Feb 06 2007

Steve Jobs and Doing The Right Thing

Posted by: dnorman in Uncategorized, tags: apple, drm, itms

So, Steve entered the blogosphere today (as pointed out earlier by Cole and Bill) with an amazing surgical strike against DRM. It appears as though the Fruit Company only grudgingly went along with the bare minimum DRM in order to placate the music cartel into playing with them online.

In the very logical, concise statement, Steve lays his cards on the table. He's all in. DRM is lame, and is nothing more than a tool for struggling monopolies to attempt to maintain the status quo in a changing marketplace (my words, not his. I'm paraphrasing).

If he wins this hand, DRM as we know it is over. We can stop bending over and grabbing our ankles for the Big Labels. And we can continue legally buying music (and other media) online without having to worry (or even think about) the number of our own computers which have been authorized to play the files we bought.

If he loses this hand, we sink into a dark age, where the cartel is able to call the shots and we have no rights over the media we buy. Actually, we won't be able to actually buy media anymore. We'll be limited to leasing temporary licenses granting revokable permission to temporarily play a piece of media, subject to limitations and sanctions. Things like the Analog Hole will be plugged. We'll be locked out of our own media, from network, through the computer, and into our ears. Everything will be controlled by The Big Labels. DRM Rootkits will multiply, legally. We will hand control over our computers and media players to the cartel.

I know which player I'm rooting for. The stakes for this game are much higher than a simple game of Texas Holdem.

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9 Responses to “Steve Jobs and Doing The Right Thing”

Sami Khan says: February 7th, 2007 at 7:39 am

I really doubt he’s going to win. Try to convince someone to give up power when they have a legal right to maintain it is like pulling good teeth, no one is going to allow it happen while they’re awake — or alive. It’s all about money, and that’s all, freedom for you is unprofitable for the people who sell you things, it severely limits the types of business models that they can use to sell you stuff.
Sami Khan says: February 7th, 2007 at 8:36 am

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/6338603.stm
dnorman says: February 7th, 2007 at 9:15 am

Well, the strongest part of the argument is that 90% or more of the Big Labels’ income comes from selling CDs, which have no DRM whatsoever, and can be ripped into digital files in seconds. Yet they keep making and selling them hand over fist. If we drop the silly DRM from the online versions of these same files, then it becomes one big marketplace where we all get to sing Kumbaya and buy music from anywhere to play on any of our devices.

Except… The Big Labels want us to re-purchase the music as many times as possible…
Sami Khan says: February 7th, 2007 at 10:41 am

Well it’s not that strange, it’s about status quo and the lowest common denominator. Most people have CD players, it’s a technology that’s ubiquitous. Therefore, it’s the most common format sold. Where people rushed in to buy DVD players, most people are not so open about even iPods or other DRM players. Therefore, to cut that revenue stream outright would be a costly mistake. But in the future don’t count on there being CDs or other mediums that are DRM free. Kumbaya isn’t worth singing if it’s not sung by your favorite pop star and can be sold to you on as a single for 3.99 at Wal Mart, as far as the majors are concerned.
dnorman says: February 7th, 2007 at 11:11 am

strongest, not strangest

And DVD players have DRM baked in. DeCSS anyone?

And Wally World can bite me. There is so much more in this world that what is dictated by WM’s Buyers. Indie music has a solid chance of taking off. If the labels have anything to be afraid of, it’s that The Masses will realize they don’t need them anymore…
davidicus says: February 7th, 2007 at 11:42 am

.

CDs do have something like rights management, in that there are a couple steps between duplicating song off them for others. moving large amounts of data is getting easier, but isn’t transparent. also, CDs come with real printed artwork and liner notes that have value and aren’t easily duplicated.

i bet record companies will ease into reduced management if people were willing to pay a premium for it. before you say “sure,” consider that it would be more than the number in your head, though.

for now, keep stealing i guess

.
dnorman says: February 7th, 2007 at 11:48 am

A clumsy process is not DRM. It’s just a clumsy process. And it’s not even that clumsy. I started ripping all of my CDs years ago, and haven’t missed any of the tiny little cover artwork. As I buy new CDs, they get ripped then stacked on a pile in my basement. CDs are just transportation vectors, and not very efficient ones at that.

Why would DRM-less online files require a premium? It’s removing all of the costs of stamping CDs, printing artwork, shipping boxes around (think of the greenhouse gas emissions alone!) The premium could be the extra portion of the cost they’d get to pocket by spreading bits instead of atoms…
Sami says: February 7th, 2007 at 4:21 pm

http://www.engadget.com/2007/02/07/riaa-misreads-jobs-open-letter-on-drm-thinks-hes-offering-to/
dnorman says: February 7th, 2007 at 7:59 pm

Yeah. Saw that earlier. Too funny. “That’s so totally awesome, opening up FairPlay!”

Idiots.