EU Countries Call Out iTunes DRM

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.'"

Comments

Is the "lock in" really that strong?

[tetsuo29]

1) Burn tracks to an audio CD

2) Re-rip tracks from audio CD in the format of your choice

3) Use newly ripped, un-DRMed tracks on the non-iPod device of your choosing

Or, is it that this process is:

a) too complicated

b) too much work

c) too time consuming

for most Europeans to figure it out?

Re:I don't get it....

[cjmnews]

I agree with you. The French, Germans and Norwegians must not have the intelligence to use iTunes and the functionality it provides by default. You can buy from the iTunes Music Store and use a non-iPod MP3 player with the use of mp3 formatted import and a CD-RW.

Apple makes it so easy, you wonder how the music labels approved their DRM method.

Don't be fooled

[mungtor]

Don't overlook that these are foreign companies ruling against a US based one. I'm sure that their motives are far less altruistic than you might think. Probably more along the lines of "What legislation can I pass that gets me positive PR *and* stops giving money to the Americans?".

Apple has a lock on the market and this is just a political move. The only difference is that the politicians involved aren't owned by the US government this time.

Re:Translation:

[PhrostyMcByte]

You're kidding, right?

So many people own ipods and only one store is able to sell music to them. How is that a good thing? Monopolys suck -
opening it up for other stores to start competing is great.

No free speach in germany

[iendedi]

You morons can't even do research on the most important war in your history without going to jail. I feel sorry for you.