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Will People Really Boycott Apple Over DRM?
Ian Lamont writes "DefectiveByDesign.org is waging a battle against DRM with a 35-day campaign targeting various hardware and software products from Microsoft, Nintendo, and others. On day 11 it blasted iTunes for continuing to use DRM-encumbered music, games, TV shows, movies, audiobooks, and apps with DRM, while competitors are selling music without restrictions. DefectiveByDesign calls on readers to include 'iTunes gift cards and purchases in your boycott of all Apple products' to 'help drive change.' However, there's a big problem with this call to arms: most people simply don't care about iTunes DRM. Quoting: 'The average user is more than willing to pay more money for hobbled music because of user interface, ease of use, and marketing. ... Apple regularly features exclusive live sets from popular artists, while Amazon treats its digital media sales as one more commodity being sold.' What's your take on the DRM schemes used by Apple and other companies? Is a boycott called for, and can it be effective?"
It will never be effective. The average Joe coulden't tell you what DRM stood for let alone boycott it.
No
Is it their fault that the music companies are willing to let Amazon sell DRM-free music to have a bargaining chip against Apple when discussing pricing?
What about the huge numbers happily using iTunes and an iPod to playback their MP3 collection? You don't have to buy your media from the ITMS...
Most internet users can't tell the difference between firefox and IE, it's unlikely they'll understand what DRM even is. Those who do understand DRM, probably never bought from the itunes store in the first place.
MABASPLOOM!
Apple DOES offer iTunes Plus. Yes, it is sold at a premium price. However, for those concerned about DRM, it at least affords an alternative that is higher quality and DRM free.
Part of me wonders if this is not-trivially for publicity, like Greenpeace goes after Apple a couple times a year. But either way, not many people will care and I certainly doubt that they'll convert anybody. iTunes does, IIRC, sell non-DRM'd music (at a premium but also at a higher bitrate), and the DRM they do have is fairly unobtrusive as DRM goes. I don't like DRM'd media any more than the next person, but I can think of much worse offenders to go after than Apple.
Those who anthropomorphize science and/or nature already believe in an intelligent designer.
It will just make a drop in sales of 1 or 2%, almost not noticeable. If Apple feels like it can do without, good for them. Would they loose more profits if they ditched DRMs completely ? I doubt it and 1% is still 1%. I think there is another problem : a lot of the people willing to boycott are, IMHO, blue-chip consumers, those who helped Apple follow trends in the tech world. If Apple loses them, it may cost them more than a little drop of sales.
The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
Seriously. How many "boycotts" have people had against iTunes at this point. And didnt it just get announced a couple months ago that iTunes is now #1 in all music sales? Not for nothing but I hate DRM, I really do, and when I can avoid I do, which is why I dont by anything but indie music that comes as DRM free. But going up against iTunes is kinda a waste when ultimately its the studios behind the DRM, and they are now using it to leverage better royalty rates on music against Apple (thus despite having stores who have all DRM free music, Apple still has to put up with having DRM from some of the major players)
The only real way to get rid of DRM is to just STOP BUYING CRAP MUSIC. But then that was the only way to stop it years ago and you people still dont get it through your skull to stop supporting any artist on a major label.
"Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."
I, for one consumer, already have. I don't buy Apple products because of the DRM. Creative Zen MP3 player, Dell, and Fujitsu laptops, and Samsung i760 cellphone. My ex uses a Mac Mini. My best friend sweears by his iPhone and a couple Macs. Nice machines! Apple looks like a good OS but this danged DRM is the showstopper.
Bah! Come on Apple, lighten up. You seem to think all yer customers are sneaks and thieves, like Sam's or Best Buy.
DRM is an evil concept.
Maybe Computers will never be as intelligent as Humans.
For sure they won't ever become so stupid. [VR-1988]
"The average user is more than willing to pay more money for hobbled music because of user interface, ease of use"
Why should it be surprising that people are willing to pay for ease of use? it can mean the difference between actually being able to use something and not being able to.
Most people can't use most of most software.
1) The iPhone is the biggest selling single phone on the market, hell they've a 1/3 of the whole market with one device
2) The iPod is the biggest selling digital music player by a mile
3) iTunes is one of the easiest to use ways of managing your digital music collection
So will the vast majority of people give any sort of hoot about DRM when all they can see is their ability to share the music between their PCs and their digital music player? No they will not.
All this will do is demonstrate how pointless the actual demonstration is, thus meaning that Apple will be less likely to be concerned.
For most people the question isn't DRM-free its "playable on my iPod".
An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
Of course, I find myself only spending money on bands that I have been loyal to for quite some time (IE, System of a Down), and using SkreemR to seek out other stuff. The iTunes DRM is very easy to bypass, so I have no problem with removing it. Granted, it'd be far more enjoyable to not have to waste time breaking DRMs, but for the most part Apple's got no reason to stop using it if people won't stop using their services.
The only annoying thing is that I purchased things from iTunes on two separate computers, and getting them both on one computer is a giant complicated 'go-through-this-hoop-to-leap-over-the-pitfall' puzzle.
Boycott's don't work anymore, because there is a huge gap in American internet users: some get this stuff, others got no clue what it is. The ones that don't get what DRM is flat out don't care, and they outnumber the ones that do care, so any boycott done will do no good. So long as the 'ignorant masses' exist, with endless news channels telling them 'DRM good, no-DRM bad', they will not boycott.
Pfft, who actually purchases music anyway??
how will they insure copyright infringement does not occur? Oh, I have an idea! Filter all internet traffic through centralized servers to track every user's activity!
I'm guessing they mean the videogame consoles. What kind of DRM is obstructive in those? As far as I know when you buy digital distributed software in those consoles, you can't play them on other consoles. Makes sense. Also if they didn't put DRM in those software, then people would just not buy them anymore. It's going to be that easy to copy. I'm no DRM advocate though, but I can see why they'd do that. At least they didn't make it so that you have to connect to the internet and phone home everytime you wanted to play a game you downloaded.
"Apple regularly features exclusive live sets"
I think this sort of thing prevents the uptake of Free Software in general. People want to be part of an "in crowd", and seek ways to believe it's true (eg. Da Vinci code, fashion, nerd snobbishness, etc). People will pay for this feeling, and I reckon it was used to help prop up the monarchies (and now demonarchies*).
I mean, how "exclusive" is a live set on iTMS? Anyone can buy it, right? This is where marketing comes in. Grass-roots arts and software producers don't want to come across as "here's some scones that my mad-great-aunt made (they make great hearth-stones), all proceeds to the parish..."
*typo intended, exscuse the piss-take ;-)
DefectiveByDesign would have better luck picking on Microsoft or some of the game publishers. Apple has managed to find the sweet spot between user freedom and DRM. Yes, Apple still uses DRM but it doesn't encumber a majority of Apple iTMS users.
Let's run through Apple's DRM:
I hate DRM as much as the next /'er but the above "restrictions" are pretty darn loose. When iTMS and its uber-convenience is added into the equation, Apple's DRM becomes a minor annoyance. Point-Click-Purchase? One-click purchases? Recommendations based on previous purchases? It becomes pretty easy to overlook the little bit of DRM that is involved.
I'm not an Apple fanboy either:
[me@mydesktop ~]$ uname -a Linux my.rhel.desktop 2.6.18-92.1.18.el5 #1 SMP Wed Nov 5 09:00:19 EST 2008 x86_64 x86_64 x86_64 GNU/Linux
They have a whole host of options for playing it back, and the iTunes ecosystem is very well suited for the average person. Half the TV that my wife and I watch, while not saying much since we don't watch much TV, is on our Apple TV. I've ripped a big chunk of our DVD collection to MPEG4 and put it into our iTunes library. If we want to take movies with us when we travel, we just sync up our iPhones and that's it.
There's also the fact that you can burn the music you download to CD. So what if you can't do that with movie downloads. They're overpriced enough as it is, and so you might as well buy the DVD media at the same price. That's also a problem that affects every online movie distributor.
The average user is more than willing to pay more money for hobbled music because of user interface, ease of use, and marketing.
There is an escape from Apple's DRM: just burn tracks on music CD.
On other side, many companies really disregard the time. The time user has to spend on doing something silly and stupid. Apple was always good on removing the artificial barriers and negotiating compromise where it doesn't hurt users. (But it's not that Apple is clear on all DRM charges.)
From my personal experience, I would easily overpay for something what requires little of attention and just works. Though most of my friends prefer to spend time searching for better deal, spend time getting into the deal and then spend even more time trying to make it work in the end.
IMHO, good accessibility is also feature and I do not mind paying extra for it. Though you never find accessibility on official list of features.
