Apple DRM pressure spreads to EU chief
By Ryan Block 
posted Mar 11th 2007 3:52PM
posted Mar 11th 2007 3:52PM
It doesn't look like any open letter to the industry by Jobs is going to halt the unrelenting European pressure on Apple to open FairPlay and make iTunes interoperable, especially not now that the matter has officially caught the attention of European Union consumer chief Meglena Kuneva. Joining in the cacophony of dialogue ranging from end users to European nations France, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland, Kuneva told German rag Focus, "Do you think it's fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod? I don't. Something has to change." While it's been said that Kuneva's quote only represents her personal opinion on the matter and not an official stance or EU policy, we don't think it really matters a whole lot. It's pretty clear where Europe (and now the EU) is going with all this. The tides are shifting, and now we're all just waiting for the first shot to be fired. (No, we're not really counting France last year.)
The pressure shouldn't be on Apple to open their DRM. The pressure should be on the record companies to not require it. CD's played on every CD player, and there was never any DRM. And once they tried adding DRM to cd's, they stopped playing in every player..
In my opinion the pressure could more effectively come from the success of DRM-free music stores ...
if these idiots read it correctly they would understand its the record labels they should be asking to open up not apple, bloody idiots.
Wouldn't the record companies just pull there music from Apple if the EU forces Apple to into interoperability? Just a thought.
I would if I was a record company. Not that i'm for it, just thinking if I owned the catalog. Apple is just licensing the music. If this comes about, AppleBeatles will never release there music to itunes.
No, because there would still be a form of DRM in effect. I imagine any copy that did license FairPlay would also be required to make sure their device had the same level of protection that current Apple products do.
Opening up FairPlay just means letting others impliment the DRM on devices other than the iPod.
Though Steve is very frank and accurate in his open letter it still is an attempt to try and shift the focus from Apple to the record labels, to build up a common opinion. And rightfully so. I agree. DRM free would be the best for the consumers. But so would region free DVD, BLURAY and Gaming be... but they don't say anything about that now do they? Because controlling what's distributed in a region is legal... but controlling what's distributed for a specific device isn't?
If I ever release music on iTunes I will push for a DRM free release. DRM free music is available for purchase on MySpace now... it might become big.
Interoperability has nothing to do with Apple specifically. But, it does have to do with MS Word files, Zune media files, and just about everything not accessible via open protocols.
Focusing on Apple after years of ignoring MS is nearly comical!
nicholas @ "Focusing on Apple after years of ignoring MS is nearly comical!"
Actually the EU has been going after Microsoft very hard for the last three years. They've been locked in court battles for quite awhile, just on different issues.
Also, why go after Microsoft, for once they don't have any of the music DRM market. Apple is the king of the mountain when it comes to digital music so obivously they are going to be the biggest target. It's like two people speeding in a 65mph, one going 120mph while the other is only going 70mph. Sure, both are speeding but you're going after the 120mph person first.
That's the price you pay for being on top.
@ nicholas
"MS Word files"
Last I checked, you could open .doc's with OpenOffice.
Nick
Nobody is forcing the citizens of the EU to download music from apple or buy their music players that have DRM. If they don't like it, they should find somewhere else to purchase their music. Maybe they should go back to buying entire discs for one song. For every choice your make, your are going to give up something.
"Do you think it's fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod? I don't."
This quote just shows how out of touch she is. In fact, music from iTunes plays on iPods, Macintosh's, PCs, and all CD players ever made.
Think portable devices, Einstein.
I assume that on media playing handsets anything purchased at iTunes will be restricted to the iPhone unless the iTunes Store DRM changes (nevermind the carriers' walled gardens, that's another topic). What if some of us do not want to carry a phone and an iPod all the time?
Chris @ "This quote just shows how out of touch she is. In fact, music from iTunes plays on iPods, Macintosh's, PCs, and all CD players ever made."
I believe she is refering to original source material, without having to go through a seperate process. Burning a FairPlay DRM track onto a CD means you have to change the format of the song, it is no longer about FairPlay. Using your logic you could say that all CD's play on cassette players, you just have to re-record them onto a tape.
Why to people keep taking hacks at apple.i don't like DRM, but i do think fairplay drm is fair, as you can simply remove the DRM. Many other systems are far more closed than apples...
In my opinion, with music & file sharing the way it is, DRM is required, as long as it is fair to the consumer. However, here's a thought. If iTunes was to be removed from the EU, how many people are going to revert to file sharing to fill their iPod... My guess is lots, i cetainly would...
Technically removing the DRM is illegal, so although its easy, it doesn't mean that it's right.
