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by Richard M. Stallman [email protected]
by Richard M. Stallman [email protected]
To the Management of the Boston Public Library,
    Don Saklad forwarded me your message which reports that
OverDrive Audio Books use “copyright protection technology” made
by Microsoft.

    The technology in question is an example of
Digital Restrictions Management (DRM)–technology designed to
restrict the public.

Describing it as “copyright protection” puts a favorable spin on
a mechanism intended to deny the public the exercise of those
rights which copyright law has not yet denied them.

    The use of that format for distributing books is not a fact of
nature; it is a choice.

When a choice leads to bad consequences, it ought to be changed,
and that is the case here.

I respectfully submit that the Boston Public Library has a
responsibility to refuse to distribute anything in this format,
even if it seems “convenient” to some in the short term.

    By making the choice to use this format, the
Boston Public Library gives additional power to a corporation
already twice convicted of unfair competition.

    This choice excludes more than just Macintosh users.

The users of the GNU/Linux system, an operating system made up of
free/libre software, are excluded as well.

Since these audiobooks are locked up with Digital Restrictions
Management (DRM), it is illegal in the US to release free/libre
software capable of reading these audiobooks.

Apple may make some sort of arrangement to include capable
software in MacOS (which is, itself, non-free software for which
users cannot get source code).

But we in the free software community will never be allowed to
provide software to play them, unless laws are changed.

    There is another, deeper issue at stake here.

The tendency of digitalization is to convert public libraries
into retail stores for vendors of digital works.

The choice to distribute information in a
secret format–information designed to evaporate and become
unreadable–is the antithesis of the spirit of the
public library.

Libraries which participate in this have lost their hearts.

    I therefore urge the Boston Public Library to
terminate its association with OverDrive Audio Books, and
adopt a policy of refusing to be agents for the propagation of
Digital Restrictions Management.
Sincerely
Richard Stallman
President, Free Software Foundation
MacArthur Fellow

cc: John Sullivan for posting on http://fsf.org

General Reference [email protected]
    This is a follow-up message to our response to your
recommendation that the Library’s digital audio book collection
be accessible to Mac users.

    OverDrive Audio Books use copyright protection technology from
Microsoft Corporation.

Unfortunately the iPod (and Mac) do not currently support
copyright-protected Windows Media Audio (WMA) files.

OverDrive, along with hundreds of online music and audio book
providers, is hopeful that Apple and Microsoft can reach an
agreement that would enable support for Microsoft-based
copyright-protected materials on the iPod/Mac.

We are hopeful too – and in the mean time, we will keep looking
for a vendor that will serve a broader audience.

    There is a workaround, however, that allows you to upload
OverDrive content to an iPod, provided your computer is a PC, you
have a CD recordable drive, and the title may be burned to a CD.

If you would like to try this, follow the instructions in the
OverDrive Media Console to burn the downloaded files to CD.

Then, rip the CD into iTunes for synchronization with your iPod.

    If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
General Reference Department
Boston Public Library
700 Boylston St
Boston MA 02116
Phone: 617 859-2270

    We thank you for your suggestion.

We are forwarding your message to the staff members working on
the OverDrive Audio Book and OverDrive eMusic program.

Thank you very much.
Sincerely,
General Reference Department
Boston Public Library
700 Boylston St
Boston MA 02116
Phone: 617 859-2270

—–Original Message—–
Please make http://overdrive.bpl.org available to mac users !