EU Countries Call Out iTunes DRM

seriouslywtf writes "Europe is upping the pressure on Apple to open up its restrictive DRM that ties iTunes to the iPod. Norway ruled last year that the iPod-iTunes tie-in was unreasonable and gave Apple a deadline to make a change to its policies, but was unsatisfied with the response they got. Now France and Germany have joined forces with Norway, making it a lot harder for Apple to just walk away from those markets. From the article: 'France's consumer lobby group, UFC-Que Choisir, and Germany's Verbraucherzentrale are now part of the European effort to push Apple into an open DRM system, with more countries considering joining the group. However, the company has been under some fire over the last year due to those restrictions, first with France and then Denmark looking to open up restrictive DRM schemes (including, but not limited to iTunes) ... Norwegian consumer groups were unimpressed by Apple's response. Norway has now given Apple a new deadline of September of this year to change its policies, and the pressure on Apple will likely grow in the months leading up to the deadline.'"

Or what?

[Jerry Rivers]

"Norway has now given Apple a new deadline of September of this year to change its policies...."

Or else they will send a letter to Apple telling them how upset they are.

Heresy! Bastards! How dare they!

[overtly_demure]

You can't bash Apple! They are holy! They are beyond good and evil! You can't compare them to petty ruffians such as the RIAA. Why, these damned Europeans don't seem to be able to distinguish between the criminal scum of the RIAA and the sacred institution of Apple, Inc. They are by no means the same, nor even comparable. If Steve Jobs backdated his stock option purchases it is just reward for having saved the world, transformed it in revolutionary ways, changed the very way we work, play, live, and envision ourselves. The world is nothing like it was before the Mac or the iPod, when demons roamed the earth and giant savage beasts preyed upon mankind. And those scurrilous lice at PARC and Creative Labs preemptively stole the technologies from Apple before the Jobsian gods were able to invent them, patenting some of them in a wholly immoral manner before Apple brought them forth upon our barbaric world in the form of blessed consumer electronics.

Nay! Apple must not be restricted! If they maintain a microsoftian monopoly it is for the good of mankind, and we must not question their mysterious and infinite wisdom. All will become clear when the iPhone is brought down from the heavens and placed in the pockets of iPod-earplugged yuppies striding along the streets of the Financial District. They will show us the way. They will understand the word made silicon and plastic, and convey it to the rest of us mere cheapskate mortals who are unable or unwilling to invest in the meager cost of an iPod, iPhone, MacBook, or other godly Apple instrument. Then we shall see, then we shall hear, then we shall know. The clouds will part, warriors will lay down their arms and embrace each other, weeping with joy and brotherly love. The hungry shall find nourishment, the thirsty will quench themselves with pure crystalline water. The poor shall know prosperity for the first time and forever. The barren shall bear fruit, and the downtrodden shall find dignity.

It is the unbelievers, the infidels who challenge the sacred rule of the Jobsian iSacraments. They must be stopped!

Microsoft buys Norway

[Neil Hart]

Seems the only way Microsoft's Zune could compete was to buy a country.

Re:So, they want to get rid of iTunes?

[leenks]

1. Take one modern Apple PowerBook, MacBook, or alternatively one generic PC notebook running a recent Microsoft OS (2000 or later).
2. Install iTunes.

Re:So, they want to get rid of iTunes?

[zootm]

Alternatively you could just dump a mainframe on some skateboards or something. Hurrah.

Re:So, they want to get rid of iTunes?

[zootm]

Virtualisation? You could install hundreds of iTunes instances!

Many, many skateboards, on the other thing.

Re:So, they want to get rid of iTunes?

[Poltras]

Conversation going nowhere... check!
Misunderstanding of each other points and subtile but flawed rebutals... check!
Dialogues based on some premises that a PC is not a portable device... check!
Man this is slashdot at its best! I would mod you both up, but I'll just reply.

Re:So, they want to get rid of iTunes?

[zootm]

Well, I thought it was funny. *sniffle*

Oxymoron of the day:

[It's a thing]

open DRM.