Defective by Design blogs

Stop the GUARD Act and age verification laws worldwide

Greg Farough — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 01:47:42 +0000

It always comes back to "protecting the children." It's one of the most convincing ways of getting people to sign on to (or simply support) a bill. But when a goal like this gets shouted about so widely by lawmakers who have a less than sterling record on these issues, we need to consider whether the solutions proposed actually address the problem -- and whether the consequences they carry are worth the problems they "resolve."

Many people have already been exposed to age verification techniques online, whether it's while making a purchase or elsewhere. When done in a way that respects a user's freedom and privacy, there's nothing particularly objectionable about these measures. In some cases, there may very well be a good reason to prevent minors from accessing certain materials online, but that does not (and will never) mean that this technology should be baked into software. There is no situation in which it is appropriate. It is fundamentally incompatible with a user's freedom and is impossible to do effectively without Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). Curtailing computing freedom like this is an extremely dangerous precedent to set.

Over the years, software freedom and digital rights activists have seen countless bills proposed by lawmakers (sometimes willfully) ignorant of the real issues at hand. Around the United States, all kinds of age verification laws are being rushed onto the books, but none that we're aware of pose as distinct of a threat to software freedom and the free software community as the ones that focus on device-based age verification. Examples of these legislative control attempts are cropping up all over the world. In the United States federal government right now, it's exemplified by bills like the under-protested GUARD Act.

If passed, the GUARD Act would place a nationwide ban on minors using "chatbot" services, and would require all users of such services in the United States to submit to mandatory verification. In short, it would open the door to a "surveillance regime." Such a regime would make creating a free machine learning bundle almost, if not totally, impossible through its development restrictions and threats of criminialization. Say goodbye to the anonymous use of such tools, and hello to the suffocation of free software development and technology more generally.

While it's nominally about protecting children from chatbots, which are powered by so-called "artificial intelligence," the Act has wide-reaching implications for all software users -- and should be regarded as an existential threat to the entire free software movement. Chatbots and their ilk aren't popular with our movement, but that doesn't mean barring children from them is the right thing to do. What's at stake is freedom 0 as we know it: the right for anyone of any age, anywhere, to use any program for any purpose. This freedom should be regarded as a cornerstone for a free digital society. Even as I write this, we're teetering toward dystopia. Freedom 0 is a fight we can't afford to lose.

The vast majority of free software projects have only one contributor. Depending on how someone (and the courts) interprets the term "provider" in the bill's text, even the most trivial of programs could be expected to implement age verification technology before minors in the United States are allowed to execute the program. Depending on how such legislation is enforced, how could a single contributor on one of the ethical software repositories keep up?

We can't play games with the future of computing. There's burnout in social movements all over the world -- including ours, like developers overwhelmed by LLM patches and issues -- but the internet itself is at risk. We chose to speak up about this issue not only because of the grave threat it poses to user freedom, but because of its connection to free machine learning, a topic the FSF has been researching and soon plans to publish about. The GUARD Act, as well as any zombified bill with the same provisions that Congress tries to resuscitate, must be stopped.

If you're in the United States, call your local senator to inform them of the dangers of this kind of legislation. The importance of a phone call over an email can't be stressed enough. Only meaningful, person-to-person communication gives senators a clear idea of how their constituents feel. Otherwise, your objections to the GUARD Act or any other dangerous piece of legislation might just be swept under the rug.

The GUARD Act isn't the only example of age verification we're combating. We'll be highlighting these issues in future posts and actions, including one coming up very soon.

This year's International Day Against DRM on July 17th will put a spotlight on age verification issues both in the United States and abroad. Please consider lending us your individual support or as a supporting organization. If you're working against this or similar legislation, we'd love to hear from you. The FSF has already reached out to the many LibreLocal meetup organizers we helped for their support. We need your help, too.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to protect children, but we need sustainable solutions that do what they propose to do without tossing out a free digital society in the process.

To tackle plastic waste, tackle DRM (retracted)

dbd — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 19:15:05 +0000

A story previously posted at this URL contained several factual errors. We've retracted it and apologize for the mistake.

