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February 6, 2007

itunes_store

Steve Jobs comes out of the anti-DRM closet

Posted Feb. 6, ’07, 12:56 PM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Steve JobsSteve Jobs may not be exactly reticent, but neither would I call him randomly demonstrative. Rarely do you see him respond to criticisms of Apple, except in the context of interview soundbites. For him to, say, author an open letter on the state of DRM is, if not unprecedented, at least very very rare.

In a response to the recent critiques and legal challenges of iTunes’s DRM system from countries like Norway, Jobs has laid bare his thoughts on DRM, and three alternatives for the future. And, in the words of news broadcasters everywhere, what he says may surprise you:

The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely. 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.
Is this just marketing speak? An example of Jobs knowing that since the record labels will never go for DRM-free music, Apple won’t have to put its money where its mouth is? Or an attempt to get Norway and its friends to redirect their legal attentions to the labels? While the possibility exists, Jobs could easily have sat back and done nothing, risk free. By putting this letter out there, as a matter of public record, he knows that if there’s even the slimmest chance that record companies will decide to get rid of DRM, he will be bound to keep his promise. Goodbye, lock-in myth.

Just last December, I speculated what would happen if Apple suddenly went DRM-free and, man, it’s like Steve’s been listening:

In 2006, under 2 billion DRM-protected songs were sold worldwide by online stores, while over 20 billion songs were sold completely DRM-free and unprotected on CDs by the music companies themselves. The music companies sell the vast majority of their music DRM-free, and show no signs of changing this behavior, since the overwhelming majority of their revenues depend on selling CDs which must play in CD players that support no DRM system.
Jobs’s letter goes a long way to answer questions that consumers and governments have been asking about Apple and DRM practically since the iTunes Store’s debut almost four years ago. The big step still remains for DRM to be actually abolished.

Your move, record labels.


4 Comments

Dave said:

I guess that Stallman interview really got to him :)

February 6, 2007 1:23 PM
lipbalm said:

This doesn't surprise me at all; Steve is clearly on our side. He knows that making consumers happy by allowing them to do what they want with their media is a great way to sell more computers and iPods.

* He continually fights for the $0.99 per song pricing scheme when every major label lobbies for variable pricing.

* iTunes from its inception has allowed ripping of CDs into multi-format, non-DRMed files. It remains the best tool for that job.

* As much as I dislike DRM in general, FairPlay is as reasonable as it gets. Apple has never even bothered trying to hide the fact that ITMS purchased songs can easily be burned and re-ripped.

February 6, 2007 4:10 PM
Frank Dawson Jr said:

Someone finally gets it!!! Now if only the music companys would !!

February 6, 2007 4:42 PM
beto said:

You know what? The man is speaking the truth, what the hell are the record labels doing??, I think they don't have any ounce of intelligence. For me is an ideal scenario: I live in Colombia and there is not an iTunes Store even for Latin America, if the digital music sold in the online stores goes DRM free, that's only means that we (we people, of course) from all around the world finally can have access to all the music we want to buy but we can't at this very moment because of the stupidness of the record labels. For Apple means that only needs one iTunes Store for all the world (less site-maintenance) in terms of music of course...

February 6, 2007 5:24 PM

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