At Apple's final keynote address to the Macworld faithful today, the company made an announcement that should change the way music is purchased from now on—roll it back to the old, better way, I mean. Apple will no longer put DRM code on its iTunes music files.
DRM, shorthand for Digital Rights Management, is the “protection" that is encoded into purchased digital audio files, such as songs from iTunes or the Zune Marketplace. The “rights' being managed and “protected" have never been those of the consumer, but those of the record labels seeking to ensure that customers aren't tempted to copy the files they've purchased and hand them off to friends for free.
The “Big Four"—Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, and EMI—all agreed that, effective today, they no longer need to encumber their artists' iTunes offerings with DRM. This means that you can give a friend a song you bought on iTunes—and it will actually play on his or her iPod!
Hooray! The stupid, insulting blight to the consumer's intelligence that is DRM has finally been done away with. Remember stereo cassette players that had dubbing decks on them, for the specific purpose of making “mixtapes" and copies for friends? It might be hard to remember, because these devices coincided with a time when records actually sold and big labels had real budgets. Then something happened: the digital music revolution. CDs gave way to files, and labels feared consumers would never buy music again, only steal it. Their solution: steal from the consumer.
DRM, shorthand for Digital Rights Management, is the “protection" that is encoded into purchased digital audio files, such as songs from iTunes or the Zune Marketplace. The “rights' being managed and “protected" have never been those of the consumer, but those of the record labels seeking to ensure that customers aren't tempted to copy the files they've purchased and hand them off to friends for free.
The “Big Four"—Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, Warner Music Group, and EMI—all agreed that, effective today, they no longer need to encumber their artists' iTunes offerings with DRM. This means that you can give a friend a song you bought on iTunes—and it will actually play on his or her iPod!
Hooray! The stupid, insulting blight to the consumer's intelligence that is DRM has finally been done away with. Remember stereo cassette players that had dubbing decks on them, for the specific purpose of making “mixtapes" and copies for friends? It might be hard to remember, because these devices coincided with a time when records actually sold and big labels had real budgets. Then something happened: the digital music revolution. CDs gave way to files, and labels feared consumers would never buy music again, only steal it. Their solution: steal from the consumer.