Amazon tightens the digital handcuffs

Greg Farough — Wed, 05 Mar 2025 16:48:59 +0000

One of the most noteworthy events in the history of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) was Amazon's Orwellian deletion of George Orwell's 1984 from its customers' e-readers. Ever since then, it's been a touchstone of anti-DRM activism, giving users yet another reason to avoid the "Swindle", as if its proprietary software isn't enough. Just last week, Amazon showed that its campaign against literacy is still very much alive by depriving users with older Kindles (i.e. loyal customers) of the ability to transfer e-books to their devices via USB. As the oldest models of the devices don't have wireless cards, this was the only officially supported method of transferring new books over to the device. (Thankfully, free software able to do this exact thing has existed for years.)

This isn't the only hurdle Kindle users have had to suffer during the lifetime of the device. Amazon still encumbers books purchased through its site with DRM, putting artificial limitations on who you can share your book with and when. Without this basic commitment to shareability, something "dead tree" books have had since their inception, is it really any surprise that Amazon seems intent on adding to global e-waste by making these devices "officially" useless?

Even if a user has a perfectly functioning device, which can transfer text files (also known as e-books) just as well as when it was first released, Amazon would have her limited to the books she's already purchased. Imagine an old but sturdy bookshelf, one with plenty of unused space on it -- and now imagine some petty bureaucrat coming in to tell you that you can't put any more books on it. Amazon's removing "download and transfer" makes just as little sense.

Users deserve more. Not only should the programs which power their devices be free software, but they shouldn't be arbitrarily limited in what they can do with files on their machines, no matter whether that file's contents are home movies, tax documents, or the complete works of George Orwell. Given its origins as a bookseller, Amazon should know better; given its current status as a panoptic corporation, we can't say we're surprised.

Keep doing the right thing. Purchase e-books from sellers that respect your freedom, and don't support Amazon's attack on reading.

Keep putting pressure on Microsoft

Greg Farough — Fri, 27 Dec 2024 18:38:49 +0000

Grassroots organization against a corporation as large as Microsoft is never easy. They have the advertising budget to claim that they "love Linux" (sic), not to mention the money and political willpower to corral free software developers from around the world on their nonfree platform Microsoft GitHub. This year's IDAD took aim at one specific injustice: their requiring a hardware TPM module for users being forced to "upgrade" to Windows 11. As Windows 10 will soon stop receiving security updates, this is a (Microsoft-manufactured) problem for users still on this operating system. Normally, offloading cryptography to a different hardware module could be seen as a good thing -- but with nonfree software, it can only spell trouble for the user.

As we mentioned in this year's action announcement, we hope you took this opportunity to share the GNU/Linux operating system with someone you know and explained the concept of free software using this as an example of what we are up against.

Seemingly small acts like these could start a journey towards freedom -- in addition to saving yet another perfectly functioning computer from becoming e-waste. What's crucial now is to keep putting pressure on Microsoft, whether that's through switching to GNU/Linux, avoiding new releases of their software, or actions as simple as moving your projects off of Microsoft GitHub. If you're concerned about e-waste or have friends who work to combat climate change, getting them together to tell them about free software is the perfect way to help our movement grow, and free a few more users from Microsoft's digital restrictions.

IDAD is just one of the important events the Free Software Foundation holds every year. Right now, we're in our annual fundraiser, and need your help to continue our work against DRM and other forms of digital injustice. We appreciate any contribution you can make, whether that's a financial one or just spreading the word.

Will you consider becoming an FSF associate member if you aren't one already? Like other social causes, our strength is in numbers. Your support directly helps us keep campaigning for another year.

On another note, we realized in the course of planning that IDAD's "moveable feast" isn't the most conducive to satellite events or helpful for our partner organizations. We hear you. In January, we plan to announce the date of next year's IDAD, one we intend to keep the same for as long as it serves the movement.

If you participated in this year's IDAD, whether as an individual activist or a supporting organization, thank you. The day itself may be over, but our work against digital restrictions still continues. Avoiding DRM is something each of us ought to do year round. We hope you'll keep on supporting the Defective by Design campaign and the Free Software Foundation. We're all in this together.

IDAD 2024 - Dec. 20: For freedom, against restriction

Greg Farough — Mon, 16 Dec 2024 19:49:40 +0000

Eighteen years after the Defective by Design campaign's inception, we're still continuing the fight against Digital Restrictions Management (DRM), the practice of imposing technological restrictions that control what users can do with digital media -- and won't back down until we've won. For our eighteenth International Day Against DRM (IDAD), we're targeting an issue that thousands of computer users around the world will face, whether they know it yet or not. As Microsoft has decided to end the life of Windows 10, one of everyone's least favorite nonfree software developers has mandated the use of a hardware TPM for those who want to downgrade to Windows 11, an unnecessary module that will send thousands (if not hundreds of thousands) of perfectly functioning machines to your local landfill, potentially setting back e-waste reduction efforts for years. This doesn't need to happen.

