Open Letter on HTML “Encrypted Media Extensions” (DRM)

Until Thursday April 27, 2017, endorsements were sought for the open letter to stop acceptance of Encrypted Media Extension as a W3C standard, which will now be conveyed to Sir Tim Berners-Lee and the W3C.

 

The following endorsements have been receied:

Organizational endorsements

  1. Agencia Latinoamericana de Información - ALAI, Ecuador
  2. ALTERNATIVA ECONÓMICA Crítica y Réplica, Colombia
  3. ASSA8 Aasociacion de solidaridad Salvador Allende, Spain
  4. Association for promotion of sustainable development, India
  5. Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio & Communication, Bangladesh
  6. BloggerPrise Contenidos, Uruguay
  7. CEH Arturo Jauretche, Argentina
  8. Centre for e-Parliament Research, Bangladesh
  9. Centro de Estudios Humanistas de Córdoba, Argentina
  10. Co.lab, Brazil
  11. Connecting.nyc Inc., USA
  12. Coordinadora Latinoamericana de Organizaciones del Campo (CLOC), Latin America
  13. Craol Community Radio Network, Ireland
  14. Diverse Voices and Action (DIVA) for Equality, Fiji
  15. El Nuevo Cronista, Argentina
  16. EMPOWER INDIA, India
  17. Instituto de Desarrollo de la Economia Asociayiva, Rep. Dominicana
  18. IT for Change, India
  19. Pontydysgu Ltd, UK
  20. Post-Media Lab, Germany/World
  21. Stichting bibliotheken Midden Fryslân, Netherlands
  22. Programa de Educación para la Paz-PROEPAZ, Peru
  23. Pressenza, Ecuador
  24. Radialistas Apasionadas y Apasionados, Ecuador
  25. Radios Libres, Ecuador

