Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Jobs Favors DRM-Free Music Distribution

Posted by kdawson on from the not-my-fault dept.

Another anonymous reader tips an essay by Steve Jobs on the Apple site about DRM, iTunes, and the iPod. Perhaps it was prompted by the uncomfortable pressure the EU has been putting on Apple to open up the iPod. Jobs places the blame for the existence and continuing reliance on DRM squarely on the music companies. Quoting: "Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries. Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard. The largest, Universal, is 100% owned by Vivendi, a French company. EMI is a British company, and Sony BMG is 50% owned by Bertelsmann, a German company. Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly."

6 of 755 comments (clear)

  1. Which means... by Ariastis · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear governments, please Gang-Bang the big studios for us. (Which I believe would be a very nice thing to see)

    1. Re:Which means... by Workaphobia · · Score: 4, Funny

      No, no, no. In capitalist America, Big studios Gang-Bang YOU!

      --
      Evidently, the key to understanding recursion is to begin by understanding recursion. The rest is easy.
  2. Can we get a new icon? by IANAAC · · Score: 5, Funny
    One with Jobs sporting a nice, glowing halo?

    But make it in proportion to the Gates/Borg icon.

  3. Re:At least Apple is consistent, I guess... by dangitman · · Score: 5, Funny

    why should it be easier to be a pirate than to be a honest man?

    'Tis just the way 'tis matey. The seas are an alluring wench. Plunderin' makes many a scurvy dog's heart race. You better watch yeself though, Jim-lad. It may seem easy at first, but all that easy booty weighs heavily on the heart. Eventually ye'll be drawn to the darker side, and before ye known it ye be headed for Davy Jones' locker like a dinghy fitted with a galley.

    Being an honest man was never easy, 'tis easier to be an honorable swine.

    --
    ... and then they built the supercollider.
  4. Re:At least Apple is consistent, I guess... by Nugget · · Score: 5, Funny

    I like to listen to music using my stereo.
    An audiophile likes to listen to their stereo using music.

  5. Re:At least Apple is consistent, I guess... by 10Ghz · · Score: 4, Funny

    "You will hear loss of dynamic transience."

    But that can be fixed with some magnetic phase-inducers and cable-elevators. And wooden knobs. Can't go wrong with those knobs....

    --
    Lesbian Nazi Hookers Abducted by UFOs and Forced Into Weight Loss Programs - -all next week on Town Talk.