While TPM has legitimate uses and could theoretically benefit user security if handled through free software, it is overwhelmingly used not to protect its actual users, but media conglomerates. Today, most of the major streaming media platforms utilize the TPM to decrypt media streams, forcefully placing the decryption out of the user's control. Why then require a TPM? It's easy: by offloading the decryption to a separate piece of hardware running its own software, media companies can ensure that users won't try to access the files streaming through their own machines.

This situation shows how DRM isn't just an issue unto itself, or a problem only technical people should be concerned about. In effect, this completely unnecessary mandate will do nothing but increase e-waste worldwide, and give further (and false) credence to the idea that computers need to be replaced every few years. Enough is enough. We're focusing this year's IDAD on how to break free.

If you follow our other campaigns, you know what's coming next. We don't have to be beholden to the will of companies like Microsoft and Netflix; our very own, free as in beer and freedom operating system is available for use right now: GNU/Linux. If you or someone you know is going to be affected by this forced requirement, we ask you to take this year's IDAD as your chance to choose a freer way instead.

How to participate

Try a live version ("distribution") of the GNU/Linux operating system or help a friend do the same. We recommend trying one of these fully free distributions, but others are available elsewhere.
Ask around your friends and family if anyone is using Windows 10. If they are, inform of the issue and let them know now is the time to upgrade to freedom.
Organize your own event for IDAD and let us know about it. We can promote it on social media and with any local FSF/DBD supporters.
Flood review sites with a real evaluation of Windows 11 -- highlighting the ways it robs users of their rights.
Challenge yourself to go a "Day without DRM," and refuse to engage with media peddled by Disney+, Amazon, Peacock, and others that don't respect your digital autonomy. If you need ideas on where to get started, be sure to check out our Guide to DRM-free Living.

We know not everyone is in a position to, but if you can, can you support our efforts by making a donation? Or, an associate membership is a great show of support we can rely on, and an annual FSF associate membership translates to a mere $2.69 USD per week, or $0.38 USD per day! We need more resources to continue our work, but our request is even bigger, because we have to do more. Associate members will also be able to enjoy all the associate member benefits. Will you help us reach our year-end fundraising goal of $400,000 USD this year-end? If you join as a member this period, we'll send you a set of five unique postcards to help you promote computer user freedom.

Thank you for not backing down against DRM, even if it can often seem like a lost cause. Supporters like you help us to continue our valuable work.

Our work isn't over: Keep fighting for the freedom to learn

Greg Farough — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 16:04:26 +0000

It's not easy being an anti-DRM activist, especially heading into 2024. Not content with locking down software and streaming media, the massive corporations peddling this unjust technology have even extended their reach into the world's libraries. OverDrive is the worst of these offenders -- and by their actions, an enemy of universal education everywhere. Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) is fundamentally incompatible with the humanitarian principles that guide libraries, which is why we targeted them for this year's International Day Against DRM (IDAD).

No matter how active we are, a single day is not enough to reverse this dangerous trend for even the most dedicated group of activists. As anti-DRM activists, we know this; we are used to millions of dollars in media propaganda working against us. In just a short time, Follett, OverDrive, and others have perpetuated the idea that ebooks should be subject to the same restrictions as physical media. As more and more readers turn to ebooks, libraries are forced to keep up with the trend, often having to pay onerous licensing fees just for the "privilege" of keeping the work in stock, and, often unknowingly, exposing their patrons' data.

Let me be clear: thanks to digital media, and for the first time in history, free (as in freedom), universal education for all is within reach. Corporate greed is the only thing standing in the way of this goal. OverDrive and Follet have used the millions of dollars and incredible engineering talent they have at their disposal to develop new ways to restrict readers and spy on them, all while claiming to uphold core educational principles like universal access and freedom from censorship. They would rather spend their time and energy devising new ways to make money for their shareholders -- not authors -- and limiting our access to media even further than physical media does naturally.

IDAD, and the Defective by Design campaign itself, is our way of drawing attention to these issues. Given our size, we can't change things ourselves. What we can do is point to the way things should be and could be. We can call out those who claim good ideals while doing their opposite, and we can continue on with our work. It's all up to us -- and you.