Right now iTMS holds really little of advantage over other stores, so the point of RTFAs stands. Yet, now the time Apple invested into building user loyalty is simply paying back. iTMS competitors shoot themselves so many times in all the possible foots and they would need considerable time to gain the trust back.
P.S. And thanks to misleading **AA campaign many believe that Apple's DRM is norm of life. And that I believe is bigger problem.
All hope abandon ye who enter here.
Anyhow, IMO it would be far more constructive to advocate DRM-free sources than boycott those with the DRM infection. This would not only make Apple & Co wonder what's wrong (the piracy card will doubtlessly be played), but make them see what people want => DRM-free.
From TFA
No.
Is he saing Amazon doesn't want exclusives? Doesn't exclusive mean it's only sold to one vendor? And how doesn't Apple treat everything in iTunes as a commodity? A bit biased, don't you think?
"The average user is more than willing to pay more money for hobbled music because of user interface, ease of use, and marketing."
The bit that is missing is "... until they try to move their music to another PC/non-iPod/Xbox/MP3 Hi-Fi/iTunes 2/whatever and find out they're not allowed"
What the FSF and EFF should do, however, is to prove that another approach could work in the marketplace. If the EFF wants to promote, for example, "voluntary collective licensing" - then - they should get the venture capital, start a business, sign up artists and show the RIAA and record companies that you can have a very successful business when you don't assume that your customers are criminals who are out to file share everything not locked down. The record labels are businesses, they care about profit, not some kind of geek utopia - and they listen to fiscal arguments first, not technical ones.
They can DRM all they want. I haven't played their pop music game since they killed Napster. Anything I want to listen to I play myself on the guitar. I'm no Jimi Hendrix but I do well enough and the satisfaction of doing well enough is as great as hearing the virtuoso himself.
And I often forget to flagellate myself for not paying performance fees.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.
I absolutely hate Apple and would love to boycott them, however their ipods are good products and I am considering getting an iphone to use as an alternative to satellite radio. In the end I am forced to go with the best option, and quality of the actual device is the prime concern. Now if Apple had no DRM, licensed their OS, and weren't so strongly supported by people who mainly buy their products for the image, then I would probably be an Apple fan.
On a semi related note My GF bought me a Zune for Xmas because my old ipod was dying and she knows how much I hate Apple. We had to trade it in for an ipod because the software will not install in XP 64 bit. Sorry MS, I am not upgrading to vista 64 so I can use the device we just paid $250 for. As for the other alternatives, well give me some extra cables in the box and a charger to offset the glut of ipod acessories I can no longer use. So how can one boycott apple when the top alternative doesn't even work?
But I will never buy a damn thing through itunes so that part of the boycott makes sense.
Apple is publicly negotiating with the record companies to get the ability to sell DRM-free music. That they cannot is not their choice.
Apple just make a plugin for other players and play nice... not EVERYONE wants to buy a stupid ipod
DRM is only an issue when it gets in the way of the customer using the product the way they want. Apple 1) does offer songs DRM free (for a slightly larger fee) and 2) the DRM is so trivial to get around that any user who would be bothered by it can easily ignore it. So, in Apple's case, their DRM is only an issue for people who want zero DRM, no matter what - people who have taken a firm stance against DRM in any and all forms. For the vast majority of other people out there, however, the DRM isn't an issue and likely won't ever be noticed. And, thus, that means it's a well-executed DRM scheme. imho
I've been boycotting them for quite a while now!
Sounds like DefectiveByDesign.org is misinformed. DRM is pushed to Apple iTunes (and other online media Shops like Rhapsody) by the record labels e.t.c. Even if the boycott is successfull, unless if it hurts the record labels they will continue to push this policy to all online content. iTunes, Rhapsody, Napster only sell what they are authorized to sell and what is in the contract. By the way, i dont believe Apple makes a lot of money from iTunes, it is simply a means to help sell the iPod. Record labels make most of the money. Solution: Boycott the record labels
People don't care about DRM per se, they care about whether they can use what they buy any way they like.
In the case of music with DRM bought from the iTunes store: I can play it on my computer with no problems at all. I can burn it onto CDs without any problems at all. I can play it in my car (by copying it onto my iPod) without any problems at all. I can't give it away to friends to play on their computers (which would be illegal, which I might or might not care about, and I can give CDs with the music on them to friends, which is just as illegal, which again I might or might not care about), and I can't convert it to MP3 which would allow me to put it onto a cheap 4GB memory stick which can be played in many places, or onto a DVD which my DVD player can play.
Most computer users that I know would have no idea how to put _any_ music onto a memory stick or a DVD, so I don't think there is very much of a limitation at all. On the other hand, the music is easy to buy, and looking in other places is effort as well.
In the case of movie rentals, DRM might very much keep people from using a movie in the way the intend, but it's not in their way when they try to get what they paid for out of a movie (at least with the Apple store).
On the other hand, years ago I tried to buy some eBooks, which came with DRM. Paid for four books (but only a few Euros), had to download bloody Adobe eBook reader software, the software crashed during the download, and all in all I was able to read one of the four books I paid for. I don't dare thinking about what hoops I would have to jump through to make these books readable on my current computer. So in that case, DRM was most definitely in my way and kept me from giving them any more of my money for years. They now sell the same books in unprotected PDF files, which means I can read them on a Mac using Preview, and they will be usable forever.
So the summary: I am not going to boycott DRM if it is implemented well and I trust the company doing it. And if it is implemented badly, you don't need to ask me to boycott it.
Files on my ipod (RIP, Neuros II...): 20GB
ITMS purchases: 0
And going to stay that way.
Maybe the average joe can't be arsed to learn about DRM, but that's just one more person for me to laugh at when the next company pulls a wal-mart.
My household uses Macs, an Airport Express, iPods and an iPhone.
The DRM on music doesn't bother me because, if a track isn't a DRM-free iTunes Plus track, I can simply burn an Audio CD (using a CD-RW) and rip the CD to MP3s. I'm not an audiophile, so any "loss" due to the conversion isn't something I notice. The day Apple announces a date for their iTunes authentication server to go down, I'll burn some CDs.
The DRM on videos doesn't bother us because we simply don't buy them. We simply rip our DVDs. We do rent videos from iTunes, but the DRM works in our favor because it removes the video files after viewing. The price for rentals is cheaper than what my TV provider is charging for PPV, so its fine with me.
Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, B, A, START
Apple has non-DRM versions in the form of Itunes Plus. I only buy those. If something isn't offered in non-DRM form, I don't. I'm already voting with my dollars.
I don't see the point of boycotting them when they do offer a non-DRM option, and I'm effectively boycotting artists/record labels that don't allow it too.
I really dont hear qualms about this from Apple users, because it is mainly iTunes and Amazon that seem to not be restricted to windows.
My main thought about this is the windows users who have a sandisk or zune or some other brand and have the multiple options as to where they can buy music from. The problem they have is when they take music from mutliple sources and try and move them around and mix and match them.
The problem is that there is no universal music format. Everyone is trying to push their own DRM system. Users aren't going to win with 9 different music programs to get different music from and with as many different players to choose from as there are people in the US.
I have had no problems downloading from amazon and importing it into iTunes, or using iTunes downloaded music within iTunes all being managed on my iPod.
Here's a major difference between Apple's iTunes DRM and other companies:
it lets people do what they want with it.
No, not what YOU want to do with it, what the average iPod/Mac owner wants to do with it.
Most people who are buying songs through iTunes have an iPod or iPhone, many have a mac, and the songs and shows are designed to work just fine on both. They don't want to sync with anything else, so why would they care about the DRM?
Something that restricts you from putting music on your iPod, yes that's going to piss the users off, but something designed to integrate with it? Not so much.
Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo - H. G. Wells
I'm confused. If 'boycotting' means simply not buying what you don't like from some place that doesn't supply what you wish, then I guess I've been boycotting certain retail outlets all my life. With minimal effort on my part.
Should I be starting websites of my own to tell people what I won't be buying? Cos that could get pretty time consuming and frankly I have better things to be doing. Obviously these people don't.
I've been boycotting apple since the 80's
Just last night I sent a friend a direct link to a band on Amazon. She replied "oh cool, I'll go get this on iTunes."
No.
Thanks
I boycotted DRM encumbered music over a year ago for practical reasons. I suddenly had a few devices I wanted to use my music on besides my apple devices. Otherwise I don't care. Honestly, I don't care even in the slightest about the DRM. I don't have the false notion that I own any of this content, maybe it's the "Defective by Design" people who are wrong.
