British All-Party report on DRM

Groklaw is reporting that the All Party Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG) in the UK has just released its report on its study of DRM:

A recommendation that OFCOM publish guidance to make it clear that companies distributing Technical Protection Measures systems in the UK would, if they have features such as those in Sony-BMG’s MediaMax and XCP systems, run a significant risk of being prosecuted for criminal actions.

That's a refreshing change.

Other key recommendations include:

• that legislation be introduced to forced companies to label products so that it will become crystal-clear to consumers what they will and will not be able to do with digital content they purchase;


• that the government does not legislate to make DRM systems mandatory; and


• that the Government considers a much wider-ranging exemption to the anti-circumvention measures in the 1988 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act for genuine academic research.