Shame! Shame! Mozilla! We never expected such a shameful compromising notion from you.
On Thu, May 15, 2014 at 2:28 PM, Sameer Thahir <[email protected]>wrote: > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Free Software Foundation <[email protected]> > Date: Thu, May 15, 2014 at 12:31 PM > Subject: FSF condemns partnership between Mozilla and Adobe to support > Digital Restrictions Management > To: Sameer Mohamed Thahir <[email protected]> > > > *You can read this post online at https://u.fsf.org/xk > <https://u.fsf.org/xk>.* > FSF condemns partnership between Mozilla and Adobe to support Digital > Restrictions Management > > BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA — Wednesday, May 14th, 2014 — In response to > Mozilla's announcement that it is reluctantly adopting DRM in its Firefox > Web browser, Free Software Foundation executive director John Sullivan made > the following statement: > > "Only a week after the International Day Against > DRM<https://defectivebydesign.org/dayagainstdrm/>, > Mozilla has announced that it will partner with proprietary software > company Adobe to implement support for Web-based Digital Restrictions > Management<https://defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm_digital_restrictions_management>(DRM) > in its Firefox browser, using Encrypted Media Extensions (EME). > > The Free Software Foundation is deeply disappointed in Mozilla's > announcement. The decision compromises important principles in order to > alleviate misguided fears about loss of browser marketshare. It allies > Mozilla with a company hostile to the free software movement and to > Mozilla's own fundamental ideals. > > Although Mozilla will not directly ship Adobe's proprietary DRM plugin, it > will, as an official feature, encourage Firefox users to install the plugin > from Adobe when presented with media that requests DRM. We agree with Cory > Doctorow that there is no meaningful distinction between 'installing DRM' > and 'installing code that installs DRM.' > > We recognize that Mozilla is doing this reluctantly, and we trust these > words coming from Mozilla much more than we do when they come from > Microsoft or Amazon. At the same time, nearly everyone who implements DRM > says they are forced to do it, and this lack of accountability is how the > practice sustains itself. Mozilla's announcement today unfortunately puts > it -- in this regard -- in the same category as its proprietary competitors. > > Unlike those proprietary competitors, Mozilla is going to great lengths to > reduce some of the specific harms of DRM by attempting to 'sandbox' the > plugin. But this approach cannot solve the fundamental ethical problems > with proprietary software, or the issues that inevitably arise when > proprietary software is > installed<https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/proprietary.html>on a user's > computer. > > In the > announcement<https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2014/05/14/drm-and-the-challenge-of-serving-users/>, > Mitchell Baker asserts that Mozilla's hands were tied. But she then goes on > to actively praise Adobe's "value" and suggests that there is some kind of > necessary balance between DRM and user freedom. > > There is nothing necessary about DRM, and to hear Mozilla praising Adobe > -- the company who has been and continues to be a vicious opponent of the > free software movement and the free Web -- is shocking. With this > partnership in place, we worry about Mozilla's ability and willingness to > criticize Adobe's practices going forward. > > We understand that Mozilla is afraid of losing users. Cory Doctorow points > out<http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/may/14/firefox-closed-source-drm-video-browser-cory-doctorow>that > they have produced no evidence to substantiate this fear or made any > effort to study the situation. More importantly, popularity is not an end > in itself. This is especially true for the Mozilla Foundation, a nonprofit > with an ethical mission. In the past, Mozilla has distinguished itself and > achieved success by protecting the freedom of its users and explaining the > importance of that freedom: including publishing Firefox's source code, > allowing others to make modifications to it, and sticking to Web standards > in the face of attempts to impose proprietary extensions. > > Today's decision turns that calculus on its head, devoting Mozilla > resources to delivering users to Adobe and hostile media distributors. In > the process, Firefox is losing the identity which set it apart from its > proprietary competitors -- Internet Explorer and Chrome -- both of which > are implementing EME in an even worse fashion. > > Undoubtedly, some number