Abstract: The OECD’s Working Party on the Information Economy (WPIE) has recently published four extensive reports on digital content. Their relevance for the DRM discussion is analyzed in the course of this article. Where applicable, they are also contrasted with differing findings and positions.
From the body of the article:
The report then introduces the concept of open access publishing. Authors following this concept "grant to all users the free, irrevocable, worldwide, perpetual right of access to copy, use, distribute, transmit and display the work publicly and to make and distribute derivative works, in any digital medium for any responsible purpose" (Bethesda Statement of Open Access Publishing 2003). Articles and papers are usually based on publicly funded research. Accordingly, funding agencies and institutions are more and more adopting the open access policy. Thereby, they are stressing the importance of knowledge creation and distribution and the integration of all the actors and activities within innovative systems. According to the report, DRM does not lend itself to the idea of open access publishing, as it is primarily meant to limit users’ rights in terms of openness and interoperability....I largely agree with WPIE’s assessment of the situation in online gaming and scientific publishing, especially when it comes to open access publishing.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 10/21/2005 11:53:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