IDAD may be over this year, but our work against DRM continues. We invite you to join us in campaigning against DRM in whatever way interests you, whether that's suggesting edits and making corrections to the Guide to DRM-free Living, joining the #dbd IRC channel on Libera.Chat, or spreading the message about the Defective by Design campaign far and wide through your own initiative. And, if you are on social media already, you can post with the hashtag #EndDRM. We're always on the lookout for anti-DRM success stories as well, so if you've had some results you'd like to share with us, please write us at campaigns@fsf.org.

Topic:

idad

Day Against DRM

dayagainstdrm

International Day Against DRM

Libraries

Worldwide community of activists protest OverDrive and others forcing DRM upon libraries

Greg Farough — Tue, 28 Nov 2023 18:56:33 +0000

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Tuesday, November 28, 2023 -- The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has announced its Defective by Design campaign's 17th annual International Day Against DRM (IDAD). It will protest uses of Digital Restrictions Management technology's hold over public libraries around the world, exemplified by corporations like OverDrive and Follett Destiny. IDAD will take place digitally and worldwide on December 8, 2023.

This year, the FSF stands up for libraries everywhere with its International Day against DRM (aka IDAD), the organization's annual protest against Digital Restrictions Managament (DRM), which is organized as part of the Defective by Design campaign. Anyone can join in this year's activities, and they can learn more by going to the Defective by Design website.

This year's campaign draws attention to the ways libraries, and by extension, their patrons, are mistreated by corporations like OverDrive, makers of the "Libby" app that have a near monopolistic control over digital lending in the United States. Services like OverDrive and Follet Destiny mandate "controlled digital lending" schemes, imposing artificial scarcity on a digital good. They also require monthly or annual fees in order to have the privilege of having a book or piece of media in circulation. Should the library struggle with paying its licensing fees, like the New York Public Library, then its "access" is "rescinded."

"There once was a time when you could donate a book to the library to give others in your community access to it. There once was a time when libraries owned the works that they provide to the public, rather than finding themselves trapped by unethical technology and predatory licensing fees," said Greg Farough, campaigns manager at the FSF. "If we want to ensure that our cultural legacy lasts, we need to focus our attention on corporations like OverDrive, who make a living out of leeching on libraries, which are already underfunded." Farough added, "OverDrive's treatment of libraries -- and wrapping it in unjust Digital Restrictions Management -- is absolutely unconscionable."

All who are interested in participating in this year's protest are encouraged to visit the International Day Against DRM site to learn more about how to get involved.

Now in its seventeenth year, Defective by Design has a long history of campaigning for users' rights to control their media and the devices they use to interact with it. Being the anti-DRM campaign of the FSF, it is inspired by the spirit and community of the global movement for user freedom. As proprietary (i.e. nonfree) software is the method by which most DRM is implemented, the FSF started the campaign in 2006 as an extension of its mission to bring freedom to computer users.

The campaign's call to action is for the International Day Against DRM, but it nevertheless encourages its supporters to speak out against DRM in media any time they have the opportunity. Defective by Design's organizers are inviting other organizations and individuals to collaborate with them in their work against DRM, by contacting info@defectivebydesign.org to discuss possible actions. The campaign is funded by individuals who join as FSF associate members and those who make a donation.

About Defective By Design

Defective by Design is the FSF's campaign against Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). DRM is the practice of imposing technological restrictions that control what users can do with digital media, creating a product that is defective by design. DRM requires the use of proprietary software, and is a major threat to computer user freedom. It often spies on users as well. The campaign, based at https://defectivebydesign.org, organizes anti-DRM activists for in-person and online actions, and challenges powerful media and technology interests promoting DRM. Supporters can donate to the campaign at https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=40, and the campaign can be reached via social media at @endDRM on Twitter, and @endDRM@hostux.social on Mastodon.

