• Abandon DRM: Record Labels Told

    Abandon DRM: Record Labels Told

    Techtree News Staff, Feb 09, 2007 1820 hrs IST

    Apple Computer CEO, Steve Jobs, has opened a can of worms with his suggestion that record labels do away with Digital Rights Management technology.

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Apple Computer CEO, Steve Jobs, has opened a can of worms with his suggestion that record labels do away with their need for online music to be wrapped in Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology.

Meanwhile, record labels; Universal Music Group, EMI Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group, have always maintained, and continue to maintain that DRM is a critical requirement for keeping rampant piracy at bay.

Jobs has published an open letter, "Thoughts on Music" on the Apple Web site, wherein he talks about Apple's perspective on digital music distribution, and the role of DRM.

He writes, "Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat."

Jobs goes on to say that with 90 percent of total yearly music sales comprising CDs that are essentially DRM-free, anyone in possession of a music CD can easily rip the content to MP3, WMA, AAC, or any other digital format, free of DRM restrictions.

As such, Jobs questions whether DRM is actually required at all, when digital distribution remains such a miniscule portion of total music sales.

In his letter, Jobs also discusses two other possibilities: one, of the industry continuing with its current DRM systems; the other, of Apple licensing its proprietary DRM technology, 'FairPlay' to competitors to achieve interoperability. However, he promptly rejects the second possibility, sounding-off concern over possible compromise of the 'FairPlay' system.

So, what has been the response to Jobs' advocacy of this 'laissez faire' distribution system for digital music?

One recording industry group retaliated saying Apple should open up its own anti-piracy techology to rivals instead of urging major record labels take away copying restrictions from the music they sell online.

The overall response remains somewhat of a mixed bag, with some analysts suggesting record companies follow Jobs' suggestion, while others clearly voicing concern over the risk associated with renouncing DRM technology.

Of course, Jobs' suggestion is to be seen in the light of the recent fracas over DRM in Norway, where Apple has been literally given an ultimatum to either open-up its closed iTMS-iPod ecosystem, or cease operations within the country.

As such, the people of Norway are happy to see Jobs take on the responsibility that comes from being the head of a company that is considered a pioneer in the digital music space.

However, the murmur is getting louder that Jobs seems to be missing the wood for the trees in urging record labels to abandon DRM, when it is Apple themselves who should be leading by example.