Historically speaking, nobody has ever owned any music or video by buying it, so let's look away from the faulty technology and look at the terms that actually matter and will actually capture the attention of paying users.
All that matters to most people is that they can use the things how they want to. Most people buy DVD's and never ever care about the DRM on there because they just stick it in whatever dvd player and it works great. If a person has nothing but apple products to play their DRM'd videos, why should they care about it?
Personally I buy TV shows on iTunes but I never even considered it anything more than the kind of fee I pay for cable tv, simply less over the course of a year because I only have to pay for what I want to see. If I want something less restricted I buy the dvd set when it comes out. You might comment about how I'm paying twice but frankly, so is every idiot out there paying for cable tv or satellite or whatever subscription service delivering you 25 times as many programs per hour as you'll ever be able to store.
And as a final comment, while you're boycotting companies for pushing these annoying technologies, remember who is really at fault for their very existence: big content. If you are going to boycott the cause for DRM's proliference then you have to boycott even NON DRM CONTENT if it comes from any company that promotes the use of DRM on any of their content anywhere, that means every single movie company since they all use DVD, etc. Let's get it right, if people are going to try and make a stand against nonsensical broken tech, let's at least focus the efforts where they actually matter.
I read the script, and I think it would help my character's motivation if he was on fire. -Bender
but it's such a simple matter for me to record anything that comes out of my audio card and save it off.
If Apple had any say in the matter, they would sell *all* iTunes content without DRM.
It's not their content, therefore it's not up to them. It's the content owners who decide whether or not iTunes can sell DRM-free content.
In the case of music, only EMI and some independent labels allowed this.
So, are the people at DefectiveByDesign.org obtuse, or are they deliberately obscuring the issue for publicity?
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I have never purchased a song from iTunes specifically because I don't like how they voluntarily put DRM on everything. And I am not going to reward them by paying them more to sell me DRM-free music either. Sure there are ways around it, but why should I spend extra effort to reward a vendor making retarded decisions?
Instead, I spend the extra effort finding the DRM-free MP3 from another vendor or buying the CD. Screw iTunes.
And this is coming from someone who owns all Apple computers.
I can show you at least one person who never buys anything from Apple; not just because of their DRM technology, but also because of their abusive control tactics in general. Me.
I just bought a great mini music player - a Sansa. Twice as much memory as an equivalent iPod clip, supports ogg, works with Linux, includes FM radio, and has a little screen so I can navigate my collection. And it's cheaper.
The only reason people buy Apple is because they are sheepish tools who are too lazy or ignorant to consider better (and cheaper) alternatives.
Apple's DRM is, surprisingly, the most convenient of the DRM that exists out their these days, but still doesn't make it entirely right. I don't like DRM, I don't like the RIAA, I don't like that I don't have full control of my own copy, and I don't like how most artists get almost no cut of their CD sales unless they are mega stars who don't need a cut of their CD sales any more.
However, a boycott is wrong for the reasons listed here already, because it won't work. What will work is a steady approach to raise awareness. The RIAA is winning a very poorly run "war" because no one is raising awareness of the opposite side of the argument, that you do have the right to make personal copies of things you buy and that software DRM can damage your PC and that it does limit your rights, slowly the tide will turn back and then one day perhaps a boycott can be attempted.
"All great wisdom is contained in .signature files"
A few years ago, Apple was the only game in town. No one likes the DRM, but they made it pretty simple to work with, so lots of people don't mind it. But now with competitors offering similar catalogs and slicker interfaces, I think it's only a matter of time before Apple has to deal with this. I switched to Amazon for all my digital music this year specifically because it's DRM free.
People that buy Apple products don't care about logic or reason in any case.
People that boycott stuff would never buy from Apple for reasons of logic.
Mutually exclusive.
I refuse to buy anything that's not iTunes Plus (DRM Free 256kbit AAC), though I will from time to time download the free single which IS DRM.
I'm willing to accept DRM on something I don't have to pay for (iTunes Free single of the week) since that seems a fair trade-off (I get the song for free and in return you can limit my usage). I won't however pay full price for something that can be arbitrarily shut off. If the song is not available as iTunes Plus then I'll buy the CD, download the Mp3 from Amazon or Rhapsody, or otherwise find some other higher bitrate DRM-Free source.
Now, if only we could get iTunes Plus video...
One place I love to get music from is Linnrecords. http://www.linnrecords.com/
They are an audiophile targeted record label and have a nice selection of their music available in DRM Free lossless high definition (24-bit, 88/96khz FLAC)
This issue is unlike any other issue of individual freedom in history in that the media has a direct conflict of interest with the public.
Without news agencies willing to report against their own self-interest, it will be incredibly difficult to raise awareness. When reported upon, this issue is framed in only one way: "the poor copyright cartels" (e.g. news organizations) are being "ripped off" by "dirty filthy music/movie thieves".
When the mass media is against your cause the battle is not simply uphill, it's like scaling the cliffs of dover.
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
media Shops like Rhapsody) by the record labels e.t.c. Even if the boycott is successfull, unless if
by the record labels e.t.c. Even if the boycott
labels e.t.c. Even
e.t.c.
Did anyone at DefectiveByDesign ever read Steve Job's open letter about DRM? Or anyone here for that matter? Apple doesn't want DRM as much as the next guy, the problem is the Record Companies and in terms of Blu-Ray, Sony. Last I heard Jobs referred to Blu-Ray as a "bag or hurt". I'm not sure I understand how hurting an anti-DRM ally is effective at stopping it.
http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/
Did anyone at DefectiveByDesign ever read Steve Job's open letter about DRM? Or anyone here for that matter? Apple doesn't want DRM as much as the next guy, the problem is the Record Companies and in terms of Blu-Ray, Sony. Last I heard Jobs referred to Blu-Ray as a "bag or hurt". I'm not sure I understand how hurting an anti-DRM ally is effective at stopping it. http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/
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But use the right term, "copy protection" and people will start ranting about how they can't copy/play/backup their favorite game/music/video from/to their favorite player, and then ask "but what can we do about it?".
The true message from DefectiveByDesign would be "you CAN do something about copy protection!"
I'm not saying Stallman is not a great person/revolutionary/programmer, but he certainly isn't well-versed in Public Relations.
I'm already speaking with my wallet concerning iTunes DRM. I'll buy from the iTunes store if the song I want is an iTunes plus(DRM free) song, otherwise I buy music from Amazon. Amazon has a nice tool that integrates the music right into iTunes so you get the best of both worlds, DRM free and easy to use interface. 90% of my purchases over the last year have been from Amazon. At the same time I'm educating my 6th grader about why he should buy DRM free music. It seems to be getting through. You've got to start somewhere.
http://xkcd.com/488/
That is when they find they can't use one of their new shiny devices because of it, when the service shuts down or has some nasty problem, or a radical DRM upgrade.
So far Apple has had the shiny new devices and their service hasn't shut down and changes have been pretty much transparent (to the DRM folks, not to the non-drm folks). But eventually there will be some notable change and you will hear a whole lot of ignorant screams about all the injustice of having their music being messed up because of Apple.
From my viewpoint, DRM is just a big logic bomb waiting to go off.
"Enjoy what you're doing! If it becomes drudgery, you're doing it wrong!" - Jim Butterfield
Owned a MacBook Pro for almost 3 years now - never bought anything through iTunes. Also have resisted temptation to even consider a new MBP due to the proprietary (PITA) display port - and will likely never buy the new MacMini for the same reason, plus the fact that two or three eeeBoxes are far more useful (to me) than one MacMini.
I also have purchased 6 DRM-free Sansa media players over the last 2 years, I really enjoy not worrying about content license issues in case my 6 year old loses his player (it also helps that I got the kids' Sansa shakers for $15 each...)
The only DRMistake I ever made was a PS3 purchase - it's a cool product, but it rankles knowing that it could be streaming Netflix to the big TV if only its makers weren't trying to push their own (overpriced, underfeatured) products down my intertubes...
I'm already on a permanent iTunes boycott; I won't buy digital media through iTunes at all simply because it is encumbered with DRM. Sure, I'll take advantage of their free downloads now and then, but owning the physical CD, a storage method that can always be relied on to re-install music after a hard drive or device failure, has always been more appealing to me.
iTunes though is fairly benign DRM. Users get to have five 'activations' and can globally reset all of their activations once a year. And while originally iTunes relied on users to know enough to backup their music, more recently any purchased song can easily be transferred from an iPod to a new computer.
While its understandable that any protest of DRM would include Apple's scheme, it is one of the least offensive iterations of DRM; perhaps if other media companies took direction from Apple, fewer users would be so offended by DRM.
