Life in Canada

Canadian Privacy Commissioner: Just say no to intrusive DRM
( digital rights management )

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Jennifer Stoddart, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, is wary of DRM, and she's not afraid to tell other branches of government about her concerns. Stoddart has just sent a public letter to Jim Prentice, the Canadian Minister of Industry, telling him that his impending copyright reform bill should not protect any DRM that gathers and transmits personal data.

Stoddart wouldn't care much about DRM if it "only controlled copying and use of content." But DRM can also collect personal information and send it back to the "copyright owner or content provider, without the consent or knowledge of the user." Even if users do find out (and object), they wouldn't be able to strip the DRM or circumvent it because Prentice's bill will reportedly contain US-style anti-circumvention provisions.

Jennifer Stoddart Stoddart points to the Sony BMG rootkit fiasco as a real-world example of the problem. The Windows-only content protection software included on selected CDs cloaked its presence, collected information about what discs were played, and sent the data (and a user's IP number) to Sony BMG. That made the software a privacy concern, not just something for IP lawyers to debate. "That this occurs when individuals are engaged in a private activity in their homes or other places where they have a high expectation of privacy exacerbates the intrusiveness of the collection," Stoddart wrote.

Her concern in the letter is narrow, but it's heartening to see parts of the Canadian government, at least, taking issues of consumer privacy seriously. Canadian law professor Michael Geist, who has spearheaded much of the opposition to Prentice's bill, says that the letter "provides an important reminder that it is more than just copyright law that hangs in the balance as the government's plans could ultimately place Canadians' privacy at risk."

Prentice had initially readied the bill for presentation late last year, but the media firestorm over its introduction has already delayed it for over a month, with no word on when it will be officially introduced.

Art Elliott 2008