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Discussion Board
(24) Comments
sagar
,pune, on Apr 08, 2007 09:58 PM
good
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Ghosh
,Cal, on Feb 10, 2007 12:13 AM
Look who's talking about laisseiz faire - this guy sells music online in a format that no other player can play, except, of course, the player he sells!
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Damien
,Toronto, on Feb 15, 2007 01:59 AM
"this guy sells music online in a format that no other player can play, except, of course, the player he sells!" You hit the nail right on the head here. Apple sues companies who create programs to convert their music to other formats. In my opinion, Apple likes DRM (just like they love their proprietary nature) and is probably accusing the record labels of having to keep DRM on their music so they get all the blame. DRM doesn't work because nobody has ever stopped downloading pirated music just because greedy companies sell DRM-infested music. MP3 format music should sell for 10 cents per song, and all the companies will STILL make a load of money. They sell CDs for $10, and it costs them less than $1 for the CD & packaging. Now they sell mp3 songs for $1 and it costs them virtually nothing. Talk about scam artists. That's why people pirate music, they don't give a crap about greedy companies. You don't see people stealing from poor old ladies, why do you think that is??
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Julieann
,Prescott Valley, on Feb 09, 2007 09:51 PM
For me, I won't purchase ANY music online unless I can be assured I can play it in whatever player I have. That includes the CD player in my car and the cd/mp3 player I use in my house. I don't pirate, and I would LIKE to purchase music online. But I can't (other than a few off-brands). This is one potential consumer Apple, Microsoft and all the others are missing. And I won't change until the industry does. Judging from the numbers, there are a lot out there like me. Get a clue, Music Industry! Making it hard for me to play music means I don?t buy it! It?s either buy the whole CD (and only if there are more than 2 songs on it I like) or, time to get out my tape player and record off the radio (geez, early 80?s childhood flashback here).
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Norm
,Boston, on Feb 12, 2007 08:03 AM
iTunes already lets you remove Apple DRM. If you just burn a CD, everything is written without DRM. If you want it in some other format, rip it from the CD you burned. No DRM.
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dookie
,Bangalore, on Feb 11, 2007 11:18 AM
Steve Jobs is a hypocrite. Enuf said. It's self explanatory. Now that Apple is forced to comply with Norwegian demands, they suddenly turn into evangelicals. Besides, Apple is full of shit when it comes to technology. Their USP is good hardware and software design. But they just don't seem to be in sync with the rest of the world. eg: Steve bulshytting about the i-phone at the latest Apple conference. For god sakes, it's a phone.
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rahul
,mumbai, on Feb 10, 2007 02:30 AM
u rip a song and share it on p2p networks and all this drm shit makes no sense,actually steve makes sense after all,also i pray to god that steve PLEASE OPEN UP ITUNES TO INDIAN PUBLIC AND LET US BUY OF ITUNES trust me for eg if they charge 15 bucks a song i would definately pay for it and download it i dont see no great protection with drm files and its actually ridiculous ,sony is such a snob in that regard ,just ask them how many mp3 players they sell with this attitude
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brody
,San Francisco, on Feb 09, 2007 10:32 PM
I refuse to pay for music unless it is open and lossless. I'm not gonna pay $1 for a single song in mp3 format, that is just laughable. I'll take songs in compressed format for free if I need some quick music, but for my real collection it has to be decent quality. And of course I also avoid anything with drm, even if its free.
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Mike
,Detroit, MI, on Feb 10, 2007 12:20 AM
But you WILL pay $4.25 for a Mocha Latt?, and $3.99 for a ringtone, right?
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Mike
,Detroit, MI., on Feb 09, 2007 08:31 PM
A good question to ask would have been "Will you consider adopting Microsoft's PlaysForSure DRM, that is currently used by Napster, Yahoo, Rhapsody, Urge, Sony, Toshiba, Dell, Microsoft, RCA, Philips, etc"
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Nick
,SF, on Feb 09, 2007 10:13 PM
'Absolutely not' would be the answer I hoep would come from a company that actually understands how to make a functional DRM standard. Microsoft has even abandoned their own PlaysForSure format with the Zune... how much longer do you think they will support it? PFS is a shackle placed on manufacturers when they sign on with Windows, it is inferior technically and adds a middleman to what should be a very simple equation: MusicCompanies/Musicians + Electronics Manufacturers = viable products for consumers. Why people allow Microsoft to tax the system is beyond me.
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Jason
,Seattle, on Feb 09, 2007 10:18 PM
Yes, but didn't Microsoft abandon the "PlayForSure" model for another one of their designs leaving Napster, Yahoo, Rhapsody, Sony, Toshiba, Dell, RCA, Philips, etc out in the cold so they could pressure their Urge service? The biggest issue with a Microsoft solution is the lack of consistancy of format.
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Mike
,Detroit, MI, on Feb 10, 2007 12:15 AM
Microsoft's choice to not use PFS for the Zune is unfortunate, and probably contributed to the failure of the Zune as a product. However, they continue to support PFS, and have not announced any plans to abandon it. It's in Vista, and new players keep coming out every day.
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hehe hehe
,queens, on Feb 09, 2007 07:42 PM
my weiner has DRM on it
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poot
,ChiTown, on Feb 09, 2007 10:00 PM
Ask me about my weiner
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Dean
,Montreal, on Feb 09, 2007 10:17 PM
Personally I have no problems buying music online, IF the money I'm paying is going directly to the artist and not through a distribution site and a record label and manufacturer, etc. Some musicians have offered online purchases from their sites and have even offered web-only content (Rik Emmett comes to mind right away as an example). For these musicians I'll gladly pay because I know what I'm paying for isn't jacked up prices to cover some publishing company who's only interested in how much they get paid. This whole DRM issue isn't about protecting the artists, its about protecting the record label and making sure THEY get paid. Bottom line: I will never own and ipod or buy from itunes or any other online venue, or use windows media 11 even, that supports and exclusionary attitude. And DRM definately has that kind of attitude
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jaques-ass
,nyc, on Feb 09, 2007 10:45 PM
is it for sale? how do i strip off the DRM?
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Dan
,Halifax, on Feb 09, 2007 08:36 PM
it's not like their DRM wont be cracked. Sure it will delay pirates getting their media by a week or two, but still?
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IanC
,Phoenix, on Feb 09, 2007 10:19 PM
In a way, it already has been cracked; it is possible to "record" sounds played on a virtual speaker. To a capable "hacker" (or just someone with savvy), this is a simple feat. It's conceptually the same as using a tape-recorder to make audio tape of the radio. Once cracked once, the crack becomes totally untraceable and is highly prevalent on any P2P servers. DRM is a joke that is costing the industry money and not solving the problem. This is a case where free information is profitable information... I think MANY "pirates" would be quite willing to pay a dollar per song if they knew they could use it freely.
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Gnarlodious
,Santa Fe, on Feb 09, 2007 09:00 PM
Apple agreed to prevent piracy of music purchased through ITMS as the terms of the distribution license. It would be a violation of that agreement to open their DRM scheme to every programmer on the planet. The Europeans need to realize that copyright laws are obsolete in the digital age. Antiquated copyright laws have made intellectual property a commodity to hoard rather than share. As such, the laws now prevent public access to music rather than encourage it. That's all there is to this story.
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Mike
,Detroit, MI., on Feb 09, 2007 09:12 PM
The idea that people wont work unless they get paid for it (digital work included) dates back to before recorded time, and will continue on long after you are dead and buried.
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William T. Wils
,St. Charles IL, on Feb 09, 2007 09:12 PM
This issue isn't new; most people won't remember that the software industry tried what was then called "copy protection" in the early 1980's to prevent software piracy. It was such a miserable failure, because it interfere with installation and usability, that most users howled until the protections were removed. Admittedly, technology has come a long way since then, but it provides an instructive lesson. Or do we also forget the Betamax case, and the fact that Hollywood gets more revenue from DVD/tape sales than from first run showings in theatres for the vast majority of films. The record companies are wrong, and greed is only part of the explanation.
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Chris
,NC, on Feb 09, 2007 08:52 PM
Apple should take the risk? That's just stupid (for them). In fact, the record labels probably require they use DRM so they don't have much of a choice.
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T Jason
,Orono, on Feb 09, 2007 08:47 PM
Would the music labels be so kind as to sell DRM free music on read only MMC/SD Cards? Thank you.
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