I'll continue to enjoy Apple's free promotions, but ultimately buying the digital version just seems to risky, with or without DRM.
This is why I continue to buy CD's at either Amazon or the used cd shop.
Read my reply title. LOOK, it's no longer exclusive! Free software can access it! : )
VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
Unfortunately a boycott won't work out.
The average user doesn't understand DRM issues and will be MORE LIKELY to blame any issues they have on the operating system or a software error.
To a person that hasn't encountered DRM much before the messages explaining why they're stopped from copying it (etc) does not explain what is going on and is not going to inform them.
DRM messages only help keep the end user ignorant of what is really going on.
So sadly a boycott won't work in main stream.
I, however, will never buy anything off of ITunes.
All iTunes media can be played through iTunes on Windows. Windows is not normally run on Apple hardware.
Yes, you. Please pay attention.
YOU are NOT the target audience for iTunes.
YOU have NEVER been the target audience for iTunes.
YOU will NEVER be the target audience for iTunes.
Apple is REQUIRED by their contracts with the diverse media companies to add their DRM to the files they sell. Steve Jobs does not rub his hands in supervillianish glee at the thought of inconveniencing the 100 or so people who use OGG.
For those few files I buy from iTunes they get passed though the current version of Requiem . The stripped files remain in iTunes, the originals live in a folder of their very own. Just in case anyone with a warrant asks.
For the most part, I do not buy new CDs/DVDs. I buy them used. Rip and strip . Masters go in a box in the closet and I listen to MP3s and watch AVI s.
Guaranteed! This comment 100% Anthrax free!
The iTunes DRM -- with the glaring exception of vidseo content -- is at least a fairly decent compromise between oppressive rights-holders and consumers. ...but we should still boycott Apple.
We should boycott Apple for the HDCP DRM in the new Mini DisplayPort implementation.
Also for abandoning FireWire and ditching the Macworld Expo.
(It's almost as if Apple is deliberately punishing their most loyal customers these days. Maybe it's a Pavlovian social experiment.)
Apple products are jewelry, we often get confused because most of us are in it for the gadget, and since these are technically gadgets as well as jewelry... There are (a minority) of people who are technophiles and would be annoyed by nuanced technical and social issues as it relates to ITMS or locking of iPhones
/.-er
Apple does not really sell to those people, even though they are buying. Just like most people don't care about the chemical properties of a diamond when they are shopping for an engagement ring, the average i buyer is thinking of things on a completely different level from a
What colors do they come in, how much thinner are they than last year's model, how conspicuous are the white earbuds, how shiny is it, how "modern" is it - these all rank significantly higher with the target demographic, the purchasers of i
Apple doesn't want DRM on it's music. They never have. The record labels have allowed the removal of DRM from every other online music store to help try and break Apple's dominance in the industry.
As it stands now, Apple sets the $0.99 price tag for songs. The record labels want higher prices, tiered pricing and God only knows what else.
As much as it pains me to say it, a boycot of Apple's iTunes Music Store just plays into the record companies' hands.
Many of us have already boycotted Apple for far less significant reasons.
Just be thankful Apple, Tivo and Netflix haven't joined forces in an unholy alliance to make the media available on the ipod. That would be an unstoppable juggernaut of DRM that would be so damn convenient that it would infect everyone on the planet.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
It's pointless. You buy it, you burn it, and you re-rip it and no DRM. I've even taught computer 'illiterates' how to do this. I don't understand why they continue to place DRM in iTunes music. Any technically competent person can easily remove said DRM with just a few minutes spare time. Even those that struggle with PC's can typically be taught how to do this in half an hour or so.
I understand that Apple probably has contracts with the recording studios, but are the studios so blind that they really think DRM works? Joe user probably doesn't care about sharing his music. He just wants it to work on his desktop, laptop, his MP3 player, etc. The ones who are serious 'pirates' will easily work around any DRM in music. It's a waste of time and resources, but then again, RIAA has never been known for seeing the forest for the trees.
iTunes works because it lets people download music, play it, and sync it to their iPod without ever (knowingly) interacting with the filesystem.
Ask Joe iTunes user where the music files actually are on their HD. They will not be able to find them.
When I download from Amazon, I do it with my web browser. I then navigate to my downloads folder, and open it with a player. (three separate programs - browser - file manager - player). A given song appears using a different metaphor in each one (Tracks - Icons - file or play list)
Moving songs to a portable device is worse. Devices may use Bluetooth, mount as a USB device, have cards one puts in a card reader, or possibly mount as one of many types of network shares (e.g. uPnP). It takes multiple steps and is different for almost every device. The players in each device operate differently.
If the user gets confused at any step, for them the music is gone -- lost -- unplayable. Indistinguishable from a DRM'ed file except perhaps that it is possibly even more frustrating since there is no other entity to blame.
People are used to corporations/governments/anything perceived as a superior - telling them what they can and cannot do. They have been fine with that for hundreds of years. The only thing more ingrained in our psyche than accepting unfair, and un-based authority is perhaps the fear of being eaten by a monster. (Mention of reproduction omitted given target audience.)
Make people fell stupid, belittle them, point out how incompetent they are with their own technology however, and you alienate them instantly.
The truly ignorant, however, are those that think the problem with Apple selling DRM'ed music has anything at all to do with DRM.
My parents have LP's, 45's etc. that they bought possibly before WW II. People (individuals) typically loose everything on their hard drives every year or 2. iPods are lost/stolen/fail in approximately the same time span. Wanna show ignorance a second way? -- Express belief that any of these DRM'ed files will mean anything to anyone in even a very short time in the future.
(I own a DefectiveByDesign t-shirt, and I do agree with them, I just wish they would understand the issues a little better.)
Only if someone from the "Moral Majority" can whip up a frenzy after seeing Janet's titties on an iPod.
My wife used to give me grief for being anti-DRM and used to think I was some sort of freak for being concerned. She couldn't work out why I'd buy a CD and rip that rather than just download from iTunes. I was the village idiot.
Then she bought a new laptop. 'Where's all my music gone?'. Now after a bit of messing about we managed to work out how to deregister, register and get her DRM'd tunes back but she'd never have done it on her own.
NOW she get's why it's a big deal.
I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
I don't give a hang one way or another about the DRM on iTunes Store content since I do not permanently keep DRMed video or audio for any reason whatsoever. However, I DO care about being able to use my hardware with the software of my choice. I have a 4G iPod Nano and I like it pretty well but it will be the last iPod I ever own unless Apple gets their heads out of their butts on this. Nor do I dare update the firmware on this unit. The bottom line for me is that I like the player itself but I don't care for iTunes at all. Even if there was a Linux version I wouldn't use that pig of an app.
Apple is using the DMCA to bully those trying to get the iPod to interoperate with other software. Being able to load up an iPod with Amarok or some other software in no way compromises the DRM on content. But I suppose Apple doesn't like people trying to escape from their iPod+iTunes+Store trifecta. This isn't any sort of "boycott". I simply won't buy hardware that is useless to me. Hardware that only works with OS X/Windows+iTunes and Steve's middle finger to everyone else is useless to me.
Where they would go into an Apple store, take up space and the time of Geniuses who could be helping people with REAL problems, by griping about the DRM on iTunes and whine about how "It's BROOOOKEEEEEENNNNNNNNN! DO SOMETHIIIIIIING!".
Until they were thrown out onto the sidewalk on their GNU/Asses.
Guaranteed! This comment 100% Anthrax free!
I'm not sure I can think of a single tech-related boycott that was clearly a success, at all?
IMHO, most boycotts amount to "feel good" actions some people can take to say they "did their part" to protest something. But in today's global economy, it's a huge undertaking to convince enough buyers to stop buying for it to have much impact.
It probably works far better at a local level, with some individual retail store people are upset with (not part of a chain).
But to the point of *this* issue -- focusing anger on Apple and iTunes is misdirected. Apple is one of the pioneers of bargaining with the recording industry to make the music legally available online in the FIRST place. I'm pretty sure DRM creates much more expense and hassle for Apple than it benefits them. (Extra time and money spent on software developers coding and debugging DRM issues, customer service calls related to needing a reset of their account, etc. etc.)
The flaw here is that Apple's agreement with the music labels requires them to employ D R M. Apple has made very public statements that they will drop D R M, when a label allows them to. E M I has done this & their catalog is available in a higher quality, restriction-free version. The labels want to reduce Apple's market dominance so that the labels expand their polyopoly into the digital download, aka MP3, realm. This everyone else is receiving permission to sell unrestricted downloads
Cheers !
