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SanDisk, Music Publishers Push DRM-free SlotMusic Format
Strudelkugel writes "The LA Times and others are reporting the music industry is working with SanDisk to try unrestricted music files on microSD memory cards to improve sales of physical media: 'In addition to music, the slotMusic cards will come pre-loaded with other things, such as liner notes, album-cover artwork and sometimes video.' The important part: 'The music on slotMusic comes without copyright protection, so it can be used on almost all computers, mobile phones and music players — but it won't play on an iPod, which doesn't have a micro-SD memory slot. It has one gigabyte of memory, and the music tracks are played back at high quality.' Could it be the labels have finally recognized that providing features and convenience to customers is preferable to suing them?" Most computers also don't have microSD slots; according to EMI's press release, there will be a "tiny USB sleeve" packaged with each card, and the "high quality" format means up to 320kbps MP3. From the given description, it seems like it would be no harder to transfer the tracks to an iPod (via a computer) than to most other players.
Is this the exception? I've never once encountered a CD I couldn't rip to my computer. If I did, I would return it to the store and get a refund.
Unfortunately some anti DRM people are like creationists, they stick to their opinion that most music is DRM protected when it isn't, and that piracy is the cure, not the cause (which again isn't true, we didn't have drm until we had internet music piracy, piracy caused all this shit).
I do buy the odd music CD nowadays, and never encounter one with DRM on it. Where I do buy stuff with DRM, as in from Apple and Audible, the DRM is removable by their own software, although I prefer to strip the DRM myself directly. I don't really have to, its just that I like to.
DRM probably is bad in the long term, but I'm not seeing the plague of DRM'd titles that the zealots claim are everywhere.
A learning experience is one of those things that say, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.' - D. Adams