About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation (FSF), founded in 1985, is dedicated to promoting computer users' right to use, study, copy, modify, and redistribute computer programs. The FSF promotes the development and use of free (as in freedom) software -- particularly the GNU operating system and its GNU/Linux variants -- and free documentation for free software. The FSF also helps to spread awareness of the ethical and political issues of freedom in the use of software, and its Web sites, located at https://www.fsf.org and https://www.gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux. Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at https://donate.fsf.org. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

Topic:

idad

International Day Against DRM

Libraries

drm

"Web Environment Integrity" is an all-out attack on the free Internet

Greg Farough — Fri, 28 Jul 2023 14:34:27 +0000

Using a free browser is now more important than ever. We've written recently on this topic, but the issue we wrote about there was minor compared to the gross injustice Google is now attempting to force down the throats of web users around the world. The so-called "Web Environment Integrity" (WEI) is the worst stunt we've seen from them in some time. Beginning its life as an innocuous, if worrying, policy document posted to Microsoft GitHub, Google has now fast-tracked its development into their Chromium browser. At its current rate of progress, WEI will be upon us in no time.

By giving developers an API through which they can approve certain browser configurations while forbidding others, WEI is a tremendous step toward the "enshittification" of the web as a whole. Many of us have grown up with a specific idea of the Internet, the notion of it as a collection of hyperlinked pages that can be accessed by a wide variety of different machines, programs, and operating systems. WEI is this idea's antithesis.

Compared to its staggering potential effects, the technical means through which WEI will accomplish its ends is relatively simple. Before serving a web page, a server can ask a third-party "verification" service to make sure that the user's browsing environment has not been "tampered" with. A translation of the policy's terminology will help us here: this Google-owned server will be asked to make sure that the browser does not deviate in any way from Google's accepted browser configuration, precluding any meaningful use of the four freedoms. It is not far-fetched to imagine a future in which sites simply refuse to serve pages to users running free browsers or free operating systems. If WEI isn't stopped now, that future will come sooner than we think.

While Web Environment Integrity has a policy document that attempts to explain valid ways in which it could be used, these are all non-issues compared to the way that we know it will be used. It will be used by governments to ensure that only their officially "approved" (read: backdoored) browsers are able to access the Internet; it will be used by corporations like Netflix to further Digital Restrictions Management (DRM); it will be used by Google to deny access to their services unless you are using a browser that gels with their profit margin.

Once upon a time, Google's official policy was "don't be evil." With the rapid progress they've made on Web Environment Integrity in such a short time, we can say very safely that their policy is now to pioneer evil. As we write this, talented and well-paid Google engineers and executives are working to dismantle what makes the web the web. Given that Google is one of the largest corporations on the planet, our only hope of saving the Internet as we know it is a clear and principled stance for freedom, a collective upholding of the communal principles on which the web was based.

Let us repeat: there is absolutely no legitimate justification for WEI. The use cases that the policy document highlights are nothing compared to its real use case, which is developing a method to obtain complete and total restriction of the free Internet.

We urge everyone involved in a decision-making capacity at Google to consider the principles on which the web was founded, and to carefully contemplate whether Web Environment Integrity aligns with those principles. We hope that they will realize WEI's fundamental incompatibility with the free Internet and cease work on the standard immediately.

And if they don't? Well, they ought to be ashamed.

Topic:

IDAD 2022: Celebrating the freedom to share with a new advocacy video

Greg Farough — Tue, 27 Dec 2022 23:49:14 +0000

In our sixteenth annual International Day Against DRM (IDAD), we stood up for the freedom to share cultural works, continuing our fight against Digital Restrictions Management (DRM). Each year, the Free Software Foundation (FSF) rallies anti-DRM advocates from all over the world for a day of action against digital restriction. This year was no exception, building on the recent efforts we've made in our year-end fundraiser to draw attention to something vitally important for the free software movement and cultural endeavors alike: the freedom to share.

In addition to our call to use DRM-free media as a springboard for starting a conversation about DRM with a friend or loved ones, we took to the streets of Boston to interview passersby on how they felt about digital sharing. At first, it seemed like a strange request to our interviewees, but its supposed "strangeness" highlights the success corporations like Disney and Netflix have had on the public consciousness. Just what does make a digital file so different that we're barred from sharing it with a friend in person, or passing it down the family line like our favorite books? The results that we received were interesting to say the least, and we'll have more to say about them in the future.

Our interview with Muhammad marks the first of this small series. We'll be publishing others to our social media accounts and Peertube channel in the form of a playlist, and naturally, they're free for you to download, modify and share for use in your own anti-DRM advocacy. We'll release three more interviews in the coming weeks, building forward momentum in the fight against DRM.

Watch (and share!) the video here.

