Document Type
Article
Abstract
In this Article, I will argue that Congress can best address the inadequacy of DRM services by imposing mandatory labeling requirements on all media that incorporates digital rights management services, which would lower consumer confusion and encourage fair competition. Imposing mandatory labeling requirements is a step beyond current industry practices, which are voluntary and have little standardization for what information to disclose. Given the proper information, consumers would be able to make informed buying decisions on TPM-protected media based on what collateral impact the protections method has on the product. As a result, different DRM services would be in direct competition with each other based upon their level of restriction. In the open market, less restrictive media would become more valuable, and more robust DRM services would emerge that would incorporate freer consumer uses and would accurately reflect the content owners’ statutory rights and limitations. As a result, consumer uses and exemptions currently enjoyed outside digital media would be encoded in the DRM, properly rebalancing the relationship between content owners and consumers with minimal governmental intervention and oversight.
In this Article, in Part II, I will detail the legal foundation and reasoning of copyright law that enables the use of DRM by content owners and why these current controls are inadequate for consumers. I will then detail the legal precedents for mandatory labeling requirements in federal consumer protection and unfair competition laws and explain why it is an adequate use of the FTC’s power to make labeling and disclosure mandatory not only for physical media, but also for more transient digital distributions. Finally, in Part III, I will propose an adequate disclosure technique that evaluates both the immediate and secondary consequences of DRM services and gives the consumer the adequate amount of information to make an informed decision of whether to accept the terms proposed by the content provider.
Recommended Citation
Sean Whaley,
Mandatory Labeling for Digital Rights Management: A Least Restrictive Means for Rebalancing Rights Between Content Owners and Consumers,
12 J. Tech. L. & Pol'y
(2007).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/jtlp/vol12/iss2/6