[GNU/FSF Press] Defective by Design delivers iPad anti-DRM petition with 5, 000 signatures to Steve Jobs -- more coming

[Peter Brown]

## Defective by Design delivers iPad anti-DRM petition with 5,000
signatures to Steve Jobs -- more coming

BOSTON, Massachusetts, USA -- Thursday, February 4, 2010 -- The Free
Software Foundation's (FSF) Defective by Design campaign against Digital
Restrictions Management (DRM) delivered its "iPad is iBad for Freedom"
petition to Apple CEO Steve Jobs today, demanding that he drop DRM on
all Apple devices.

The petition was launched at <http://defectivebydesign.org/ipad> to
coincide with the iPad debut event in San Francisco. Within 24 hours,
over 5,000 people had signed the petition.

The petition is still accepting signatures, but the first 5,000 names
have been printed on a four-foot tall "tablet" and shipped to Cupertino.
Defective by Design will send a new tablet for every 5,000 signatures,
so supporters can still add their voices at
<http://defectivebydesign.org/ipad>.

Photos of the tablet being mailed are at
<http://www.defectivebydesign.org/apple-ipad-drm-petition-mailed>.

In a cover letter to Jobs, Defective by Design said, "5,000 people in 24
hours took time out of their day to call you out on this, and demand
change. There is still time for you to do the right thing in the next 60
days, before the iPad actually goes on sale. You can drop the DRM from
the device and the App Store, and actually embrace the ideals you claim
to stand for -- creativity, freedom, and individuality." The full text
of the letter is online at
<http://www.defectivebydesign.org/jobs-ipad-letter>.

### About the Free Software Foundation

The Free Software Foundation, 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 fsf.org
and gnu.org, are an important source of information about GNU/Linux.
Donations to support the FSF's work can be made at
<http://donate.fsf.org>. Its headquarters are in Boston, MA, USA.

### Media Contacts

John Sullivan
Operations Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<address@hidden>

Holmes Wilson
Campaigns Manager
Free Software Foundation
+1 (617) 542 5942
<address@hidden>

###