Will People Really Boycott Apple Over DRM?

Ian Lamont writes "DefectiveByDesign.org is waging a battle against DRM with a 35-day campaign targeting various hardware and software products from Microsoft, Nintendo, and others. On day 11 it blasted iTunes for continuing to use DRM-encumbered music, games, TV shows, movies, audiobooks, and apps with DRM, while competitors are selling music without restrictions. DefectiveByDesign calls on readers to include 'iTunes gift cards and purchases in your boycott of all Apple products' to 'help drive change.' However, there's a big problem with this call to arms: most people simply don't care about iTunes DRM. Quoting: 'The average user is more than willing to pay more money for hobbled music because of user interface, ease of use, and marketing. ... Apple regularly features exclusive live sets from popular artists, while Amazon treats its digital media sales as one more commodity being sold.' What's your take on the DRM schemes used by Apple and other companies? Is a boycott called for, and can it be effective?"

Re:iTunes Plus

[larry bagina]

iTunes plus has been $.99 (same as iTunes minus) for quite a while now.

Re:It's optional!

[EastCoastSurfer]

Exactly. When I want a song I first check if ITMS has it DRM free. If it does I usually buy it there. If not, I head to Amazon. The good thing about Amazon is that they also offer a lot of tracks at 89c and frequently offer specials for $5 song sets.

For me ease of use is a tie since the Amazon downloader takes the song and loads it into itunes just fine. Some people complain about Amazons search function, but I find it works just like it should and the service is often faster when it comes to previewing songs.

Re:iTunes Plus

[De Lemming]

Apple DOES offer iTunes Plus.

Yes, it is sold at a premium price.

No, it's not. It was when Apple introduced iTunes Plus, but now the DRM-free tracks are sold at the same price as those with DRM.

However, for those concerned about DRM, it at least affords an alternative that is higher quality and DRM free.

Unfortunately, still only part of the catalogue is offered as DRM-free tracks...

Re:I have

[intheshelter]

I think people need to understand that the DRM on Apple's music is NOT put there at Apple's insistence. The music labels are the ones who mandate this DRM on iTunes, so boycotting iTunes does NOTHING to change this situation. Apple was the first company to call for an end to DRM in a public letter issues by Steve Jobs. It's not Apple that doesn't get it, it's the music industry.

Re:Just 1 or 2%

[Anonymous Coward]

If it made a 1% dent, it would be an astonishing percent. More like .1% or .01% or more likely .001%

To get 1%, you'd need to have every DefectiveByDesign reader convert 100 or 1,000 or more people to total boycotters.

Not likely.

Re:No

[betterunixthanunix]

It requires no marketing on Apple's part, because most people do not care about DRM. In terms of the restrictions DRM imposes, Apple and other DRM makers have done their research on how people use their music, and have tried to craft their DRM to have minimal interference with those use cases. Apple has a trust factor going -- people assume that Apple will "do the right thing," so it is hard to convince people that there is any risk of Apple disabling their music later on. Worst of all, many people I speak with seem to think that they deserve DRM, because of all the peer-to-peer copying.

So yes, this boycott will fail, and Apple will be able to simply ignore it.

Re:iTunes Plus

[Anonymous Coward]

And people should try to remember that Apple would like to do away with DRM, but the RECORDING LABELS won't let them. All the while letting Amazon etc all go without DRM. There should be a lawsuit in there somewhere imo, but I'm not a lawyer.

So basically boycotting Apple over DRM, something they don't want either, is stupid. Boycot the recording industry for forcing them to keep it.

Re:Their fault?

[chrish]

If only Amazon would sell MP3s to people who don't live in the US. Are the Canadian arms of the American music companies really that different?

I buy my music online from the likes of Magnatune [magnatune.com] and the "iTunes Plus" store (DRM-free, and higher-quality files than the regular iTunes store). When I can, I buy directly from the artists online.

Sure Apple is enabling idiotic behaviour from the music companies, but I'm not sure we should blame them; would the music companies have even allowed them to sell music without the DRM? You could show your "appreciation" for the DRM'd music by buying something from the iTunes Plus store...

Misinformed

[pphoenix]

Sounds like DefectiveByDesign.org is misinformed. DRM is pushed to Apple iTunes (and other online media Shops like Rhapsody) by the record labels e.t.c. Even if the boycott is successfull, unless if it hurts the record labels they will continue to push this policy to all online content. iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster only sell what they are authorized to sell and what is in the contract. By the way, i dont believe Apple makes a lot of money from iTunes, it is simply a means to help sell the iPod. Record labels make most of the money. Solution: Boycott the record labels

Re:My view.

[intheshelter]

Apple doesn't mandate the DRM in iTunes, the music labels do. Apple knows full well what's wrong with DRM and that is why Steve Jobs issued a public statement in early 2007 (BEFORE Amazon's music was released) to eliminate DRM in digital media. The music/movie labels are the ones pushing DRM because they don't understand (or care about) what their customers want, they just want to control all distribution as they were able to do in the good old days.

