EU Countries Call Out iTunes DRM 457
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.'"
Re:I don't get it.... (Score:5, Informative)
Finland, too! (Score:1, Informative)
Re:I don't get it.... (Score:5, Informative)
If you don't like iTunes and Apple's DRM scheme, don't buy from the Apple music store.
I like my iPod. I own an iPod.
I don't like the iTunes music store. I'd quite like to try out some of these subscription services, ignoring the DRM aspect (which I'm addressing now) I quite like the idea of paying "rent" to have access to a huge music library. And if someone did the same for films I'd like that too, I'd happily pay a fairly big monthly fee to the music and movie people to get unlimited digital viewing of whatever they produce.
What these countries are trying to do is let you use any music player with any music store, and vice versa, and hopefully get rid of the extra DRM problems created by all of this in the mean time. And it doesn't seem to be exclusive to iTunes, it applies to everyone. I'm certainly hoping for these kind of changes, more choice is nver a bad thing.
Re:I don't get it.... (Score:5, Informative)
The RIAA and MPAA would disagree with you (Score:5, Informative)
I own music that I bought from iTunes.
and:
I paid for that music, it's mine
Actually, one of the problems with DRMed media is that the record and movie companies don't view that you have bought anything. They view it that you have rented it for play on one specific device, which means that if you want an iTunes purchase to play on, say, Zune, you need to buy it again for Zune.
Off Topic: No one should pay (Score:2, Informative)
No one should have to pay to get their music off of their iPod. Hell, even Apple now has a page that explains how to do this without any additional software other than iTunes:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=30
Also, there are plenty of free programs out there that do what the advertised programs do:
Windows:
http://www.ephpod.com/ [ephpod.com]
http://www.sturm.net.nz/website.php?Section=iPod+
Mac:
http://www.ilinkpod.com/ [ilinkpod.com]
http://fadingred.org/senuti/ [fadingred.org]
I'm sure there are some for Linux as well, but I've yet to connect my iPod to Linux so I haven't ever looked for any.
Re:I don't get it.... (Score:3, Informative)
If the CD is "copy protected" (given to me as a gift as I refuse to buy any DRMed media), I play it through my external DVD player which has a digital output connected to my PC's sound card. Slightly more work, yet also incontrovertibly legal.
Re:Summary without the hyperbole (Score:3, Informative)
Re:So, they want to get rid of iTunes? (Score:3, Informative)
A magazine I subscribe to included in this month's issue a free 35 song sample from eMusic.com. I investigated it and the service was horrible in every way. Music catalog sucked. Finding songs in their catalog sucked. The sound quality of samples sucked. Their purchasing options were limited to three subcription models. Even with free music samples I could not find any compelling reason to use their service. If a company wants to compete successfully against an iTunes, they better offer an advantage somewhere.
I'll agree with you on eMusic's site being quite the unholy steaming coil of a mess (don't like installing mystery stand-alone clients myself, so I didn't bother trying theirs). I'd say you couldn't rightly say the catalog (meaning selection) "sucked", but rather that you considered it less extensive than that of iTunes, devoid of the artists you enjoy, or both. I'd disagree about the sound-quality of samples from a functional perspective: why would you expect a free sample to sound particularly crystal-clear? The samples aren't making them any money, and as such, it's best to keep the bitrate low to both decrease the download time for the potential costumer and to conserve bandwidth and thus save costs for eMusic.
The real clinker, though, is your talk about competitive advantage. eMusic's got a very clear advantage: no DRM. Thus, no buy-burn-re-rip dance maneuvers (minimal as they are, it's about as fun and convenient as killing fruit flies), no voting in favor of DRM with your hard-earned dollar, and no guilt.
I sign up for a trial with eMusic about two to three times a year when offered just to see what's changed. The main problem is that the site itself is getting *worse* and is a real bitch to navigate through efficiently. The number of artists, however, is growing, and I'm finding more and more quality stuff up there every time I give it a look. If they'd fix the site, I'd be a customer for sure.
Re:Apply to one, apply to all (Score:2, Informative)
Re:So, they want to get rid of iTunes? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I don't get it.... (Score:2, Informative)
I ahve a modest computer, and it has never taken me longer the 3 minutes to burn a disk.
What are you using, so 2x burner on a 486?
Burn at 192. There is no detectable quality loss by the human ear. Yes, even your ear.
You can import using AIFF,WAV(isn't this lossless?),Apple lossless,AAC,MP3(128/160/192).
Re:So, they want to get rid of iTunes? (Score:3, Informative)
What is the big deal here? I mean, you CAN buy music from other sources....something as easy as a CD, rip it, put it on the iPod and play it all you want. You don't have to buy music through iTunes, you can play non-DRM music on an iPod and through iTunes...the only place you get hit with DRM is if you buy through the iTunes store, and noone is holding a gun to anyone's head to do that.
Hell, I think stats show that most iPod owners do not get their music through iTunes Store.
I don't see why the EU is getting their panties in a wad...it isn't like you can only use the iPod with music from iTMS. You do have a choice....
i know, and still don't care. (Score:2, Informative)
Unlimited CD burns
Unlimited iPods(yes, this includes your friends. you can have music uploaded from multiple computers and users on one iPod)
Five computers.
Boo. Freaking. Hoo.
"Oh noes! I can only burn it to ? CDs, on which the DRM does not carry over! And I, unlike 99.99% of iTunes users, cannot use my crappy third party Mp3 player! I am limited to iTunes, CDs, and iPods! Unless I just rip it again!"
If you actually download from iTunes, chance are you have an iPod. If you don't, who cares?
Re:I don't get it.... (Score:5, Informative)
One might add, that - at least for the German side - it is not "Germany" (or the German government), but the "Verbraucherzentrale", which is a non-profit organization with task to support consumers. They are (partly) sponsored by the German state(s), but they are not a state organisation, ie this is not a political decision.
Re:Wrong solution (Score:3, Informative)