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There has been much spoeculation about the possible benefits of the new Apple iPad, many have exagerated the advantages of this latest must have hi-tech gadget, but there has not been much discussion about the economic model under which the iPads multiple services will be sold and what the social effects of this might be?

The iPad has been presented as a potentially progressive tool which will revolutionise the way in which we will be able to access our information and cultural media.

The web site ‘open culture’ claims to promote the best free cultural & educational media on the web, it recently featured an article by William Rankin, Director of educational innovation entitled ‘The iPad and Information’s Third Age’.

Rankin, likens the development of the iPad to the invention of printing, he states that the iPad will bring about “the dawn of a change as radical as that driven by Gutenberg’s invention.” That the iPad “mirrors the increased accessibility offered by Gutenberg’s revolution while lowering the barrier characteristic of most recent technologies.”

Free Software Foundation’s ‘Defective By Design’ campaign is however seeking to publicise the fact that the iPad will utilise DRM, Digital Rights Management, other wise known to its opponents, as Digital Restrictions Management since its purpose is to restrict the rights of the user.

Fundamental social problems will be created by Apple’s use of DRM Technology in the iPad, DRM restricts users’ access to movies, music, literature and software and all forms of digital data.

In fact the Apple iPad will never belong to its owner. Apple will use DRM technology to gain total veto power over the applications which you can use and the media that you can view.

The Free Software Foundation point out the economic model used by Apple to market the iPhone will now be applied to their new iPad, this economic model does not allow the installation of software from other sources, the use of DRM technology on all applications and the restricted users to media from the Apple media store.

The free Software Foundation asks why does Apple continue to use DRM on all video content from Apple, why did they add it to iPhone apps and why are they going to extend it to the new iPad?

The Free Software Foundation have launched a petition which identifies the use of DRM technology in the marketing of iPad services a frightening step backward for computing and for media distribution.

The petition calls upon Apple to drop all DRM on Apple computers and mobile devices, you can read it here, sign it, and share with your friends?

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 7th, 2010 at 10:13 pm and is filed under Free Software. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.