EMI Says Its DRM Will Support The iPod

mbelly writes "Ars Technica has an article about EMI saying that its copy-protected discs will play nicely with the iPod. Problem is, nobody told Apple." From the article: "With the popularity of the iPod, being able to provide copy-protected discs with out-of-the-jewel-box support for Apple's digital music player has been something of a holy grail for the record industry. Macrovision, the company responsible for the copy protection mechanism used on a number of discs, made the claim last year that Apple was about to license FairPlay and that it would provide iPod during 4Q 2004. So far, Macrovision has failed to make good on its claim, and the record labels are left with angry customers who purchase albums only to discover they cannot play the music on their iPods."

Comments

EMI is full of it lately...

[danaris]

From what I can tell from TFA, this is no more likely than Apple changing their fixed-rate pricing policy, which EMI was loudly claiming they were certain Apple would do, too. With no evidence.

Come on, people, EMI is just making noise and hoping it makes them more money.

(Kind of like many of the artists the labels promote these days...)

Dan Aris

Sony

[someguy456]

I love how they snuck in an attack at Sony in the article. Well done, author!

FTFA: They're smoking crack

[plj]

...or something else, but strong stuff anyway:

When asked about EMI's statement however, Apple said in so many words that it wants to know what EMI is smoking and where it can get some, stating that there's no agreement in place and none on the horizon.

So, nothing new under the sun. Besides, (still FTFA) what reason is there for Apple to license FairPlay to EMI, Macrovision, or anyone else?

Yeah, that's a good question. Why would Apple support discs with DRM? Making things more cumbersome for their customers does not help their bottom line for sure.

Re:FTFA: They're smoking crack

[Golias]

Apple said in so many words that it wants to know what EMI is smoking and where it can get some

Don't be absurd. Anybody who has sat and watched the iTunes visualizer for more than five minutes is well aware that the people at Apple clearly already know how to get their hands on the really good shit.

They're tripping the light fantastic at One Infinite Loop... no need for any substance EMI has to offer.

What is the point??

[porcupine8]

Why bother using DRM on CDs? Especially Fairplay?

Non-DRMed CD: I can rip it to MP3 - and possibly do something illegal, like give my friends copies or share the files somewhere.

DRMed CD: I can rip it to AAC, then burn a non-protected CD and burn that to MP3 - and then possibly do something illegal, etc etc etc.

If you really don't want people to rip your CD, use a DRM that makes it unrippable (and watch people come burn your offices down). Otherwise, you might as well just let them rip it to MP3, and they can buy whatever music player they want to boot. You're just putting one little step between them and MP3s anyhow.

(I know it doesn't say that they were planning to use Fairplay specifically, but from the description it sounds extremely similar - and would allow burning of the songs to blank CDs, which I'm assuming could then be reripped to MP3. Of course, it's all a moot point if Apple refuses, but it's silly for them to even pursue it.)

Re:What is the point??

[FidelCatsro]

I don't really mind (well I do , but I am making a point ) , so long as it plays on a standard player and so long as I have a line out cable .
You can DRM them to hell , but if it plays it can be ripped .
Not that I want to have to jump through hoops , but if they keep raising the bar , I will keep retooling my pogo stick .

Debunked by Apple...

[zarmanto]

Apple says differently over at Playlist.

Here is a thought

[Shivetya]

What if EMI is testing the waters? What if they are having this technology developed as a means to market to iPod users? The reason would be simple, they intend to go ahead and jack the wholesale rate for songs setting values based on popularity. Then should Apple not go along with it they can tell consumers that they don't need iTunes to get THEIR music that mean old Apple isn't letting them have.

So bascially, develop a method to get your music on the most popular MP3 player DRM protected with Apple out of the loop. Perhaps an attempt to force Apple to accept the new pricing scheme? EMI could be the frontman with the other studios quietly awaiting the outcome. I fully expect that if they get this to work that Apple will have to try to stop it. If they do get it to work and Apple doesn't agree to the new pricing I expect other companies to join in.

The only reason I suspect this is that iTunes has taken away the control they crave. I don't think they would stop at anything to get it back either. If it means "blackmailing" Apple with a working circumvention then I suspect they will float it.

Re:Here is a thought

[sedyn]

Record labels reverse engineering / hacking the protection methods of the iPod.

