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Beware the Apple iPhone iHandcuffs

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the future-of-gizmos dept.

Nrbelex writes "Randall Stross makes a fresh and surprisingly accurate review of one of the biggest "features" in the upcoming iPhone and the iPod in general, 'fairplay'. Stross writes, 'If "crippleware" seems an unduly harsh description, it balances the euphemistic names that the industry uses for copy protection. Apple officially calls its own standard "FairPlay," but fair it is not.... You are always going to have to buy Apple stuff. Forever and ever.' Can mainstream media coverage help the battle over DRM or will this warning, like those of the pas, continue to go unnoticed?"

2 of 406 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Just rip your CD's fool by davebarnes · · Score: 5, Informative

    Exactly.
    1. Rip your own CDs. Legal.
    2. Borrow your friends' CDs and rip. Not legal in USA.
    3. Buy MP3s from AllofMP3.com. Legal in Russia.
    4. Buy MP3s from eMusic.com. Legal.

    Plenty of sources for music that don't involve iTunes Music Store.

    --
    Dave Barnes 9 breweries within walking distance of my house
  2. Re:Just rip your CD's fool by ahillen · · Score: 5, Informative

    At least the article didn't blame Apple, but the music industry.

    Well, he also blames Apple. He gives the example of eMusic, which sells a lot of music from independent labels without DRM (and that of course with the labels agreement). The same music is sold by Apple in the iTunes Store with their fairplay DRM. It seems that in theses cases Apple's assertion that "we have to use DRM, otherwise the labels would not allow us to sell the music" is not true.

    So I guess he has a point, although I don't agree with everything he says. Starting with the headline: the problem is not the iPhone (or the iPod), the problem is the iTunes Store. If you decide to buy your music somewhere else (like - gasp - CDs) you are not locked in at all. But, OK, the iPhone is what all the buzz is about right now, so that's probably the reason for the choice of headline. He also says that by buying the iPhone, you have to use the iTunes Store if you want to buy music online. Then he goes on to give the example of eMusic, which sells millions of songs online in MP3 format without DRM. Obviously, these files will also work on any Apple device.

    So, his arguments are at some points a bit flawed, but I think the general intention of raising the awareness for the possible pitfalls of buying DRM music has to be applauded.