Steve - Apple itunes is by far the #1 music provider service, I don't think the record companies would simply just pull their support without questioning how they are going to sell their music. I think there would be alot of backlash against them if they did.
So IMO Apple does have enough leverage to really push this issue....moreso than MSFT
Doesn't this jibe with Steve's letter? They will make it official. Read: record companies lose their leverage and are further commoditized. That is, unless they can provide some sort of added value, which is better for customers in the long run.
Uh oh the EU is up to their usual shaninigans again. Forget about getting rid of DRM altogether, no, that wouldnt be in the nature of the EU since that would actually make sense.
"Focusing on Apple after years of ignoring MS is nearly comical!"
The EU is ignoring MS? Is that a joke?
@ Shawn O
"Burning a FairPlay DRM track onto a CD means you have to change the format of the song, it is no longer about FairPlay. Using your logic you could say that all CD's play on cassette players, you just have to re-record them onto a tape."
You have a point (that you may not have meant to make...) that is actually an argument against DRM. you're right, CDs are playable in Tape Decks after a conversion... but can you easily do such a conversion from Windows Media to an iPod compatible format? not legally, and not easily.
Transferring from one media to another should be a basic fair-use consumer right, but it's very nearly gone. ...and DRM, while doing nothing to battle piracy, is eliminating our fair-use rights left and right.
I dont really understand what the EU thinks forcing apple to license fairplay will do... you can already buy music from the Zune store for your zune (and only for a zune) and you can use walmart/sony/target/napster or whatever crappy store you want to for your crappy "play-fer-shur" device.
what the hell difference would it make?
@ Jeff
First, I'm completely against DRM, I buy all my music from eMusic or off of half.com. I'm not trying to argue *for* DRM but I do think if we have to put up with it then I should at least be able to play my iTunes music on any device I want.
"can you easily do such a conversion from Windows Media to an iPod compatible format? not legally, and not easily."
I'm assuming you mean a PlaysForSure DRM'd WMA when you say "Windows Media" and your question doesn't actually pertain to the EU's argument. The EU isn't asking for Apple to make it easy to convert from FairPlay into another format, it's to allow other devices to play media protected by FairPlay. Anyone can license PlaysForSure, no one can license FairPlay.
I agree that it should be a basic fair-use consumer right to transfer media from one device to another. One vision of that is no DRM, another is a single DRM solution that every single software and hardware vendor can license for free or cheap. If every device from my Sonos to my DAP to my car stereo to my cell phone could all seamlessly play the same DRM'd content I wouldn't care about DRM. I wouldn't care if it was PlaysForSure or FairPlay or anything else.
The EU is going after Apple because Apple is by a large margin the biggest player in the digital media market. No Zune or Walmart or Sony can even come close to touching them. If Apple falls with all their leverage and market position the others will go down as well by proxy.
The difference it would make is that iTunes users would now have a choice in what devices they wanted to play back their media on. If you are an iPod/Apple TV/iTunes user you probably don't care, but if you are more brand-agnostic you may wish you could play back your iTunes movie downloads on your XBox 360 or PS3 and not only be limited to Apple TV in order to watch iTunes content on your nice shiny plasma.
I've never bought anything from iTunes simply because I know it'll be trapped inside the Apple eco-system. Allow me to play back that content on anything I own and perhaps I'll finally install iTunes.
what's funny is the CD is just proprietary as Apple's system. So is MP3. So is AAC. DVD. And so on. The only difference being some are more popular than others. I laugh when people equate 'open' with popular.
Apple's system is a disincentive to buy. Leave it that way and stop picking on successful companies (never thought I'd defend Apple, but it had to be said...). The key, as usual, is education.
"it's fine that a CD plays in all CD players"
WRONG! for ironically similar copy-protection reasons. This too needs to be fixed!
e.g.
http://www.fastandloud.com/music/record-labels-continue-to-sucker-punch-music-consumers-newest-copy-protected-cds-no-mp3s-no-macs-some-pcs-some-cddvd-players-some-car-stereos/
First of all, the iPod is too dumb to know about FairPlay. iTunes is the ringmaster here as it chooses the valid songs that will play on the synced iPod before copying them to the device. There are no keys that the iPod requires to play FairPlay content. This simplifies the device and the process a great deal. What this means is that Apple would have to support multiple devices (which is a logistical nightmare) or open up the secrets of the FairPlay DRM to work with other music players' software (which will cost Apple money from every angle).
