NBC v. Apple
One questions that arose the other day in the Apple-NBC Kerfluffle was the demand that NBC wanted more copy protection.
NBC Universal also wants iTunes to stiffen anti-piracy provisions so computer users would not have easy access to illegal downloads. – Associated Press
Most people were quite what that meant.
NBC apparently wants even tighter DRM on its videos than already provided by Apple, which allows users to authorize up to five computers to play back the video but has no DVD burning capabilities (unless the user wants to back up the file itself to a DVD). And as we know from the private admissions of Hollywood, stricter DRM restrictions aren’t about piracy—they’re about control. – Jacqui Cheng
Good guess… but not quite.
In addition, we asked Apple to take concrete steps to protect content from piracy, since it is estimated that the typical iPod contains a significant amount of illegally downloaded material. – Cory Shields
Apparently, NBC wants Apple to force users to only be able to download preapproved material onto their iPod. That sound bizarre, but is actually exactly what CableLabs forced TiVo to do. Which is probably another reason you won’t ever see an Apple TV with CableCard Support.
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I ran into one of those Internet changing events last night.
Digg.com users, very upset at the news aggregate site for deleting articles containing an encryption key that could be used to crack the digital rights management on HD DVDs, have inundated the site with thousands of recommendations to pages that contain the code. The protest was apparently heard by Digg administrators, who later reversed the ban. – Steven Musil
If you have never seen the film Antitrust, there is a similar scene in the film. And just as in that scene, once information gets out on the Internet”, there is very little that can stop it. And you would think that the existence of things like the Gallery of CSS Descramblers would have made things clear that their attempts to supress things just won’t work.
But the question is, should Digg be let off the hook?
I suggested a couple of times that Digg was operating out of fear, and not out of legal requirement, based on the fact that Reddit still has the key up, and Wired published an article on Feb 13, 2007, with the key, and that is still up. I used no foul language at any time. My account has been disabled for misuse. – Nougat
Removing the posts was one thing. Disabling accounts was much worse. I am perfectly willing to forgive, but I think Kevin Rose and his fellows need to meet everyone more than halfway.
The Day the DRM Died
EMI will offer songs without DRM, iTunes is first partner. Songs will be encoded at 256k and sold at $1.29 per song, $0.30 more per song than the current price. These will be offered along side the existing lower quality, DRM tracks, and consumers can choose. – Michael Arrington
Is this a game changer? I think so. For one thing, it means I will finally start using the iTunes gift card my brother and sister-in-law gave me for Christmas. And I will definitely have some new tracks on my iPod tonight.
Interoperable DRM
DRM is bad, but if we must have it, make it interoperable. Microsoft is willing to license Windows Media to Apple. Apple should be willing to license FairPlay as well. It’s that simple. We can talk about imaginary worlds where everything is free (free as in non-DRM’d) and no one steals, but let’s talk about reality a bit, eh? – Paul Thurrott
Now that Steve Jobs and Bill Gates are on record as saying that DRM doesn’t work, it is simply not the time to give the record companies what they have wanted all along: a unified platform that plays enough music that will make them enough money that they can ignore the countries and companies that are actively trying to get them to change their ways.
Most every player device works at every one of these “stores” and it is pretty easy to keep all the songs, no matter where you got them, in a single folder or “jukebox” on your computer. But not the iPod. Most agree it is the best quality player on the market even if the cheapest one costs a few hundred dollars. The problem is that the iPod only works with either songs that you buy from the on-line Apple iTunes store or songs that you rip from your own CD’s. But those other music sites have lots of music that you can’t get at the iTunes store. So, if you have an iPod, you are out of luck. – Hilary Rosen
I would argue that the only reason we are even having this discussion is because of the facts that Apple and Microsoft’s DRM do not work together. And one other thing…
seek a license to Microsoft’s Windows Media technologies – Paul Thurrott
Is that PlaysForSure DRM or Zune DRM? They are non-interoperable, after all. It seems unlikely that Microsoft would allow the iPod to play both when none of their players can.
Jobs on DRM and Music
Today’s most popular iPod holds 1000 songs, and research tells us that the average iPod is nearly full. This means that only 22 out of 1000 songs, or under 3% of the music on the average iPod, is purchased from the iTunes store and protected with a DRM. The remaining 97% of the music is unprotected and playable on any player that can play the open formats. – Steve Jobs
I thought this was a really fascinating essay. There is just one thing.
Among the artists who can be found at eMusic are Barenaked Ladies, Sarah McLachlan and Avril Lavigne, who are represented by Nettwerk Music Group, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. All Nettwerk releases are available at eMusic without copy protection. But when the same tracks are sold by the iTunes Music Store, Apple insists on attaching FairPlay copy protection that limits their use to only one portable player, the iPod. Terry McBride, Nettwerk’s chief executive, said that the artists initially required Apple to use copy protection, but that this was no longer the case. At this point, he said, copy protection serves only Apple’s interests. Josh Bernoff, a principal analyst at Forrester Research, agreed, saying copy protection “just locks people into Apple.” He said he had recently asked Apple when the company would remove copy protection and was told, “We see no need to do so.” – Randall Stross
Unless Apple is contractually obligated to sell all their music with DRM, and this sentence, “If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store.” certainly makes it sound like they may be, I really think it is time to make DRM optional on an individual basis. I have an iTunes gift card that I received for Christmas that I would love to start using.