I really don't get what's so evil about Nintendo. So they have some DRM to prevent you from running burned copies of games. The different between console DRM, and PC DRM, is that consoles don't actually cause any grief on the user to implement their DRM. Put the disc in, you get to play. For those who are worried about scratched disks, well, treat you stuff better. I've still have Gamecube discs from 6 years ago that work fine. And computer game CDs from 12 years ago that still work. Nintendo has been pretty lenient about running home brew on their consoles. Even though they have released multiple updates, they still haven't stopped homebrew from running. The last update didn't even remove the homebrew channel.
Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
I was given some itunes gift cards last year for christmas, but i never used them because I was holding out for more drm-free music and better encoding quality. this year when my dad asked if itunes cards would suffice instead of cds as they are more convenient for him, i told him no. instead, i would like a giftcard i can use on amazon.
There DBD folks have the head up their asses. They win no freinds when they go after the short poll in the DRM tent.
It was not till apple came along and prices songs at $1 that it became attractive to put up with the conveniences of their system versus free but inconvenient pirated music.
They created the speed bump model of DRM for music. So actual barriers but speed bumps to limit the rate of spread of music sharing over music purchasing.
With video it appears they may be moving to a more locked down model. It's too early to tell. But why begin by attacking apple? go after the long poll in the tent.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
They got extra pissy when people started posting comments to their blog entry encouraging people to go do that. To the point where they started blocking accounts and disabling comments. That was great.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
there is no such thing as a boycott in this day-and-age. the last successful boycott was with Don Imus, and i can't remember one before that.
in order for a boycott to work, it needs a lot of exposure. lots of TV coverage and radio play. else, how would anyone else know that there is a boycott. a bunch of collective nerds deciding not to buy iTunes music won't do a thing.
and no one cares. i can guarantee that, out of my wife, mother, father, brother, mother-in-law, father-in-law and brother-in-law, i am the only one who could tell you what DRM is, and all of them have bought songs from iTunes. DRM isn't bad. it is put in place because so many people dishonestly rip and share music. i buy iTunes music and don't care about the DRM. i can play it on my iPhone, iPod, and 5 computers.
how does the DRM even affect me? the only time it has been a problem is when i am trying to give music to my friends, which is illegal anyways.
The message is too abstract. Give the people some better examples. iPod and iTunes do not support flash - why should I care?
It's easy: with flash support you could watch The Daily Show and the Daily Show for free, with iTunes you have to pay for it - if you can watch it at all.
I've NEVER bought a song on iTunes. Does that mean that I'm part of the boycott, or do I need to buy something first, then never buy again?
Seriously though - I'd much rather put my money behind LaLa.com - they have a much better model imho.
I sig, therefore I am.
... Ineffective, yes. Unreasonable... no.
Apple's DRM satisfies the music industry's insistence on some sort of "lock" on their music, however, should one desire to use their music in any other format, you just burn it to CD, and rip it into whatever format you desire, and you never even violate a term of use. All you need is a CD burner and less than $.20 of media.
DRM is bad, but Apple's iTunes Music DRM is IMO done right.
=-D
Most people won't boycott Apple because they don't understand the issues. Even a lot of geeks whom I'd assume would understand the issue are still dazzled by the Apple brand. Just count the number of Macbooks at the average open-source conference.
I personally boycott Apple. I feel that we're lucky that Microsoft became the evil monopolist rather than Apple; had Apple won the lottery, it would be ten times as evil and draconian as Microsoft. The only reason, IMO, that geeks don't perceive Apple this way is that it isn't a monopoly (at least, not in the computer field.)
I'll never buy anything from Apple again after the hassle I had getting my daughter's ipod working with linux. Compatibility problems I can understand, but paying good money for something with compatibility problems intentionally engineered in angers me. It's s**t like this that made me abandon Windows a decade ago, I'd much rather use something that's designed to work than something that's designed not to work if [insert limitation on freedom here].
I, for one, will be participating in this boycott, but not because of any particular ill-will towards Apple... it's just that I haven't bought any music, period, since I got broadband eight years ago. Yup, pirated my whole collection.
(posting anonymously for obvious reasons.)
Ok,
Everyone screams about DRM and how horrible it is but we are screaming about this to the wrong people. Companies like Apple could care less what we think because they have idiots like our friends and family that often use their services.
Here's the real killer app. Explain to your friends and family that are less technical what DRM really means to them. If possible save it for a time where the DRM is getting in the way of them doing what they want and they are asking for your help such as migrating their Itunes library to a new machine or a new Ipod. Explain the real risk of downloading music and show them how to do it and how the files are "better" because they are not DRM locked. Help them convert their purchases to non DRM locked files.
Eventually as consumers become more educated and more aware of DRM they will refuse to accept it just as they refuse to accept other bitter pills that corporations try to make them swallow.
To any corporations that might actually be listening to consumers. Produce a product at a price point that people want to buy it and you will sell a ton of it. Give up on the idea of "licencing" music and trying to make your buck on "every" copy out there. It's just not going to happen.
I have shown most of my family and friends how to do this and even the most technology phobic have stopped throwing their money away on hobbled content. Until the industry gets their heads out of their backsides they will continue to find their non DRM locked content in other places. Yes you greedy pigs the one nerd you ignored about DRM turned at least 20 people against you and is going to keep going until you either go out of business or stop this DRM crap!
I'm no fan of DRM - but - Apple's doesn't annoy me . It doesn't get in the way of what I want to do - I can listen to the music or watch the videos I purchased. When it becomes an annoyance, then I'll be a bit more strident about this issue.
Most uses of the word 'most' most of us have ever seen in most sentences.
Singularity: a belief in the "God" idea with the "demiurge" relation inverted.
My mother-in-law knows next to nothing about computers other than how to check her email. She has an iPod, and was wondering how to rip DVDs like she (or rather, my father-in-law) rips CDs. I explained to her that the reason that iTunes doesn't have a DVD ripping feature is not because of some technical reason, it's because the DMCA makes it illegal. I briefly explained how DVD CSS works, and while I was at it, how iTunes Fair Play works. She got the idea pretty quickly, and now buys her music from Amazon.
I'm not convinced that the guys showing up at Apple stores in hazmat suits help, but a simple explanation sure does.
Well, it has, at least with me.
I got an AppleTV a couple of years ago, and I had a video iPod already. Of course, the first thing I did was buy a whole bunch of my favorite shows so that I could use the AppleTV kind of like a Tivo, sans commercials and at higher quality video.
I still have my AppleTV, but it didn't take long to exceed its capacity. So I started storing my television shows on my computer. A couple of computers (and iPods, for that matter) later, I've moved my stuff around so much and dropped and reauthorized stuff to the point where the shows I bought when I first got my AppleTV are, for all practical purposes, gone forever unless I want to re-buy them.
So nowadays, I buy all of my stuff on DVD, period, and I rip it to my computer. I put the discs away forever, and I can watch it on anything I want any time I want. If I get a new computer, I copy the files over, I'm done. No reauthorization, no fuss, no chance of losing my stuff or having to re-rip them. Don't get me wrong, I still love my AppleTV. I rent movies on it once a week or so, and I watch a lot of the stuff I rip on it. I just don't buy video media from Apple iTunes any more.
Apple has always been a master of ease-of-use. I just think it's a shame that they, along with other companies in whose vested interest it is to make things as easy for the consumer as possible, can't use their retail power to shed all of this silliness. The technical capability is there for any video or song that you buy from Apple or anyone else to be extremely easily portable and transferrable. If they made it so, would piracy go up? Sure, no doubt. But you know what else would go up? Sales. And isn't that really the goal?
The reason BitTorrent and other illegal means of acquiring video and music is so popular is because it fills a gap that Apple and other RIAA/MPAA-colluding companies never will be able to, the ability to let people watch what they want, where they want. I'm sure the "free" thing is a factor too, but really, for me, it's not. If Apple announced tomorrow that they were dropping DRM on all music and all video, they'd have a loyal customer for life, and I would spend gobs of money in their store. As it is, though, they're losing my business to stores like Amazon.com that sell all DRM-less music and physical DVDs.
Acknowledging DRM is bad to the core, there are just economical and business factors that can't be overcome in a single step from DRM to DRM-free. iTunes is doing a good job bridging the gap, providing a fair comparison between tracks that are protected and tracks that are not. It's also getting around or minimizing MOST of the problems that DRM causes. iTunes right now is the most consumer-friendly form of DRM available.
It's unreasonable to assume in any debate that the other side is just going to toss up its arms and say I GIVE UP YOU WIN and concede the world. That's what this "defectivebydesign" group is trying to achieve, and it's never going to work that way.
iTunes is probably the best thing going for the anti-drm movement right now, and that I mean even above non-drm music. It's easing the music industry into free music at a pace it's willing to go. It's something that the consumer can tolerate, and something the industry can tolerate. Right now, drm-free isn't something the industry can tolerate, and drm-lockdown isn't something consumers will tolerate.