Apple will NEVER license FiarPlay. Doing so would require it being updated at break-neck speeds. hich This means a lot more work for Apple with out any benefit, pissed off record company execs as the DRM will be broken almost immediately, and tons of HW and SW manufactures that they now have to collaborate with.
At one time the ease of use, very fair DRM and the standardized pricing (that Apple fought hard to get for the consumer) really helped sell iPods. I believe the iPod+iTunes integration would have made it the de facto portable music player with the iTunes Store and it's DRM, but Apple certainly doesn't need DRM now except to appease the record companies.
There are only three choices: Keep FairPlay the way it is, get rid of FairPlay altogether, or pull the iTunes store from all countries who bitch and complain about Apple's fair DRM.
WELL SAID.
The difference between Apple and Microsoft on this one is that MS does licence PlaysForSure (although this doesn't apply to the Zune) while Apple refuses to licence FairPlay. Alternatively, Philips licenced the CD again unlike Apple with FairPlay. It is this licencing that makes interoperability possible as we're not dealing with standards.
If Apple simply opened up FairPlay to competitors then the EU would back off. Untile they do that then there is no reason why they shouldn't be investigated for monopolistic practices. However, as always Apple refuse to open up there technology to competitors so why defend them. There is no reason why this would be bad for Apple and iTunes could still be the most popular music service - unless they were undercut by competitors or are you people happy to continue paying more to Apple.
At the end of the day most of the arguments in favour of Apple are based on two things: fanboyism and racism (i.e. anti-European sentiments). If the EU were giving Microsoft a hard time about this I doubt that there would be too many people sticking up for them.
1.Labels are probably behind the European countries wishing to do this.
2.I accept the notion that DRM isn't going away for just a while longer.
3.Until labels release music free of DRM, interoperability is key.
4.Why doesn't Apple just hand over management of FairPlay to companies like the evil DVD-CSS Macrovision, who's CEO has already offered to take responsibility, so they can be rid of the worries there-in and focus on user experience.
5.I'm glad Apple is being put under the microscope of anti-trust type concerns. In the future people may not want another iPod. Maybe someone from Creative or Sony will actually succeed in MP3 players someday, and that 250+ iTunes song purchaser may just want to throw their song on it without worrying about "burn-n-rip".
Funny thing is this is not driven by a groundswell of unhappy European consumers upset at the lack of portability of iTunes songs. This is driven solely by bureaucrats who need to find some busywork to make them look like they're their paychecks. With an encouraging nod of course from the manufacturers of loser MP3s.
If Apple is forced to open up iTunes to competing MP3 players, this will change Apple's iTunes business model: they will now face even greater incentives to make money out of music sales (as opposed to just iPod sales) and will thus start to behave more like a record label. Imagine a record label that controls its retail channels. In their effort to break Apple's stranglehold on the digital player market, the EU could very well end up with an Apple stranglehold on a second market.
Where do the EU bureaucrats get this stupid idea that people buy iPods because they want to purchase music from iTunes? I mean out of whose *ss did they pull that?
A better question is why do protected Windows Media files NOT play on an iPod?
Jobs would never allow that to happen. Because then people would have thousands upon thousands of places to buy their music from instead of being locked into ITMS.
Kuneva told German rag Focus, "Do you think it's fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod? I don't. Something has to change."
CD=NO DRM therefore it plays on all cd players
ITUNES=FAIRPLAy therefore......
hmmmmm.... you do the math...
Do French shots ever count?
Go to Kazaa, then search for music files in the AAC format. Almost nil.
Now search for WMA files. Almost nil.
Keep in mind I say almost nil with respect to the only audio file format that currently matters; MP3.
This argument is a waste of time. People that own ipods don't buy stuff from itunes. They steal it from Kazaa, just like everyone else.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/5350258.stm
Things won't change until DRM goes bye bye or it works so well we don't even notice.
Until then those of us who purchase our music (me) will continue removing DRM with widely available programs. WMA and AAC people at least have the FairUseForDRM program in common!
>> This argument is a waste of time. People that
>> own ipods don't buy stuff from itunes. They
>> steal it from Kazaa, just like everyone else.
I found your comment offensive. I personally haven't downloaded a song off any file sharing network for about four years now. When I checked the link you provided as proof, I noticed that you left out the other half of the equation, i.e., OR THEY FILL IT WITH MUSIC THEY RIPPED FROM CDS.
I don't buy from the ITMS, mainly because the value ratio isn't there. iTunes "CD" locked into AAC, playable on only 5 computers at once, and lost if your hard drive crashes at $9.99 or physical CD (for backup) with packaging and rippable into any format for $11.99? Not a hard choice to me.
