Hi,
Apple also has an interest in selling Apple TVs, so that may play a
part.
Thanks for listening,
Alex,
On 6-Nov-08, at 8:17 AM, Jacob Schmude wrote:
Hi
Well, DRM has several different meanings, but I'm going to assume
you're referring to Digital Rights Management. In a nutshell, DRM
refers to any scheme used to define what you can and can't do with
content you purchased in digital form. No two DRM's are entirely the
same, and some are much more of a hassle than others. iTunes, for
instance, uses a DRM system known as Fair Play 2. Basically, you may
authorize up to five computers at any one time to play protected
content, be it music, videos or audiobooks or whatever, that have
been purchased under a certain account. If you wish to authorize a
sixth machine you must deauthorize one of your five machines. Each
iPod, further, can have up to five accounts authorized on it (note
that you don't have to authorize or deauthorize an iPod, that is
automatic). It also limits burning more than seven copies of a
specific playlist if it has protected content, though really you can
get around that by simply changing the name of the playlist or
recreating it. iTunes Videos may not be burned to a regular video
DVD under their DRM terms.
Audible's DRM is very similar to iTunes in concept, though you are
limited to three computers and three portable devices, such as an
iPod.
There are, however, DRM systems that aren't very user-friendly. For
instance, many of the Windows Media DRM systems do not give you
control over what computers are authorized--if you try to play a
song it will authorize that computer, but if too many have been
authorized you cannot play it. Further, you have no control over
authorizing and deauthorizing, and if you've burned a certain track
so many times to CD it will prohibit you from burning that song to
CD ever again. This hit Yahoo's music store pretty hard, as when
they went under all the music people had purchased from them went
down the drain as well. Not all the Windows Media DRM systems are
like this, but a fair number are.
DRM is contravercial in that some say it limits your fair use
rights, which in my opinion depends on the particular DRM used. I'm
not opposed to DRM in principal, but when clumsily implemented it
only hurts those who were honest and purchased their content. As
with any security measure, there are always those working hard to
break it and they usually succeed. I find iTunes DRM more than fair
for the most part, with the exception of not being able to burn a
video DVD of movies I purchased. Apple had to compromise, though, as
while the music industry is slowly realizing that DRM isn't always
the answer, the movie and TV industries are getting an even tighter
grip on their content.
Hope this helped and hope I didn't ramble on too much
On Nov 6, 2008, at 09:59, Dan Geise wrote:
sorry, another simple question, I think. what is D.R.M
thanks
dan