The consumers will never accept lockdown, but the industry eventually should accept fredom of format. Just need to give it some time in the middle with things like iTunes to make them warm up to it.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
Of course I don't buy music from iTunes either. But I know people who do and they don't notice it either. I don't really care either way. I steal all of my media from bit torrent sites anyway and apple products are nifty so Imma keep buyin them. Whenever the powers that be come up with a new way to try to restrict bits some geek somewhere finds a way around it. The actions of corporations in this arena are meaningless.
.. that's encumbered by a price tag.
I'm just not that in love with popular culture, these days.
I have not and will nor buy anything from these worthless rip-off merchants.
I don't think I could possibly care less about DRM. When I want a game (rarely) I just buy the stupid thing. As I hear more and more comments about DRM coming from the most spoiled generation planet Earth has ever seen, I actually start to feel sorry for the companies dealing with file sharing.
Any one who really does not understand why downloading every song, game and piece of software you want for free from one web site is (and should be) illegal, does not deserve a computer with Internet access.
Downloading shit from TPB does not make you L337 and does not make you a hacker. It makes you an idiot who just installed a shitload of malware. And it makes you a thief.
to do so. In fact, I boycott each and every evil corporation by never buying any of their products or services, _ever_. It's been very effective at allowing me to support far more worthwhile, honest and creative efforts.
It's a crying shame that some many people have allowed themselves to be used and abused by the overly-affluent.
First of all, Apple has stated time and time again they'd love to remove the DRM from their music, but the record companies won't let them. The record companies have even gone as far as giving non-DRM to Apple's competitors, yet that still doesn't work because it isn't about DRM, it's about playing your music.
Let's look at the Apple iPod/iTunes interaction. I cruise the store, click on something I want, and it's on my iPod. Magic!
I recently tried to buy some non-DRM tunes from Amazon. First of all, their website is a mess, and it was hard to find what I was looking for. Then, when I downloaded their music, I had to first download and install a installer application. Then download the music. However, it didn't get added into iTunes. I had to find where Amazon stored the music on my machine, and then ask iTunes to import it.
The boycott will fail because the alternatives still don't work as well, so consumers won't go for it, and even if it did make a dent in Apple's sales, Apple couldn't remove the DRM if they wanted to without the record companies' permission. And, the record companies aren't going to give Apple that ability unless Apple gives them "flexibility" in prices (i.e. charge more).
The DRM that's associated with iTunes is quite generous to us consumers:
- burn to CD (and re-rip as MP3)
- up to 5 computers can be licensed at a time
- move licenses from system to system (not like @#$^#$% bioshock)
- easy transfer to iPods (or other MP3 players if you burn to CD)
Is it DRM? Yeah. Is it better than getting just MP3? No, I'll get some songs from Amazon because it's MP3 only. But for what it does and how I can use it, I'm happy with it.
The average consumer purchasing music through iTunes just wants it to work on his/her ipod/iphone and doesn't care much beyond that. I would hypothesize that those who DO care about DRM know how to circumvent it anyway.
My company develops a product for cell phones.
iPhone users LOSE out.
Due to the multiple "Issues" of developing for the iPhone platform we're NOT going to pursue compatibility for it.
Sorry Apple but you're screwing yourselves now.
As others have pointed out, DRM in iTunes is not their fault. But pretend it was...
Is Apple really selling DRM? Is the boycotting of DRM sales what will take them down? No, I suggest if you have a problem with Apple you don't attack superfluous crap.
Apple = image, destroy the image, and you will have destroyed the Apple.
Some people might also say the image = Steve Jobbs. Well, instead of trying to bash Apple in a coy "I'm innocently asking a question" kind of way, why don't you just wait for him to die of cancer. Jerks.
Nobody else...and even then a very small minority of geekdom.
Yes, it's called for.
Yes, it can be effective.
But no, it most likely WON'T be effective. On the other hand, that shouldn't stop anyone who really cares from trying.
...and pay for the music you want to listen to on your frickin' iPod. DRM seems to be working because the iTMS seems to be doing great business -- and I don't see normal non-slashdot folks (and I'm not talking about my mother, but about my 13 year old daughter) caring one iota if it has DRM or not. If they like it, they buy it twice, and at .99 cents it's not back breaking. I'm so sick of everyone complaining because they don't get everything for free. I posit that DRM is fine, and if you don't like it there's plenty of utilities that easily strip your DRM with minimal effort on your behalf.
Apple maintains a monopoly on anything they sell. Unless cracked Mac OS X only runs on their own hardware which is always over priced. You cannot modify mac hardware other than sticking in a few ram chips. They brick unlocked iPhones, this is only one of a large amount of consumer unfriendly practices. The question is why isn't anyone boycotting them over everything else they are doing?
You can deauthorize all of your machines and then re-authorize the one's you actually use: About iTunes Store authorization and deauthorization
And it seems silly to boycott a company that provides the most easy to use DRM and is working to phase it out as fast as the labels will work with them: iTunes Store: iTunes Plus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Some privacy policy Slashdot.
Actually, I boycot apple over their prices, DRM is just the icing on the cake ;)
Launched at the height of the Christmas shopping season.
A story that makes it to Slashdot as close to Christmas Eve as makes no difference.
The economy has been hard hit. So the Geek can claim victory without having proven a damned thing.
Does any of this sound familiar?
iTunes is great for "window shopping" but why buy hobbled content when the physical CD can often be had for less money on ebay or amazon? (assuming you pay 99 cents - 1.29 for each track, and there are 10 or more on the disc) I might make an exception for the DRM-free MP3, but it's MP3... yuck. I like to rip my CDs to FLAC for the Squeezebox and MP3 for the iPhone. To me the DRM-free MP3s are worth about 25 - 50 cents per track, no more. If it was that cheap I'd go for the convenience factor I guess.
So I guess you could say I've been "boycotting" DRM all along. I could count the tracks I've bought on iTunes on one hand.
poking caged monkeys at the zoo.
It might be funny, but essentially pointless.
Those that don't mind burning and re-ripping music to move it to a non Apple(TM) product have probably become so used to restrictions they feel privileged to do it at all. And the rest can just happily get by by staying cozy in their own little brand bubble. If you buy all the right products you're right, you don't even have to worry about it.
Quack, quack.
First I'll answer the question - most people don't have to care in order for a boycott to have an effect. If only one in ten people participate, that's a 10% loss in sales. Even if all you do is boycott DRM-protected media, any company would sit up and take notice of a 10% loss in sales, particularly in this economy. In short, it doesn't matter if everyone or even most people care - enough need to care that it causes noticeable loss.
At the time the iTunes store started, I felt like the DRM solution was the only way to lure / drag the recording labels, kicking and screaming, into the digital 21st century, and I felt like it was a lot better than the punitive approach of suing Napster and Limewire users. If you have been paying attention, the licensing terms for DRM tracks on the iTunes Music Store have been gradually relaxed. Now there are a number of ways to purchase non-DRM tracks legally and easily - not just iTMS, but Amazon.com, eMusic, Magnatune, and a number of other, smaller vendors. Furthermore, you have always been able to buy CDs yourself and rip them, and if you were a poor college student like I used to be, you could always buy used CDs and trade your old ones in that you never listened to, back before you could "rip" your music at all, let alone download it from some Russian MP3 site. It is my opinion that as distasteful as DRM technology may be, Apple's approach did open the door to the legitimate digital music download market - whether by provoking a response or goading the labels to provide *some* convenient, inexpensive method of legally aquiring music in virtual form. However, I think this should be an intermediate step only, and DRM needs to be abandoned as quickly as possible.
So I ask you, is a boycott of Apple entirely really necessary, or shouldn't we just stop buying DRMed tracks instead, and force the market down the path consumers wanted in the first place? That is the route I have been taking for the last 2 years. I don't buy DRM tracks any more unless I need it for reference (I'm also a musician), and I simply cannot find it anywhere else, either on CD or on one of my (legal) sources for digital music.
Love, Squeedle
Isn't video content pretty much as liberal? Certainly it still seems to have a lot fewer restrictions than other video DRM licenses.
;-) John Welch has the best words to say on the matter.
And while their recent HDCP implementation is a bit poor, shouldn't one instead be seeking to boycott the parties driving HDCP itself?
