Development of Creative Commons licenses

["Greg London" <teloscorbin AT gmail.com>]

On 9/27/06, Evan Prodromou <evan AT prodromou.name> wrote:
> In a parallel distribution scenario, that effect is negated. If an
> unencumbered version is made available, then there is no "imposition" of
> anything. The other people still have the freedom to share, modify, and
> experiment.

unless DRM Dave is the only person who can supply DRM-enabled
versions of the work that play on his hardware, and laws such as
the DMCA prevent Alice and Bob from applying DRM themselves,
then your parallel distribution fails to negate and creates an inequality.


> The main value of a parallel distribution proviso is to get Free
> Software and Free Content onto platforms which they couldn't be played
> on in a simplistic no-DRM-ever scenario. Making CC-licensed music
> available for music players; sharing CC-licensed books for an ebook
> reader; putting video, audio and images onto game consoles. Parallel
> distribution lets us extend the purview of Free Content onto these
> platforms _without_ restricting the rights of users.

Unless you're talking about ubiquitous hardware that everyone has
but no one can put CC content on because they don't have permission
from the DRM owner, and the hardware doesn't support non-DRM
formats, at which point you've given DRM Dave an advantage over
all other users, and while the license doesn't prevent Alice or Bob
from putting the work on the platform, the DMCA does.

> Parallel distribution is not an acceptance of the DRM view of the world.
> It's a _subversion_ of it. It's saying, "No matter what kind of
> brain-dead architecture you build, we will turn it to our purpose, and
> we will continue to share freely with each other."

but not on that platform,  because Dave wont give permission to
create DRM enabled versions of works, and the DMCA makes it
illegal to try to figure out how to do it yourself.