Sony BMG DRM part of battle for control between Apple, labels

Here's one reason why Sony BMG has made their new CD-based DRM relatively easy to crack: it's not exactly pirates they're after. According to Variety, the new copy protection scheme — which makes it difficult to rip CDs and listen to them with an iPod — is designed to put pressure on Apple to open the iPod to other music services, rather than making it dependent on the iTunes Music Store for downloads. Of course, while this would be good for the labels, since it would diminish Apple's control over their business, it flies in the face of Apple's razor-and-blades strategy for the iPod and iTunes. And given Apple's 80% share of the digital audio player market, we somehow suspect that the labels aren't going to do too much to faze Stevie J.