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Posted by Sla#s on 05/03/06 10:58
davenetman@yahoo.com wrote:
> What exactly is DRM? I mean I know it's a digital rights protection,
> but what exactly does and doesn't it allow me to do? If a song file
> has DRM, can I still copy it, burn it to a cd, play it on an mp3
> player, etc?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management
The iTunes DRM bit is about halfway down.
From :
http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/guide/
The Facts: You Bought It, But They Still Own It
Imagine if Tower Records sold you a CD, but then, a few months later,
knocked on your door and replaced the CD with one that you can't play in
your car. Would you still feel like you "owned" the CD? Not so much, eh?
But Apple reserves the right to change at any time what you can do with the
music you purchase at the iTunes Music Store. For instance, in April 2004,
Apple decided to modify the DRM so people could burn the same playlist only
7 times, down from 10. How much further will the service restrict your
ability to make legal personal copies of your own music? Only Apple knows.
Another hallmark of ownership is the right to give away or sell your
property. That's called "first sale," and it's explicitly protected under
copyright law. Yet Apple's DRM frustrates first sale-just ask George
Hotelling, who had to give away the login and password to his iTunes Music
Store account in order to resell a single song.
As the table below shows, there are many other ways that Apple's DRM limits
what you can do with a song you "own." Many other a la carte download
services choose to impose similar restrictions. How "generous" of them.
Additional iTunes Music Store Restrictions
a.. Restricts back-up copies: Song can only be copied to 5 computers
b.. Restricts converting to other formats: Songs only sold in AAC with
Apple DRM
c.. Limits portable player compatibility: iPod and other Apple devices
only
d.. No remixing: Cannot edit, excerpt, or otherwise sample songs
--------------------------
Slatts
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