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| 5/25 |
| 2007/4/2-3 [Consumer/Audio, Recreation/Music] UID:46174 Activity:low |
4/2 EMI and Apple partner to sell DRM-free music
http://csua.org/u/id2
\_ cue the Sex Pistols
\_ But Jobs remains ambivalent re DRM-free video:
http://urltea.com/3f7 (infoworld.com)
"Video is pretty different from music right now because the video
industry does not distribute 90 percent of their content DRM
free. Never has. So I think they are in a pretty different
situation, and I wouldn't hold it to a parallel at all."
\_ They're releasing music only in AAC format. I think
only ipods play that. Yes I know your home computer will
play it, I'm talking about mobile devices.
\_ Microsoft has every right to add AAC support in their
music players if they wanted to just like Apple can
add WMV support if they chose to pay Microsoft the license
fees. They just choose not to. They're both just as bad
as the other in that sense.
\_ Just convert aac to mp3 and you can play it on any portable
player. Or you could just buy an iPod like everyone else,
instead of being stuck with some lame pos. |
| 5/25 |
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| csua.org/u/id2 -> news.com.com/2100-1027_3-6172398.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news Digg this story Digg this EMI, Apple partner on DRM-free premium music update EMI Group will soon sell digital music with better sound quality and no digital rights management restrictions through Apple's iTunes Store. EMI's entire digital music catalog will be available in premium DRM-free form via iTunes in May, the music label said Monday at a press conference in London. Beatles tunes under EMI's control, however, are not part of the plan. High Impact What's new: Major music label EMI Group plans to sell a premium level of digital downloads through Apple's iTunes Store. Bottom line: While Apple CEO Steve Jobs expresses confidence that the EMI deal will pave the way for widespread sales of DRM-free music, at least one analyst thinks that other record companies will "wait and see the proof that it worked." More stories on this topic Higher-quality music files, which will play on any computer and any digital-audio player, will not replace the copy-protected EMI music currently sold through iTunes. Apple's FairPlay copy protection will be able to upgrade them to the premium version for 30 cents, EMI said. Full albums in DRM-free form can be bought at the same price as standard iTunes albums. Eric Nicoli, chief executive of EMI Nicoli cited internal EMI tests in which higher-quality, DRM-free songs outsold its lower-quality, copy-protected counterparts 10-to-1. The higher sound quality of EMI's premium tracks is produced by increasing their bit rate, which translates to larger files with reduced compression. After initially selling the premium DRM-free music through Apple, EMI plans to expand the program to other music outlets. Retailers partnering with EMI, which also plans to remove DRM from its video downloads, will be able to choose from a variety of levels of sound quality. Retailers will also be able to choose whether to sell files in the MP3, WMA or AAC format. In iTunes, music will be sold in a 256 kilobit-per-second AAC format. The Good, The Bad and The Queen, as well as a guest appearance by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Jobs, who stressed the need for higher-quality music with the rise of high-fidelity home speaker systems, called EMI's move "the next big step forward in the digital-music revolution--the movement to completely interoperable DRM-free music." He added that "Apple will reach out to all the major and independent labels to give them the same opportunity." Jobs expressed confidence in Apple's plan to offer the premium DRM-free tracks alongside standard ones. "What we're adding is a choice--a new choice," Jobs said regarding Apple's decision to make available two levels of sound quality and of DRM restriction. He suggested that half of iTunes' music tracks will be available in both DRM-loaded and DRM-free form by the end of 2007. "EMI is pioneering something that I think is going to become very popular," Jobs said when asked if other music labels would likely add DRM-free music to their iTunes catalog. James McQuivey, an analyst at Forrester Research, said he believes that other labels may approach the prospect of DRM-free music sales with trepidation. "The timing of when they sign on is going to be what's interesting to watch," McQuivey said. "They will eventually, but eventually could mean a year from now. Now that a major label has done it, they're all going to want to wait and see the proof that it worked." released an open letter to record companies, encouraging them to abandon DRM restrictions and claiming that Apple had only implemented the controversial system because the four major record labels would not have otherwise signed up with iTunes. com Poll Changing their tune Will DRM-free digital music become the norm? services like eMusic, with songs limited to those from independent labels. "This is something that Apple wants, but it's something that EMI needs," McQuivey said. Recording Industry Association of America's persistent legal battles against music pirates using peer-to-peer networks. "It's not to say that you can't aggressively pursue file sharers and develop a digital strategy, but they didn't. They chose to focus on the lawsuits, hoping to keep the CD business alive." Music from the Fab Four has been released by EMI since 1962 and is currently unavailable for legal digital download anywhere on the Internet. When a reporter asked Jobs whether a Beatles deal with EMI was upcoming, Jobs replied, "I want to know that, too." |