FireWire hasn't been "abandoned" yet, just pulled off their lower-end laptops. If the next iMac and mini refreshes pull it...? THEN it's been effectively abandoned. (Not that the industry in general hasn't abandoned FireWire already. I know, I know... I loved SCSI as well, but what can you do? There will always be SOME options, it just becomes "not commonly available" options, so you have to struggle more. Such is the fate of not-widely-used tech.)
Meanwhile on Macworld Expo, may I point you to bynkii.com?
I think that the boycott is already in place. Consumers just want music they can copy onto the MP3 player of their choice (like the cheap one they got for christmas), when they find out they cant without jumping 4 hoops, they stop buying music there. Itunes/I(player) is an 80 percent solution for those who can afford said players. For the rest of us, we simply avoid that technology for practical reasons. Its boycott by lost opportunity.
I regularly argue with a coworker who feels that I'm in league with Satan for buying Apple gear and shopping on iTunes. Over the years I've used various *NIX, Windows, and MacOSX versions. My first computer was homemade with TTL and early MOS parts, in the 70's. I like playing with computers, writing code, and following the trends in computing, but it's *my* money and I'll spend on the toys that amuse me. At this point in time I enjoy the engineering design features of Apple laptops and iPods, so that's what I buy. When I travel on business or on vacation I can take along thousands of neat songs, in my pocket, for my own listening enjoyment. I buy them on iTunes, not because it's a technological triumph, but because it's a consumer marketing triumph. It's quick and fun, and the DRM which I'm well aware of, never impacts my enjoyment of music or life. Furthermore, no one has been able to prove to me that buying from iTunes versus one of the other online vendors somehow makes my purchase, or my "scintillating presence" less desirable. For my consumer dollar, Apple is delivering value and that is what matters to me. In order to understand what would motivate a person to "put up with" (gasp) DRM, you must first understand the concept of delivering value to the individual consumer. It's their dollar and given various options, they'll spend it on whatever they individually please. Thanks for your time.
Personally, I've been boycotting iTMS for a couple years. I got so fed up with being repeatedly stung by DRM bugs, that I decided it would never be worth it to buy from them. The nail in the coffin was Amazon MP3 coming out with an equally good interface to easily download a similarly broad range of music. I'm sure there are songs here and there that are at one site but not the other, but it's easier to do without those specific tracks that to expose myself to DRM crap again.
Buy Text Processing in Python
Frankly, iTunes and most other stores are way too expensive, with or without DRM. Something like $1,10 to $1,30 per full album @128kbps or a bit more for better sampling rates as allofmp3.com used to offer (in many non-DRMed formats like mp3, ogg, even flac) seems to be just right. Everything above that is not justified, IMHO. But that's just me: most pop music junkies won't care and will happily shell out $$$ for music as long as they can afford it (but for how long with the economic downturn remains to be seen).
cpghost at Cordula's Web.
A lot of DRM is overly burdonsome to the user. I don't really see iTunes as being so. It lets you burn purchased songs to CD without any complaint. Even if Apple's DRM servers go belly up, you'll still have CDs that work just fine.
Hikery.net - The best hiking site ever. Made by yours truly.
Mild DRM such as watermarking and such which doesn't actually reduce the functionality of the product
By definition, any mechanism applied to music that does not reduce functionality of the product is NOT DRM.
"Digital Rights Management" means that some third party has power over a digital file that you have a copy of - to impose limits on how you can play it.
Watermarking imposes no limits whatsoever. You can share it all around, sure you might be sued but that's after the fact and does nothing to stop people from doing what they want with it if they care not about consequences.
Now it's true that iTunes (for music) has a very permissive model. You can use a fairly large number of computers, it's easy to burn to CD, it's even easy to escape the DRM if the studio that sold you the music is wise enough to also support iTunes Plus since iTunes has a handy upgrade feature that looks to see what music you might own also has an iTunes Plus version. But even so, it is DRM because there are limits on how many systems can play your music and on devices that can play it (without ripping).
Now iTunes Video is a different story, that has just as strong DRM as anything - although still permissive in terms of number of computers that are allowed to play it, there's no easy escape such as burning to an unprotected DVD. I still buy video from the iTunes store but I basically consider it a rental and usually delete it after. I would never consider buying movies or anything I wanted kept for long under the current terms.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
http://xkcd.com/511/
DRM is easy enough to strip off of music from iTunes, but why would you want it anyway. The real problem is that they are charging you for low bitrate crap. I can just go bit torrent or get stuff off of new groups if I wanted to that is ripped at a higher bitrate. And whats the deal with me not being able to re-download stuff that I bought if I deleted it!? They have a record of what you purchased, its a simple database field for crying out loud! I like how the wii does the VC, I pay a decent price for a game, it belongs to me, and I can delete it and re-download it as many times as I want to. Steam/Valve has also done an excellent way of protecting their stuff without screwing over the customer.
I've been buying music exclusively from Amazon for this very reason. I'm not necessarily part of any kind of movement or big plan to remove DRM from iTunes. Rather, dealing with permission and rights issues are a pain and a mess. Amazon's DRM-free music is so much easier to maintain and manage than iTunes DRM'd music.
I have never, ever purchased a single DRM'd track. I will never purchase any device that requires me to use a single piece of software to manage that device. I will never buy a device that has no replaceable battery. I will never buy a device that requires vendor lock-in to use as intended.
Therefore, I do not use any Apple products. I have never put a single cent into any of their stuff for me or anyone else. Why in the world would I want to pay 99 cents a track for DRM, restricted use content?
A few years back I tried installing iTunes and the damned thing ran through a quarter of my collection 'importing' my mp3s to its DRM proprietary format and deleting the originals!
Go to your Music folder > iTunes > iTunes Music (if I recall correctly). Voila - there are your files that were supposedly DRM'd by iTunes, all organized alphabetically by artist for you.
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We should boycott Apple for the HDCP DRM in the new Mini DisplayPort implementation.
No, you should boycott the MPAA, who forced Apple (and nVidia, and ATI) to put HDCP into their products.
Because I pay a fee on blank CD media that goes to the record labels. If I buy from iTunes, I pay once, and then I pay AGAIN for the CD (Canadian blank media levy), which then gives me the use of the media... There is no provision to receive the fee back again if I burn "iTunes stuff".
Some may want to pay twice for stuff, but I don't.
Just another "Cubible(sic) Joe" 2 17 3061
If you're going to boycott DRM, boycott DVDs and Blu-Ray, they have much stronger and more objectionable DRM than Fairplay. Apple's DRM is good for consumers because Apple's DRM keeps the whole issue of DRM in people's faces. If they weren't there we'd all be using compatible Windows Media format DRM for our music right now, and nobody would care even as much as the don't care already.
back when itunes first came out, I bought some songs. for various reasons, I got tired of dealing with the DRM, and I recently went through them all and re-encoded them without drm (burned to cd, re-imported). I will never buy another piece of music encoded with DRM.
People will figure it out sooner or later when they will want to move their music and videos to a non-Apple approved platform.
Or they would if the whole approach weren't obsolete anyway. In a few years, you'll just get everything on-demand, and the notion of managing terabytes of your own audio and video data will seem as quaint as photographic film.
That said, the FSF would never deign to offer a good, workable alternative;
The alternative to DRM is no DRM. What else do you think they should offer?
It's just "give for freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!", with the predictably short-sighted results
The FSF doesn't want you to give away things for free, they simply think that the recipient should have certain rights. What business models do and don't work given those rights is for the market to figure out.
There are plenty of business models that work in the absence of DRM. In fact, so far, it's unclear that DRM even is a competitive and working business model.
Move forward 5 years when movies and television go more digital and it will be much different. TV and movies are more of shared experience- there are a million emo bands but only a few $250 million blockbuster movies a year. In that time when our broadband pipes are bigger and DVD fade away, suddenly the lack of the ability to put "Finding Nemo" on everyones iPod on the way to the Grand Canyon will be a big deal. Since you can't (unnerdily) burn an iTunes movie to a DVD the biggest way of getting around music DRM is gone.
Maybe in the digital movie age DRM will be a bigger deal. Or everyone will just stream all the content they want (like Youtube. Hulu, Netflix) on 4G wireless connections and the thought of purchasing monolithic media files will be very dinosaur. Who knows, but either way does not boast well for the iTunes business model.
But don't listen to me, I am just a Rapidshare addict that won't touch any digital media that is not in a mkv, avi or MP3 file. In fact, my favorite part of fixing the extended family's computer at Christmas is that I make every copy of iTunes I see import in high bitrate MP3. That way if they ever put a CD on their iPods I want, I can "magically" (to them) just get it off and play in my digital media kingdom.