of users just want restricted media like Netflix > to work in Firefox, and they will be upset if it doesn't. This is > unsurprising, since the majority of the world is not yet familiar with the > ethical issues surrounding proprietary software. This debate was, and is, a > high-profile opportunity to introduce these concepts to users and ask them > to stand together in some tough decisions. > > To see Mozilla compromise without making any public effort to rally users > against this supposed "forced choice" is doubly disappointing. They should > reverse this decision. But whether they do or do not, we call on them to > join us by devoting as many of their extensive resources to permanently > eliminating DRM as they are now devoting to supporting it. The FSF will > have more to say and do on this in the coming days. For now, users who are > concerned about this issue should: > > - > > *Write to Mozilla CTO Andreas Gal and let him know that you oppose DRM > <[email protected]>*. Mozilla made this decision in a misguided appeal > to its userbase; it needs to hear in clear and reasoned terms from the > users who feel this as a betrayal. Ask Mozilla what it is going to do to > actually solve the DRM problem that has created this false forced choice. > - > > *Join our effort to stop EME approval > <https://defectivebydesign.org/no-drm-in-html5> at the W3C*. While > today's announcement makes it even more obvious that W3C rejection of EME > will not stop its implementation, it also makes it clear that W3C can > fearlessly reject EME to send a message that DRM is *not* a part of > the vision of a free Web. > - > > *Use a version of Firefox without the EME code*: Since its source code > is available under a license allowing anyone to modify and redistribute it > under a different name, we expect versions without EME to be made > available, and you should use those instead. We will list them in the Free > Software Directory <https://directory.fsf.org>. > - > > *Donate to support the work of the Free Software Foundation > <https://u.fsf.org/xi> and our Defective by Design <https://u.fsf.org/xh> > campaign to actually end DRM.* Until it's completely gone, Mozilla and > others will be constantly tempted to capitulate, and users will be > pressured to continue using some proprietary software. If not us, give to > another group fighting against digital restrictions." > > References > > - What is > DRM?<https://defectivebydesign.org/what_is_drm_digital_restrictions_management> > - > > https://blog.mozilla.org/blog/2014/05/14/drm-and-the-challenge-of-serving-users/ > - > https://hacks.mozilla.org/2014/05/reconciling-mozillas-mission-and-w3c-eme/ > - https://defectivebydesign.org/dbd-condemns-drm-in-html > - https://fsf.org/news/coalition-against-drm-in-html > - https://defectivebydesign.org/oscar-awarded-w3c-in-the-hollyweb > > Media Contact > > John Sullivan > Executive Director > Free Software Foundation > +1 (617) 542 5942 > [email protected] > About the Free Software Foundation > > The Free Software Foundation, founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting > computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute > computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in > freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its > GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF > also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of > freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at fsf.org and > gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. > Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at https://donate.fsf.org. > Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA. > -- > > Follow us on GNU social <https://status.fsf.org/fsf> | Subscribe to our > blogs via RSS <https://fsf.org/blogs/RSS> | Join us as an associate > member<https://www.fsf.org/jf> > > Sent from the Free Software Foundation, > 51 Franklin Street > Fifth Floor > Boston, Massachusetts 02110-1335 > United States > > Unsubscribe<https://crm.fsf.org/civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe?reset=1&jid=130074&qid=7819592&h=e57c7bd418c2a2f1>from > this mailing list. > > Stop all > email<https://crm.fsf.org/civicrm/mailing/optout?reset=1&jid=130074&qid=7819592&h=e57c7bd418c2a2f1>from > the Free Software Foundation, including Defective by Design, and the > Free Software Supporter newsletter. > > > > -- > > Regards > Sameer Mohamed Thahir > > _______________________________________________ > Indian Libre User Group Cochin Mailing List > http://www.ilug-cochin.org/mailing-list/ > http://ilug-cochin.org/mailman/listinfo/mailinglist_ilug-cochin.org > #[email protected] > -- THOMAS. *M.VAZHAPPILLY*
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