GPL3 is not anti-DRM as such

GPL3 is not anti-DRM as such

Posted Dec 21, 2006 17:46 UTC (Thu) by lysse (subscriber, #3190)
In reply to: GPL3 is not anti-DRM as such by khim
Parent article: A 2006 retrospective

But it is arguable that what the GPLv2 allows you to modify is the
program, not the source code - indeed, it does specify that source should
be supplied in the most convenient form, does it not? In which case, it's
not a very big stretch to argue that modification to the source code is
only the means by which modifications to the running software may be
effected, not an end in its own right.

If the effect of the GPLv3 is to make explicit that implicit argument,
then I struggle to see why it's even controversial. Not to mention that a
DRM system doesn't have to lock out user-compiled binaries; all that's
needed is a per-machine key, and a way of accessing that at compile time.
If the GPLv3 does not explicitly prohibit such a scheme, then it cannot
possibly be said to be anti-DRM. To make that claim would be to confuse
concept with implementation.

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