IDAD may be over this year, but our work against DRM continues. We invite you to join us in campaigning against DRM in whatever way interests you, whether that's suggesting edits and making corrections to the Guide to DRM-free Living, joining our strategy discussions in the #dbd IRC channel on Libera.Chat, spreading the message about the Defective by Design campaign far and wide through the use of our printable resources, or by continuing to speak out for your rights wherever you can. We're always on the lookout for anti-DRM success stories as well, so if you've had some results you'd like to share with us, please write us at campaigns@fsf.org. And as always, thank you to the participating organizations who joined us for this year's event!

Together, let's make sure that the freedom to share is secured for future generations: whether that's code passed from developer to user, books or music passed down through the family, or sharing art that's impacted us with a friend. Just as locking down media with DRM is a fundamentally antisocial (and anticultural) act, choosing to do the opposite can only bring benefit to human society.

Topic:

drm

sharing

idad

IDAD is coming soon: Stand with us in support of the freedom to share on December 16

Greg Farough — Thu, 08 Dec 2022 16:39:29 +0000

The sixteenth International Day Against DRM (IDAD) is next week, and all of us that contribute to the Defective by Design campaign are calling on you to help us send a message to purveyors of Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) around the world, letting them know that DRM is unacceptable in any and all of its forms. This year's Day Against DRM will be held next Friday, on December 16, 2022.

In this year's IDAD, we want to celebrate and call attention to an increasingly rare, almost magical ability that most forms of media used to have, and which all ethical digital media still does today: the ability to be shared with a friend.

In our year-end fundraiser, we've been stressing the importance of sharing. Though sharing is the basis of human culture, the most staunch defenders of unjust copyright legislation would have you believe that every creative work is dropped wholesale out of the sky, without influence from anything that came before it. In 2022, monolithic mega-corporations would have you believe that these creative works should be "temporary," something that "expires" after it's seen once or twice under a restrictive license on restricting technology. (See, for example, section 3.a.ii of the Disney Plus Subscriber Agreement.)

This year, let's remind everyone that things didn't use to be this way, but more importantly, that they don't have to be this way. Just as DRM crept into our lives one choice at a time, it can be weeded out in the same way: with one conscious decision after another and support from a community of like-minded activists.

What seems like a small act of lending on your part can be the perfect springboard for a conversation on why it's important to avoid DRM, even if that means forgoing a popular Netflix series or streamed film in favor of something produced by companies that sell their works in a way that doesn't trample your freedom. As inundated by advertising as we are, we often forget just how many works of art are still distributed ethically. Lending one of these to a friend or family member could be a great start.

On this year's IDAD, we'll be working to put focus on sharing, taking to the streets of Boston on the day of the event and recording videos we hope will be helpful in understanding people's thoughts and perspectives on sharing in contemporary digital life. This insight, gained through outreach, is useful because it helps us anti-DRM activists understand how we can better educate people on the problems and ethical pitfalls of DRM.

You can have your own effect on the fight for our freedom to share all while staying at home by recording a brief video on why you think the #FreedomtoShare is important and posting it to social media. As with any social cause, even the smallest of actions (or refusals to participate in an unjust system) help the movement as a whole.

What you can do

There are many ways you can educate others about the freedom to share. Some ideas that we came up with, which you might find useful, are:

Share a physical or digital DRM-free work with a friend (you can use the DRM-free Guide!) and use it to start a conversation about DRM;
Let us and the world know why the freedom to share is important in a short video posted to social media. You can use the hashtags #FreedomtoShare and #DayAgainstDRM;
Challenge yourself to go a "Day without DRM," and refuse to engage with media peddled by Disney+, Amazon, Peacock, and others that don't respect your digital autonomy;
Be on the lookout for the videos that we'll be recording on this year's IDAD, and please share them.

We hope to see you taking part in this year's IDAD as we prepare more anti-DRM actions through the Defective by Design campaign. While some aspects of the struggle have changed, the core principles remain the same: users should not be forced to surrender their digital autonomy in exchange for media.

Are you an organization or project interested in supporting or sponsoring IDAD?

We're looking for vendors of DRM-free media, organizations that support the building of a DRM-free world, and those who believe in the mission of DbD to participate in this IDAD. You can do this by offering sales, writing blog posts, organizing events, and sharing with your members about IDAD. Please contact us at info@defectivebydesign.org to let us know what you are planning, so we can amplify your actions, or if you need more information. If you're an organization interested in sponsoring IDAD, please contact us at the same address for more information. If you're hosting your own event, please let us know, and we'll do what we can to promote it.

Topic:

idad

International Day Against DRM