I'm not knocking the ITMS. It's great for the few singles I buy here and there, but I almost always buy the CD. My iPod's still full - no stealing involved.
-p-
It's not Apple, its the recording industry. It's not Zune, its the recording industry. It's not piracy, its the recording industry.
Thanks to the EU chiefs of calling out Steve Jobs. Only idiots pay to download low quality music when they can just buy the CDs for cheaper, rip them up and play on any other superior DAPs.
Storm in a teacup. I've never had an ITMS purchase locked. RIP to CD and do whatever you want with the song. What is even more insane is the "what if my hard drive crashes argument" backup-backup-backup. The Apple DRM is as unintrusive as possible given the reality of the Music Biz.
If Apple were to open up FairPlay and the sales of online music didn't increase, would the commissions still feel that their efforts were effective? I believe that until music is distributed without the limitations of usage that the labels demand there will be only minor growth in digital distribution. To make a dramatic change what they need to do is provide a distribution technology that allows:
- The right and technical ability to transfer music from one device to another
- The right and technical ability to purchase music in any country and continue using it anywhere else
- The right and technical ability to resell any music
- Warranty (What rights do consumers have when music doesn't download properly, when their storage media becomes damaged and they lose their music? Should consumers be allowed the option to download their music again?)
- Clarity around sound quality (There are various levels of quality and there is no standardized labeling, which helps consumers understand what they are buying)
- Cover Art and Lyrics (When the physical distribution of music includes cover art and lyrics, should the digital distribution also be required to include these assets?)
CD=NO DRM therefore it plays on all cd players
WRONG.
They have other forms of copy protection, eg watermarks which look like someone has spilled something all over the CD, which can make tracks or the whole CD unplayable in standard CD players.
I've taken CDs back and been told that while many people had complained about the exact same issue, it was still somehow my fault for not having a brand new CD player. My CD player was only 18 months old and I was expected to buy a new one because the industry can't design a copy protection which works. Let's ignore the fact that anything labeled with CD-Audio cannot have copy protection on it as it no longer conforms to the standard.
I've gone from buying 2 albums a week, to 2 albums a year. Not because of piracy but because of stupid music industry practices. I'm happy for you to sell me CDs that don't work. NOT.
I'm still boggled by the fact that people try to claim a monopoly by Apple... iTMS isn't the only online store. iPods play music from sources other than iTMS. The only caveat is that iTMS purchases only play on iPods (speaking of DAPs). So what? Don't want to buy from iTMS and have those purchases locked into Apple hardware? Shop else where online, buy the CD, etc. Seriously, it's not a hard concept to grasp... expect maybe for the people running the EU?
Would it be nice if iTMS purchases played on any DAP? Sure it would, but that's going to really require two things... record companies are going to have to ditch DRM (it really doesn't do anything to stop piracy anyway) and everyone would really need to decide on one audio format, ala CCDA (but apparently some folks aren't even sticking to that now). None of this MP3 vs WMA vs AAC vs whatever crap. One format (to rule them all, haha) and be done with it.
QUOTE:
First of all, the iPod is too dumb to know about FairPlay. iTunes is the ringmaster here as it chooses the valid songs that will play on the synced iPod before copying them to the device.
Then why was it when Hymn (Fairplay cracking software for the Mac) first came out you had to attach your iPod to your computer so that the software could read your FP key?
lol, Kuneva is a dipshit and evidently she doesn't understand the era of information. MP3s can be easily replicated an spread through the net, which means for every user that buys an MP3, 1000 users would only have to copy it. Is that fair for the artist? Is that fair for the producers? Yeah right, why don't we throw the music industry to the trash can while we let that happen? Or is anyone willing to pay 1000 times what music is worth just to "take one" for the group? No.
A single CD can play on any stereo because it belongs to a single person (and even then that's not entirely ethical, since I could lend my CD collection to everyone I know and I'm the only one paying tribute to the artists). Unless you make copies of it and make illegal profit off that, or simply not make profit, but make a hole in the artists and producers profit, eventually damaging an industry that creates thousands of jobs.
Sure, the music industry has been doing well, but that's only because the world isn't entirely dependent on the net yet, and entirely connected (yet). If there was no control on file sharing (especially IP sharing), then a lot of industries would suffer, die or simply never grow in the first place, which would in large scale, especially in the future, hit the economy hard since we're more and more dependent on information, including the entertainment sector.
Why are politicians such retards anyway? Or maybe they aren't retards and just want a piece of the pie... too bad they're too greedy yet don't know what to invest in (especially careerwise), otherwise we'd have a clean political system.