Europe proposes single, honest DRM

It's been a while coming, but the European Commission has finally published proposals for a new approach to digital copyrights across the continent.

Amongst the ideas the Commission has generated is some sort of cross-continent licensing system, allowing one deal to cover copyrights from the frozen north down to the warm seas and a call for DRM to be made interoperable. Noticing that that's unlikely to happen while the labels fudge and mung, the EC also proposes a more realistic ideal:

[T]here is a need to set a framework for transparency of DRMs regarding interoperability, by ensuring proper consumer information with regards to usage restrictions and interoperability.

The main disappointment is the document is motivated by the idea of making money from content rather than seizing the opportunity of online distribution to encourage consumption of music and art for its educational and cultural value - something which you'd think would be important for the European project.