| urltea.com/3f7 -> www.infoworld.com/article/07/04/02/HNjobsnotpushingliftvideodrm_1.html Article Tools sponsored by HP Apple CEO Steve Jobs may be pushing for music labels to lift copyright protection on digital music, but he doesn't appear so eager to do the same for video content despite his position as the largest shareholder in Walt Disney. EMI music will become available on Apple's iTunes store without DRM, the copyright protection technology that limits the way that digital music buyers can share and use their music. But even though Jobs has been pushing the music industry to drop DRM, he has different opinions about video. When asked during the EMI conference call about the potential of lifting DRM from video, Jobs said: "Video is pretty different from music right now because the video industry does not distribute 90 percent of their content DRM free. So I think they are in a pretty different situation, and I wouldn't hold it to a parallel at all." Jobs was referring to CSS (Content Scramble System), technology that comes on DVDs that prevents users from copying the videos. He is arguing that CSS makes the video market different than the music industry because music CDs don't come with copy protection. As a result, Jobs' argument has been that digital music should be sold in an equivalent manner as CDs -- without copy protection. Anti-DRM activists and analysts don't buy that explanation. "Most people believe he's taking advantage of a technicality when he says that," said James McQuivey, a principal analyst at Forrester Research. Programs that let users get around CSS are readily available and widely used, so it's not a strong argument for why the DVD industry is different from CDs. While some anti-DRM activists say that Jobs can easily set a precedent in the video industry by dropping DRM off video content produced by Disney, McQuivey says that Jobs is hampered by larger business issues. "No movie studio would ever support the iTunes store if it was clear that Jobs would be pushing them to remove DRM," he said. If Jobs did start offering Disney content on iTunes without copy protection, the other studios might fear that he'd start pushing them to do the same, he said. The reason that Jobs can negotiate with the music industry and encourage announcements like the one with EMI is because the iTunes store represents about 10 percent of music sales in the US, McQuivey said. By contrast, the iTunes store has only recently begun selling video, and the store has yet to prove itself as a moneymaker for video content producers. That means that even if Jobs did want to push for DRM-free video, he wouldn't have the same negotiating position with the movie studios as he does with the music labels. "When a single retail outlet has the ability to control 10 percent of sales, you have to listen to him. Apple doesn't have that clout yet in the movie business," he said. The politics behind why Jobs may not be pushing for DRM-free video doesn't placate opponents of DRM. open letter to Jobs asking him to remove DRM from certain content, including video. The letter notes that last year Jobs sold Pixar to Disney and in doing so became the largest shareholder in Disney. It also notes that Disney was the first to approve distribution of movies through iTunes. "You can set the example in the arena of video and movies," the letter reads. The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation) is another group that has been pushing the music and video industries to drop DRM. While the EMI announcement is a step in the right direction, "why shouldn't this apply to video sold in the iTunes video store? It seems the basic reason for removing DRM should apply there too," said Derek Slater, activism coordinator for EFF. In Norway, which has a national consumer representative who has led the charge against the iTunes DRM policy in Europe, a consumer agency applauded the EMI move but also hopes for something similar in the video market. "The movie industry, and any company in other cultural sectors for that matter, that's slowly entering the download service market should take special notice of this important step EMI has taken today. If they want the respect and business of consumers, they also need to offer up a fair deal that, among other elements, includes true interoperability and the complete absence of lock-in technology," said Torgeir Waterhouse, a senior advisor on the Norwegian Consumer Council. The Cost and Impact of Regulatory Compliance Find out how utilizing a good IT control architecture, strong policies and the right compliance software can significantly reduce time and cost necessary to support an effective compliance system. Download "Using Security Compliance Software to Improve Business Efficiency and Reduce Costs," an IDC white paper. InfoWorld is a leading publisher of technology information and product reviews on topics including viruses, phishing, worms, firewalls, security, servers, storage, networking, wireless, databases, and web services. |