Re:I have

[W2k]

First off, your kidding yourself if you think your laptops dont have DRM on them. Go play something HD on a older digital monitor with a older connection and talk to us.

"Something HD", as in the HD rip of $movie that I downloaded from $favourite_filesharing_site? Yep, works just fine.

If you don't buy crippled media, you won't have any problems with DRM. And filesharing is just another way of voting with your wallet.

Re:For several reasons no

[EnglishTim]

1) The iPhone is the biggest selling single phone on the market, hell they've a 1/3 of the whole market with one device

Bullshit! They're nowhere close to 1/3 of the market. In 2007, over 1 billion cellphones were sold. Assuming a similar rate over the last year, we can compare that to Apple's iPhone sales (roughly 4 million) and it becomes evident that Apple has 0.4% of the market.

Even in the U.S, they only have around 5% of the market.

I think it's the U.S. touchscreen smartphone they've got 1/3 of the market of.

Re:Sorry...

[Nursie]

People are dumb, enlightened self interest only works where people are actually enlightened, news at 11 etc.

Companies with a decent marketing department can get away with anything.

Re:exclusivity

[Darth_brooks]

How about "exclusive to us, iTunes, rather than the umpteen brazillion other online outlets."

If only one store is offering the product or service, that makes it exclusive to the store.

Re:For several reasons no

[pridkett]

1) The iPhone is the biggest selling single phone on the market, hell they've a 1/3 of the whole market with one device

The OP misspoke slightly, but sometimes stuff can get confusing. The iPhone is the biggest selling phone in the United States, yes, even more than the freebie RAZR (cite [appleinsider.com]). They had 28% back in February of 2008 and now have 30% as of December 2, 2008 -- although the later figure seems more suspect (cite [arstechnica.com], cite [cnn.com]). The supply drop of iPhone-2Gs in the 1Q diminished their numbers quite a bit. Also, the market is smart phones, not just touch screen ones. The largest player in smart phones in the US is Blackberry -- which, well, has been having a less than stellar time with the attempt at the touch screen Storm.

Re:Sorry...

[Old97]

Really? Well that's news to me. Give me an example of an iTune track that can only be played on Apple hardware. I'm Apple/iTunes user though I never buy downloaded software because I don't like compressed music. However, my understanding is that every track you buy, download or rip to iTunes can be burned to a CD and then imported - DRM free - to any other music player including iTunes and then written again in any number of formats compatible with most any device. Friends of mine do this all the time. So tell me which track you are having problems with or are you just making this up?

Re:Sorry...

[Lachlan Hunt]

You may not care right now, and nor might an average user. But just wait till the day you want to switch from iPod to some other MP3 player, or for the day when Apple threatens to switch off their licencing servers (as has happened to several others already). Unfortunately, that's when most users will find out about DRM: when it's already too late!

Thankfully, Requiem is available to strip Apple's FairPlay DRM, for those who care to look for it. Although, not everyone does.

Re:Sorry...

[shadowrat]

It doesn't take that long. I know several joes who ran into the 5 machine limit because their work machines changed.

Re:No

[Hijacked Public]

No, there is no longer any price difference between iTunes Plus music and iTunes DRM'd music. [apple.com]

Re:Sorry...

[zish]

What everyone posting here needs to be aware of is that subverting DRM is considered -illegal- (anyone wonder why it's illegal to play DVDs using a FOSS player)?

Granted, it's easy to circumvent, and Apple has gone to great lengths project 'warm and fuzzy' to their restrictive policies. But it's still illegal.

Why should one have to do something considered illegal, just so they can play their iTunes music on the portable player of their choosing?

It should also be noted that Apple's DRM schemes are not limited to music and video. Any developer who's submitted an iPhone app to the iTunes store, and had it denied, can attest to this. I would cite references to this, but Apple has tacked on NDR's to their denial notices.

I've heard the argument time and time again that "you're only giving up a small portion of your rights." I've also heard "It's fun to use, and I don't have to think about it."
My question to these is how much are we willing to give up? What's the threshold? How long before bread and circuses are no longer sufficient?
(I could easily Godwin this thread right here, but I won't. You get the picture.)

Long story short, purchasing or using technology restricted with DRM only serves to validate DRM. If you validate, you also enable. If you enable, you suggest (even passively) that it could be applied further.

What you eventually see is a slow, calculated erosion of your rights, until there's nothing left. This is what DBD is all about.

If you forget or can't deauthorize a machine

[bledri]

You can deauthorize all of your machines and then re-authorize the one's you actually use: About iTunes Store authorization and deauthorization [apple.com]

And it seems silly to boycott a company that provides the most easy to use DRM and is working to phase it out as fast as the labels will work with them: iTunes Store: iTunes Plus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) [apple.com]