Open Source Sushi
What's my take? Only that I be aware of which media has DRM and which does not. After that the choice to buy is up to me. I prefer a society where interactions are voluntary, rather than compelled or banned.
If you don't like iTunes, then don't by music from iTunes! I continue to be amazed by how many folks here on Slashdot cannot understand this simple idea.
Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
Every day and in many ways, the people who I would imagine are informed and hold reasonably intelligent opinions are those with constant and regular access to the internet. This is not so. For the record, morons, Apple DOES NOT WANT DRM! The RECORD LABELS choose which tracks get and which tracks don't get DRM and which tracks can only be sold as part of an album. This is NOT IN APPLE'S CONTROL! Seriously, for fucks sake, get a grip on reality. Apple made deals with the Devil to get the downloadable music market to this point. Stop your retarded and misdirected tracks on the ONLY company that even made it worth the music lablel's time to seriously consider digital downloads a viable business.
Fiat Homos et Pereat Theos
is people seem to forget that Apple has had to sign an ungodly number of contracts restricting their actions regarding how they distribute the music because the companies that own the rights know how popular Apple tends to make things, these fledling little "competitors" as many would call them offer DRM-free music because no one cares what they do and they can get away with it. If Apple tried that they would need wings to stay above the legal fall-out.
I hear a lot of talk on /. about not using Apple stuff "its overpriced, iTunes=DRM, iPod killers...." but nobody ever throws down a blueprint of their geek setup thats as good as the Apple route! I happily use my secondand PowerMac G5, without screen it cost me just $550 NZD, thats $300 something american. I cant afford a brand new mac so I got perhaps the most beautiful desktop mac for just over $300 american bucks. The Apple Cinema Display ended up costing more than the computer, hah, but I got that secondhand too and saved a bundle! I use it with the unlocked iPhone I got , original, before it was on sale here in NZ, so I was the only one with an iPhone in my entire province probably :) Very cool feeling. My unlocked iPhone costs me less than 5 USD a month, mostly from 20c (nz) text messages. I use an AirPort Extreme that cost me a couple hundred secondhand, and a 5G iPod. I love my gear, and it was "dirt cheap", the main computer setup cost me less than 1000 American, its all made out of Alu-minny-yum, and looks fantastic. I really dont see any comparable non-Apple gear for the same price OR more that would make me switch.
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I have nothing against the actual products that come through iTunes i.e the music, the tv episodes etc. My friends keep up with their favourite shows that way. It is rather convenient and no ads. My problem is the lock-in that comes with the whole iTunes gestalt and the inordinate power it places in Apple's hands.
This is the biggest reason why I will not buy an iPhone. It is a nice little piece of hardware but I hate that everything I do with it requires iTunes on my PC without extra effort on my part with the various jailbreaking kits online. I might consider the iPhone if they released an iPhone desktop manager that had the footprint of a hummingbird with no attempt to shove their inventory down my throat. All the recent news about Apple quashing iPhone apps in a supposedly "open development environment" and kill switches...that makes me nervous because now my iPhone experience comes with an "Approved by Apple" sticker....which disgusts me.
Really, the DRM is not the worst that Apple can do....
Seriously, Apple had far bigger problems then DRM. They had $1200 laptops which broke far more often than $400 ones, (logic board failure) but thanks to MacOS 10.2 were even far slower.
Apple users are mostly fanatics. And fanatics typically don't care about such things.
So seriously, Apple could start selling bricks instead of iPhones and users will still buy it. I mean they even start petitions insteadt of not buying that stuff!
People care about DRM, but Apple fanatics care more about their brand.
There recent decision is why I didn't buy ab iPhone, nor will I buy anything more from them.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
The are implementing OS wide DRM.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
....over DRM. I'd have bought an Apple years if it weren't for the restrictions they place on their technology and the content they sell. I use Linux. I'm free. Ubuntu looks a lot like Apple anyway.....and I can do everything I want to do. OK, I don't have iMovie...but that doesn't mean I can't make videos. KDEnlive and Kino do what I need done.
Only boring people are ever bored.
The "average Joe" and many others don't realize that even though just a digital file, any track is a product that took time to develop and create. By putting in DRM use is only restricted to those who are using said product in an illegitimate way. I still buy cd's, also I buy tracks off iTunes both times I am PAYING for the right to use them, I have more music on my computer than will fit on a 60gb iPod and ALL of it is legit, I can produce an actual CD, Case with barcode and in most cases a receipt for any of it. I like music, I like Musicians, I believe putting restrictions on anything is good as long as the intent is to keep the music coming, and stops it from being stolen.
iTunes DRM prevents people from distributing the downloads for the simple reason that they'd make $.99 off the first download and then people would pass around the file ad infinitum, ad nauseam. That's no model for a business. Even if Apple were so benevolent, the content providers aren't.
HOWEVER, there's an easy work around. Take your downloads, burn a CD and then rip the CD and you can now put your MP3s on any device you'd like. There should be no noticeable degradation in quality because AC3 to CD (AIFF - PCM) gives you CD quality, so it's just as though you bought the CD and ripped and encoded. Now you have all the fair use you paid for.
As for pirates, I have no sympathy. They're already boycotting iTunes so their continuance has null affect.
Apple is not responsible for the DRM used in iTunes. They are required to include this by the majors labels. Most independent music featured on iTunes does not contain DRM.
Apple has long been a major activist against DRM. The fact that apple still sells music and movies/TV shows that are DRM protected is not apple's doing, it is the record label and movies studios that are to blame. They are intentionally not allowing apple to sell DRM-Free music and movies because they are upset that apple beat them to the punch. These industries have been trying to squeeze a tight fist on internet distribution for years, whereas apple had the insight to see that the internet was where the money would be. now they are mad that they dont control the best distribution market and are trying to cripple apple's ability to sell. Dont boycott apple Boycott the other online movie and music retailers and the studios that are unfairly trying to cripple apple. the best way to get the change is to show the music/movie labels that iTunes is the best place to buy and that is where their DRM-free music and movies should be sold at. Hurt the ones who control the media, not the ones that are fighting to get that media released and easily used.
I remember the days were the was a site for real computer nerds and geeks, after seeing this post I think this is a site for tech people who think their smart because their keeping up with all the cool and latest technology. Sigh.
I believe the only reason why Apple is still sticking with DRM for most songs is because the majors are still pissy about it and won't get out of their foxholes. Proves what assholes they are.
nonexistent sig
DRM is already gone on music, excepting that the same kind folks who brought it to you in the first place are the ones still keeping it on iTunes.
Why does it seem like you're pissed at Apple specifically?
I'm sure we will miss it and regret it sorely, because obviously it is a high-quality, genre-defying, paradigm-shifting awesomeness that we cannot possibly comprehend.
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Ok, right. While there are some things that are still bugging me about the iPhone SDK rollout (specifically that the talked-about "push" tags and labels still aren't there, which can give "background process-by-proxy" capabilities to most apps that would be 90% as serviceable as running in the background for most tasks), it's hard not to see that the model is a successful one and a solid one.
Firmware 2.0 had some issues, but as of 2.1 it's been rock-solid, and while the geek in me wants to play with the innards at all costs, the "tired of constantly cleaning up, watching performance degrade, and dealing with instability" part of me appreciates that to build a solid foundation you can't open the floodgates from the beginning; you have to start out pretty closed, then open up what you can that you know won't topple the rest.
I miss some stuff, but there's a crap-ton of awesome out there, so I don't ultimately think I'm missing a whole LOT... And I know I can hack the firmware at any point, so...?
BFD
Um... what overall restrictions are Apple and Microsoft placing on their operating systems that makes the software available on them "objectionable" in the same way as DRM? Certainly some companies will use DRM schemes to try to safeguard their software from piracy (...as if that works) to annoying extent, but isn't that a problem with those particular companies and those particular pieces of software, not the OS that runs it?
Linux is perfectly fine for most anyone's needs (though a bit hard for neophytes to get help with when problems arise), but I don't quite get your "logic" in how DRM applies to the "content" sold on an operating system... which is to say, "software."
iTunes in general? Sure. The whole damn software platform...?
Who's definition is that?
Anyone who can read?
As in reading the full words out loud - "Digital RIGHTS Management"
As in, someone else manages the rights.
As in, someone else gets to remove a right you would otherwise have.
If no rights are being removed, then there are no RIGHTS being managed and thus you are not talking about DRM.
You are always right if you live in a world of your own definitions
And you are always wrong if you don't pay attention to what words mean. As in, now. Only ignorant clods such as yourself consider watermarking to be DRM - try to find a real definition instead of trying to figure out why I might be wrong just because I have pointed out you are.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley