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Congress Ponders Opening up iTunes DRM

Posted by CowboyNeal on from the all-skate-everybody-skate dept.

hammeredpeon writes "Congress is debating whether or not to require that music shops keep their DRM open for interoperability. Apple wasn't present at the hearings, but Napster's CEO was, arguing that the market should make the decision about interoperability. Considering that previous standards (FireWire/USB, Betamax/VHS) have been decided by the market, could it be that Apple isn't big enough to keep the government out of its industry?"

2 of 610 comments (clear)

  1. Re:A bad idea by kamapuaa · · Score: 0, Troll
    Is this the guy you want deciding how you will get your music?

    I'd prefer to decide for myself, thank you, and this legislation appears to be doing just that.

    --
    Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
  2. Go directly to jail, do not pass go, do not ... by katsiris · · Score: 0, Troll
    The main reason I don't have and won't buy an iPod is because I must use iTunes. I'm admittedly not a fan of DRM, but to be forced to use THEIR DRM which, to me, is essentially Apple leveraging one product on the virtual monopoly of another is as wrong as Microsoft or anyone else doing it. So anyone complaining that MS should be opening their source or not bundling IE/WiMP/etc with Windows should also be arguing that this is a good move for congress.

    Of course, the obvious solution would be not to have DRM on people legally purchasing music (since they likely are NOT the pirates and should stop being treated as such), but paranoia being what it is. Those wishing to make a comparison to software anti-copying techniques would be wise to observe that:
    a) Software piracy has not slumped at any point due to increasingly sophisticated routines/methods.
    b) The pricing of software is higher and facilitates piracy more than a 99 cent song.
    c) Those who download and pay for their music are not as likely to turn around and give it away for free as those who continue to download for free.
    d) Online music stores need a better method of sampling songs than 30 second clips. This remains the only (in my opinion, though this will doubtless raise controvery) valid reason for downloading free music: the ability to hear it first.

    Anyway, this is all just my opinion, but while iTunes might have moved things in a better direction than the RIAA's lawsuits, they've still got some things to figure out.