Individual endorsements

  1. Abraham Pavon Salazar, teacher, Honduras
  2. Adela Delgado Pop, Guatemala
  3. Alan MacLennan, lecturer, Scotland
  4. Aleksandr Zykov, Russia
  5. Alex Llumiquinga, Ecuador
  6. Alexandre José da Rocha Moreira, Brazil
  7. Alexandros Triantafyllidis, software engineer, Greece
  8. Alexis Pacheco R., Honduras
  9. Alicia Aparicio, Argentina
  10. Alicia Madrid, Canada
  11. Ana Cristhina Lemes, São Paulo
  12. Ana Paula Santos Pereira Sequeiros, researcher, Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal
  13. Andrea Cochetti, Argentina
  14. Andro Ortiz Dieguez, Union de informaticos de Cuba, Cuba
  15. Andrés Fernando Cortez, usuario, El Salvador
  16. Andrés Herrera, SysAdm, Spain
  17. Andrés Pino, Chile
  18. Angela Elvira Fuentes Agüero, profesora universitaria, Cuba
  19. Anne Kaun, Associate Professor in Media and Communication Studies, Sweden
  20. Antonio Argemiro Burgos, Colombia
  21. Antonio Hernández Pérez, consultant, Spain
  22. Antonio J. González Plessmann, Surgentes. Colectivo de DDHH, Venezuela
  23. Ariana López, Red en Defensa de la Humanidad-Cuba, Cuba
  24. Armand Mattelart, Université Paris-VIII, France
  25. Armando Torras, electronic engineer, Cuba
  26. Arturo Menéndez Cabezas, MD, PhD, Professor, University of Medical Sciences, Camaguey, Cuba
  27. Arumugam Sankar, EMPOWER INDIA, India
  28. Bernardo García, editor, Colombia
  29. Bogdan Trifunovic, digital projects librarian, Serbia
  30. Boris Klompus, USA
  31. Camille Lee, MLIS Candidate, Canada
  32. Carlos Andres Martin, docente, Argentina
  33. Carlos Morales Iglesias, scientific researcher, Spain
  34. Chandra Singh Kulung, Nepal
  35. Chris Bissell, ICT scholar, UK
  36. Christian Grueny, philosopher, Germany
  37. Christoph B. Graber, Professor of Law, Chair for Legal Sociology and Media Law, University of Zurich, Switzerland
  38. Cristobal Gonzalez Ramirez, Colombia
  39. Dan Maitland, human rights activist, Canada
  40. Dare Samuel Adeleke, Polytechnic Digital Library, The Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
  41. David Chapman, Senior Lecturer, The Open University, UK
  42. David Peter Kelly, Switzerland
  43. Deborah Withers, UK
  44. Diane Mercier, courtière en connaissances, Canada
  45. Dianne Oberg, Professor Emerita, University of Alberta, Canada
  46. Dick Kaser, Editor, Computers in Libraries Magazine, USA
  47. Diego Nicolas Alderete, user, Argentina
  48. Dr Maureen Ellis, Senior Research Associate at UCL-IoE London University and Associate Lecturer at Open University, UK
  49. Dr Syed Mustafa Ali, Lecturer, The Open University, UK
  50. Dr. Kai Droege, Institute for Social Research, Frankfurt, Germany; and University for Applied Science, Lucerne, Switzerland
  51. Dr. Peter Waterman, Institute of Social Studies, The Hague (retired), Netherlands
  52. Dr. Steve Walker, Senior Lecturer, The Open University, UK
  53. Eber Fernando Ordoñez, Argentina
  54. Edmundo Murrugarra Florián, Perú
  55. Eduardo Alejandro Méndez Azguí, researcher (law and history), Cuba
  56. Emil Balcazar Lara, apoyo a la solicitud de mantener una Web democratica y equitativa
  57. Emily Martinez, artist, US
  58. Evelyn Rottengatter, Germany
  59. Feliciano Castaño Villar, University of Granada, Spain
  60. Felipe Lòpez, Argentina
  61. Florence Owor, higher education librarian, UK
  62. Florian Sprenger, Junior Professor for Media and Cultural Studies, Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany
  63. Francisco Gabriel Rodriguez Torres, Argentina
  64. Francisco Olivares, journalist, Chile
  65. Francois Soulard, World Forum of Free Media, Argentina
  66. Fred Flagg, university Scholarly Communications worker, UK
  67. Fulgencio Rueda, Venezuela
  68. Gabriel Jesus Montalba Hernandez, dirigente social, Chile
  69. Gisela Lopez, US
  70. Gonzalo Fernando Mondaca Gutiérrez, ingeniero ambiental, Bolivia
  71. Harry Halpin, security researcher, France/USA
  72. Homero Saltalamacchia, UNTREF, Argentina
  73. Horacio Furlan, Argentina
  74. Hugh Govan, Fiji
  75. Ignácio Dotto Neto, Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brazil
  76. Iroel Sánchez Espinosa, blogger and informatic engineer, Cuba
  77. Isabel Ducca Durán, Costa Rica
  78. Isel Llerena del Castillo, Red en Defensa de la Humanidad-Cuba, Cuba
  79. Jaider Camilo Perez Salamanca, sociólogo, Colombia
  80. Jan Beilicke, free and open source advocate, Germany
  81. Javier Obregón, Argentina
  82. Jean-Louis Fulsack, President CESIR (NGO), France
  83. Jennifer Holt, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
  84. Jesus Angel Pirela Cedeño, ESA Consultores, Venezuela
  85. Jesús González Sarabia, México
  86. Joao Paulo Cardielos, University of Coimbra, Portugal
  87. John Whalley, Librarian, UK
  88. Jorge Merlo, Ecuador
  89. Jose Castro Pozo, Escritor - Poet - Past Pdte. ANEA Lima, Peru
  90. Jose Manuel Arizaga Álvarez, economista, España
  91. Josep Vicenç Marín Oliva, Spain
  92. José Enrique Poma Loja, servidor público, Ecuador
  93. José Miguel Angel Verdecchia, docente/investigador social, Paraguay
