will not be able to do with digital content that they purchase".

The report adds such a measure "should ensure the risks are clearly spelled out, at the point of purchase, whenever consumers could lose access to digital content if systems are discontinued, or devices fail, or players are replaced by systems from a different manufacturer".

While such labelling would be an important step towards protecting the rights of consumers, it falls some way short of moves afoot in France where the government is taking a very hard line on proprietary protections such as that used by Apple to lock users in to the iTunes/iPod range.

Apig also hit out at Sony - roundly lambasted for covertly installing potentially damaging software on users' machines as part of its digital rights management strategy.

It said Sony's approach was shocking and recommends in its report "Ofcom publish guidance to make it clear that companies... if they have features such as those in Sony-BMG's MediaMax and XCP systems, run a significant risk of being prosecuted for criminal actions".

Apig also recommends the government does not legislate to make DRM systems mandatory.

The group received more than 90 written submissions from consumers, businesses and industry groups during its consultation period. Among those businesses which contributed where AOL, the BBC, the BPI, Intel and Yahoo!.