You're right, though, Mike - they could have offered an opt-in/opt- out for DRM to all the tens of thousands of Indie labels they sell music for. That would have produced the groundswell effect. They either chose not to for the sake of reducing administration, or because they committed to the Big 4 contractually not to do this (and this surely would have been negotiable).
They could still turn it on, though, if they were really committed to fighting DRM - starting with the 'labels' that represent thousands of indie artists: aggregators like CDBaby and the very cool Tunecore. In fact, I wonder if we all shouldn't write to the boss of Tunecore, who's a very forward thinking dude, asking him to ask this of Apple. That'd make them put their money where their mouth is. The point, really, though, is that the people who really need educating are the managements of large media companies, politicians and regulators. They're all obsessed with Piracy and they equate DRM with anti-piracy, end of story. That's all they care about. I wonder what the stance of the Unions are - Musicians' Union in UK and Producers and Directors groups - I bet they're all also on the Anti Piracy = DRM tip, and they'd be the first and easiest to persuade. I might investigate and lend my voice, there must be lots of others writing to them about it already. Rupert On 8 Feb 2007, at 03:07, Mike Meiser wrote: From the ReadWriteWeb article In effect (and Apple fans please don't get upset with this phrasing of > words), this article is a piece of propaganda from Apple. The position is > that Apple and Steve Jobs hate DRM just as much as you and I, so they will > gladly support the abolition of DRM - if the big record companies choose to > do so. Apple is positioning itself on our side, in the war against DRM. This > is all very well, and a very commendable stance from Jobs and Apple. But I'm > left feeling that surely there's more Apple can do to fight DRM than to > simply give a hospital pass to the record companies? Apple is after all > totally dominant in the online music industry, so it now has considerable > power of its own. They are not *totally* at the mercy of record labels.... > are they?! Because that's what this article from Steve Jobs makes it out to > be. > Ding ding ding. I'm not saying I completely agree that this is a piece of apple propoganda... but posting open letters on the web is an act of desperation and surely Steve jobs has NOT exhausted all their possibilities. Hence, apple needs to put some get some lead out and offer artists the opportunity to sell non-drm mp3's. It is really that damn simple. Otherwise Steve jobs is a hypocrite, simply passing the buck. -Mike On 2/7/07, sull <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > interesting reaction... > > http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/steve_jobs_music_drm.php > > On 2/7/07, Joshua Kinberg <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > Posted a reaction on my blog (trying to blog more these days)... > > > > <http://www.joshkinberg.com/blog/archives/2007/02/ steve_jobs_take_1.php> > > > > -Josh > > > > > > On 2/7/07, Rupert <[EMAIL PROTECTED]<rupert% 40fatgirlinohio.org>> > > wrote: > > > Really interesting. And not just related to music. Online video > > > content is getting seriously locked up with DRM, and exactly the same > > > argument applies: > > > > > > Steve Jobs: "The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely... and > > > Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. 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. Every iPod ever made will play this > > > DRM-free music. > > > > > > Why would the big four music companies agree to let Apple and others > > > distribute their music without using DRM systems to protect it? The > > > simplest answer is because DRMs haven't worked, and may never work, > > > to halt music piracy... these same music companies continue to sell > > > billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music." > > > > > > I have ripped many of my DVDs to my Mac and iPod, and TV is taped and > > > digitised and YouTubed. Trying to DRM content sold legally on online > > > stores is pointless, expensive and even counterproductive. As I > > > banged on about a couple of weeks ago, the BBC is obsessed with DRM, > > > as so many broadcasters are - they just don't Get It, and yet they > > > could be leading the way since they're uncommercial. > > > > > > They're limiting the growth of the technology and marketplace in > > > pursuit of an expensive lost cause. The assumption is No DRM = > > > Unlimited Piracy = No Revenues & Problems with the Regulator. > > > There's a whole lot of politics here, but what annoys me most is that > > > DRM limits the choices of companies like Apple and the BBC in > > > developing their technologies and content, when could really take > > > things forward in a progressive way. > > > > > > We need to put pressure on the advocates of DRM to educate them - > > > they have 20th century mindsets and are afraid of the internet. But > > > who do we persuade and how do we do it? Jobs must have tried to > > > persuade the music companies' managements personally, and I would > > > guess he's done it energetically and articulately for years. And yet > > > it still hasn't worked. No wonder he's pissed off - it's Apple who > > > are getting sued, not the Big 4. (that's only part of the Story, > > > though, isn't it? iTunes aside, Apple have been getting more and > > > more insular and walled recently, it feels, so perhaps they been > > > infected with the DRM bug by their music biz partners and need to > > > take their own advice) > > > > > > > > > On 7 Feb 2007, at 01:03, Joshua Kinberg wrote: > > > > > > This is more related to the digital music industry, but I think its > > > important nonetheless: > > > <http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/> > > > > > > Very interesting that Steve Jobs, whose company has probably benefited > > > most from DRM, is now taking an anti-DRM stance. > > > > > > -Josh > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > Sull > http://vlogdir.com (a project) > http://SpreadTheMedia.org (my blog) > http://interdigitate.com (otherly) > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