You know, if they find a way around the iPod's protection, what would make them think that any of it works in the first place? I think they are drinking DRM kool-aid as well as smoking something.

Don't mess with Jobs

[kherr]

EMI is really looking to irritate Steve Jobs, aren't they? Trying to negotiate through the press isn't going to endear them to Apple, I don't think.

1) It seems very unlikely Apple would support anyone else's DRM. FairPlay does what they want.
2) Apple doesn't pre-announce what they're working on.
3) Partners who divulge projects with Apple before they're announced can expect public humiliation from Steve Jobs. Remember ATI?

As far as "supporting" DRM-crippled pseudo-CDs, all Apple has to do is have iTunes ripping ignore everything except the audio tracks on the discs. These beasts ultimately have to have standard music tracks on them to work in music-only CD players. We've seen how successful special-format stuff like SACD and DVD music has been (not very). Even with better quality the penetration into the marketplace for players just isn't there.

I wonder if Apple's TPM on their Intel platform may have a use of keeping evil music companies from hacking up Mac OS X when you insert a CD? That'd be a sweet irony.

Interesting in light of previous articles

[Morgalyn]

Between this and the other EMI vs. Apple posting recently on /., I have to wonder if EMI isn't mounting some sort of weird media FUD campaign against Apple. It's just weird that they would speak out on two topics near and dear to Apple's heart (price point of song downloads, usage of FairPlay for CDs) in this way.

BTW, here is additional coverage of this story: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/18/apple_emi_ macrovision/

Re:EMI is full of it lately...not just apple

[borkus]

They've also negotiated via press-release regarding their potential merger with Warner Music.

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,16781,16440 45,00.html

I don't understand the issue

[c0d3h4x0r]

How can an audio CD "not work" with iTunes/iPod? I mean, unless you're dumb enough to let an audio-CD with a data track auto-install DRM rootkit shit on your computer, you should be able to rip the CD audio tracks with Exact Audio Copy or any other of a number of CD-ripper programs, convert the tracks to MP3, and then add them to your iTunes library. What's the problem?

Re:I don't understand the issue

[Guspaz]

Exactly. And guess what? There has yet to be invented a CD that cannot be ripped via one mechanism or another. Exact Audio Copy tends to rip CD's protected by security-through-damage DRM, and the old analog method works for ANY CD.

And guess what? If I was presented with a CD that had Apple's DRM on it, guess what, I'd rip it myself before putting it on my iPod. Because if I own the damned CD, I don't want the music on my iPod encrypted.

I still support FairPlay on iTunes though, because it's Apple's store and they can do whatever they want (there are other places to get the music legally), and because it is the only way that that the music industry is going to permit their stuff to be sold online. I mean, I'd PREFER that iTunes didn't use DRM, but in its case I understand and accept it.

CDs, though, had better not have DRM.

What gets me...

[dodongo]

tell consumers that they don't need iTunes to get THEIR music that mean old Apple isn't letting them have.

Here's what gets me about the whole thing: I never needed iPod, iTunes, rootkits, DRM, or any other Breaks With [OperatingSystem]-certified CD formats. If you give me an Audio CD(TM), like you've been doing for the last two decades, I can listen to it on any dinky-damn CD or music player I want. I give you cash money for the CD, you let me do with it what I please, as long as I don't violate copyright laws. Otherwise, sue me.

The only problem with that system is, of course, the fact that the digital revolution has not led to a more perfect form of control for people in power. Fuck that. Seriously.

Effectiveness of copy protection

[frostilicus2]

I struggle to see the effectiveness of DRM of this kind - if I can listen to the track on my hi-fi I can connect my sound card to line out consequently rip the track and place it on p2p. There may a little additional noise on the track, but if you're willing to listen to an mp3, you probably wont mind :). If I can listen to the track on my mac, I can use wiretap to capture the audio and convert it to the format of my choice. The time consuming nature of these procedures may stop many casual users from uploading p2p files, but for a popular track (the sort that the record labels are trying to protect) we can expect at least one person to be suitably determined rip the track in these ways, place it on p2p and then wide spread swapping will begin...

please correct me if I have misunderstood the nature of this problem

Why delay?

[C 12]

They should just skip past all of this wasteful pressing of partially-crippled CDs, and skip straight to utterly unusable CDs. We all know it's coming.