Posted by Jamie Kahn Genet on 02/08/07 18:10

Tim McNamara <timmcn@bitstream.net> wrote:

> In article <1ht8mwn.hno31m1jh2kyeN%jamiekg@wizardling.geek.nz>,
> jamiekg@wizardling.geek.nz (Jamie Kahn Genet) wrote:
>
> > Ura Dippschit <URN.Idiot@idiots.com> wrote:
> >
> > > In article <1ht8ee9.1bhr4vj1nakvb9N%jamiekg@wizardling.geek.nz>,
> > > jamiekg@wizardling.geek.nz (Jamie Kahn Genet) wrote:
> > >
> > > > It is extremely easy to bypass iTunes DRM
> > >
> > > Don't tell the fine folks at JHymn that.
> >
> > At where?
>
> Google is your friend.

A tiny bit of background couldn't hurt, ya know? :-) *googles and notes
what JHymn is and it's current limitations*
Still, I was referring to the iTunes music license allowing for up to
seven burnings of any one playlist. As you'd only ever need to burn and
re-import a track or tracks once to strip the Fairplay DRM it would be a
piece of cake for one person to take the three minutes to do so and then
illegally distribute that music as much as they liked in unlimited
amounts.

However, that doesn't seem to be what's happening. Given the ease of
buying legal music from the iTunes store, and the barely noticeable
Fairplay DRM restrictions, the majority of people seem to be buying more
legal music and not suddenly becoming mad pirates and striping the DRM
in order to illegally distribute their purchased music. Funnily enough
:-D

Of course Microsoft just brands all it's customers pirates by default
and imposes more onerous DRM. Strangely enough Apple doesn't treat it's
customers like criminals and uses barely noticeable DRM, and iTunes
music store sales keep increasing...

It also pays to point out most people in fact continue buying CDs of
music with no DRM instead of electronically purchased and lower quality
music.

So in conclusion I just don't buy people's arguments that iTunes store
customers behavior would radically change if Fairplay DRM was removed,
as it hardly gets in the way of your average customer right now, and is
certainly no impediment to a real pirate. But where's the pirating that
people like the RIAA and MS expect if DRM isn't designed to crush the
will of customers?

Regards,
Jamie Kahn Genet
--
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.

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