  94. José Rafael Luque, Abogado, Venezuela
  95. José Rosario Marroquín Farrera, Universidad Iberoamericana, Puebla, México
  96. José Vicente Rodríguez Muñoz, professor, Spain
  97. Joyce Kirk, emeritus professor, Australia
  98. João Humberto Morgado Figueiredo Silva, Centro de Estudos Sociais da Universidade de Coimbra, Portugal
  99. Juan José Bellido, librarian, Perú
  100. Juan Paco, Internet user, Peru
  101. Julio González Esteves, logistico, Argentina
  102. Julio Macias, university professor, Cuba
  103. Karolina Andersdotter, librarian and digital rights activist, Sweden
  104. Kate Perris, UK
  105. Kath Osborn, librarian and repository manager, UK
  106. Keith Sanborn, Bard College, The New School, USA
  107. Lieke Ploeger, community builder SPEKTRUM, Germany
  108. Ligia Noemí Aguilar Salazar, profesora jubilada, México
  109. Lincoln James Dahlberg, University of Queensland, Australia
  110. Lisa McFarlane, Internet user, UK
  111. Lisa Nathan, Assistant Professor, iSchool, University of British Columbia, Canada
  112. Lucas Eliseo Bolatti, Argentina
  113. Lucy Astra Matheson, librarian, UK
  114. Luis Alberto Mendieta, writer, Ecuador
  115. Luis Fernando Siles Zúñiga, Costa Rica
  116. Luis Horacio Acosta, Argentina
  117. Luis Mora Castillo, Apoyo pleno a Carta21463, Nicaragua
  118. Manuel Bello, librarian, México
  119. Manuel Fernández, México
  120. Marc GUILLAUME, France
  121. Marcello Lussana, Phd student, Germany
  122. Marcelo Zabalaga, Central Bank of Bolivia, Past President, Bolivia
  123. Marcelo da Luz Batalha, sociologist and PhD researcher at State University of Campinas (Unicamp), Brazil
  124. Marco Berlinguer, IGOP UAB, Spain
  125. Marcos González Bahamonde, España
  126. Maria I Tamargo, Interamerican University of Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
  127. Maria Jose P. F. Carvalho, Biblioteca Norte|Sul, Portugal
  128. Maria Manuel Borges, University of Coimbra, Portugal
  129. Maria Matamala, Chile
  130. Marianne Posner, director, libraries department, Tel-Aviv - Yafo Municipality, Israel
  131. Mariano Solis Leyva, México
  132. Marina Vishmidt, writer, UK
  133. Marita Erna Simon, Austria
  134. Martha Attridge Bufton, university subject specialist, Canada
  135. Matthew Hanchard, UK
  136. Mauro O. González, writer, Cuba
  137. Melissa Hofmann, librarian, educator, and protector of fair use, USA
  138. Michael Powell, author, UK
  139. Michel Menou, retired university professor of information science, France
  140. Miguel Eugenio Toro Buenaventura, Colombia
  141. Miguel Ángel Cadena Hernández, politólogo, Colombia
  142. Milagros Valdeavellano Roca Rey, Religiosa del Sagrado Corazón-educadora, Peru
  143. Milton Rene Soto Santiesteban, Ambassador of Bolivia in Sweden
  144. Minka Stoyanova, artist/academic, USA
  145. Molly Hankwitz, PhD, writer/editor, USA
  146. Mélodie Fenez, Germany
  147. Namita Aavriti, writer, India
  148. Nathasha Alvarez, academic librarian, USA
  149. Neil longley, web user, UK
  150. Nelsy Julieta Lizarazo Castro, Ecuador
  151. Nicolas Cruz Tineo, Rep. Dominicana
  152. Nora Schmidt, Lund University, Schweden
  153. Osvaldo Kreimer, Universidad Nacional de San Martin, Argentina
  154. Otelo Martinez, progresista, Cuba
  155. Pablo Quevedo Mejía, contador público/servidor público, Venezuela
  156. Paolo Monella, University of Palermo, Italy
  157. Patricia Serafini, librarian, University of Toronto, Canada
  158. Patricia Vieira, University of Coimbra, Portugal
  159. Pedro Cagigal, academic, Ecuador
  160. Pedro Castillo, Educador, Panamá
  161. Pedro Guillermo Remón Ares, Venezuela
  162. Prof Peter J Lor, University of Pretoria, South Africa
  163. Rafael Pla-Lopez, retired professor of the Universitat de Valencia, Spain
  164. Rajmohan Oruganti, India
  165. Rashidah Begum, librarian, Malaysia
  166. Rebeca Cuevas, docente universitaria, México
  167. Renée Castro-Pozo, profesora - editora, Canada
  168. Robert Bentancur, Uruguay
  169. Roberto Savio, Other News, Italia
  170. Rosa García, internauta, México
  171. Rosa Sadler, UK
  172. Rubens Ribeiro Gonçalves da Silva, Full Professor - Information Science Institute - Federal University of Bahia, Brasil
  173. Rumi Graham, librarian, Canada
  174. Samantha Kaplan, UNC Chapel Hill, USA
  175. Samir Hachani, Algiers' University 2, Algeria
  176. Sean Burns, assistant professor, US
  177. Shalini Bhutani, legal researcher, India
  178. Silvia Eggli, web user, Switzerland
  179. Tapas Ray, social science researcher, formerly engineer and journalist, India
  180. Thomas Daniel Wilson, Editor-in-Chief, Information Research
  181. Usha Rodrigues, academic, Deakin University, Australia
  182. Vallo Kelder, teacher and librarian, Estonia
  183. Veronica Leon Burch, filmmaker, Ecuador
  184. Victor Bravo, investigador, Argentina
  185. Victor Selabe, Botswana
  186. Virginia Kuhn, Associate Professor, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California, USA
  187. Walker Vizcarra Gaibor, fotógrafo - educador, Ecuador
  188. Xan Goodman, librarian, USA
  189. Yves La Neuville, Canada

