DRM Activists Call On U2's Bono

Global technology activist network DefectiveByDesign.org has begun collecting signatures for a petition to Bono, the U2 frontman and change-worker. It's an interesting way of framing the "Digital Restrictions Management" (DRM) debate. DRM lets the record industry act as a gatekeeper between a musician's fans and a musician's music. If I've purchased music, I should be able to transfer that purchased music to other formats as I see fit -- not according to what the record company will allow.

Bono and U2 seem to understand the potential for online music distribution. Maybe they'll also understand the importance of freedom from digital locks and spyware. The DRM question goes directly to issues of Lessig's Free Culture and corporate transparency. And for all you librarians - DRM is even more restrictive when applied to eBooks. If the nature of our ability to access+distribute information is changing, we ought to all have a say in how it's being changed.