 

Background information - Open letter against DRM control of web browsers

We all use the Internet and the world wide web, and celebrate it for how it has equalized the information playing field. It has allowed unmediated p2p communication, and placed all content on an equal footing. Those who invented the Internet and the Web gifted it to the world so as to promote the public good. The key bodies establishing Internet standards such as the Internet Engineering Task Force and the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), were similarly concerned to safeguard the Internet's core values of equality and openness. But as the Internet has evolved it has become as well, a key means for those with economic power to dominate and exploit. The various bodies now developing Internet standards are today dominated by trans-national digital corporations. Not surprising then that the new Internet/ Web standards increasingly respond to the needs of these corporations rather than of the public at large.

Inspired by demands from the big content providers, the traditional movie and broadcasting companies, corporations like Apple, Google, Microsoft and Netflix, have come together to use the W3C to develop a new web standard which allows them to gain ever more power over the cultural and economic life of humanity.

At the heart of this is the EME, a technical specification which has been developed at the World Wide Web Consortium and is now close to publication an official Recommendation of the W3C. The purpose of EME is to allow for the implementation of Digital Rights (Restrictions) Management (DRM) systems through which publishers will control what end users can do with the content they receive through the Internet.

The effect of the W3C's support of DRM is a new form of digital colonialism where a black box of computer code installed in all browsers globally will enforce U.S. Copyright laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act without user consent or respect for local laws. Unlike earlier web standards this undermines fundamental principles of social justice and equality of access to information as well as fundamental principles of computer security.

In response to this the Just Net Coalition has sent an open letter urging the W3C, and in particular the inventor of the WWW, Sir Tim Berners-Lee (who has veto powers at the W3C), to reject the EME.

Louis Pouzin, an inventor of key elements of the original Internet, put it thus: “Of course lobbies have financial and political means to ignore or distort standards in their products, but they want more. They need the guarantee of a reputable standard institution or outstanding individuals to boost the legalization of their marketing strategy.”

The Web is at a crossroad, and your voice is valuable to stop its enclosure. We are looking for support and endorsements for this letter, which will be conveyed to Sir Tim Berners-Lee and the W3C on April 28, 2017.