“Apple uses proprietary software, called FairPlay, to keep you from making illegal copies of the songs you download from the iTunes Music Store. Apple has steadfastly refused to license this software to RealNetworks. In late July, RealNetworks introduced a software called Harmony, which allows its music to be played on an iPod. In other words, RealNetworks mimics Apple’s software without licensing it. Litigation will surely ensue,” The New York Times writes.
“It would be better for consumers if Apple began licensing its digital rights management software, only because the iTunes Music Store will not be able to lock up access to all the copyrighted music in the world,” The New York Times writes. “But RealNetworks’ contention that Apple is stifling freedom of choice is self-serving. You can play music from any CD on an iPod, once it has been digitally copied, and the device works on PC’s and Macs. Some critics like to argue that Apple is making the same mistake that it made by not licensing its operating system back in the 1980’s. At the moment, Apple seems to hold most of the cards.”
Full article here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Will Apple’s ‘go it alone’ strategy turn iPod into the next Mac? – April 15, 2004
Apple hold keys to online music kingdom with iTunes Music Store – June 21, 2004
“But RealNetworks’ contention that Apple is stifling freedom of choice is self-serving. You can play music from any CD on an iPod, once it has been digitally copied, and the device works on PC’s and Macs…”
Finally some words of intelligence (from a major news source)
Yes a very even-handed opinion. They make a point to tell readers that you don’t only have to buy songs from either iTMS or Real to use an iPod. You can download your CD collection. This seems to be lost in all the comments made in the press. I suspect that more people download their CD collections into iTunes and then on to their iPods (both PC and Mac Users), then buy songs from iTMS. All the download services combined are minisule in sales compared to brick and mortar or mail order sales of CDs.
All right! Its about time.
It may finally be approaching the correct time for Apple to license out fairplay and sew up the market for the foreseeable future.
I guarantee that the majority of users either rip their own CDs or download their music from P2P networks. The overwhelming majority don’t care (yet anyway) about buying music online. When new iPod buyers see that their only *online* option happens to also be the best online service, I doubt many will have any problems with the situation. Nobody is exclusively locked into the iTMS as their only source of music for the iPod anyway. To say anything else (are you listening M$ and Real?) is nothing more than FUD.
It just hit me, the real battle is not about players but what software people begin to use. Geeks, myself included, have had their CD collections ripped for several years using various jukebox programs. However, the battle is on for the general public.
I think it is safe to say that if john doe & family rip their CDs they are only going to do it once as it is such a major undertaking. MS, Real, Napster & others realize if folks rip their Cd collections into iTunes in AAC then those folks are likely lost as future customer for them. They are simply using the iPod “choice” issue to attempt to get people to use WMA or Real to rip their CDs.
If we’ve learned anything about windows users is that once they have adopted something they are unlikely to switch. So, if we get them all using iTunes on their crappy windows boxes it is unlikely they’ll switch to WMA or Real. Conversely, if they start in WMA or Real it may be tough to get them to try iTunes.
Apple may hold the cards for now but is about to get crushed by Microsoft’s music store.
http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/microsoft_to_launch_music_store_with_no_ipod_support/
Of course, everyone has an opinion.
http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/microsoft_music_ready_to_crush_ipod_itunes/
I don’t agree with the author. Are most songs on your iPod legal? Here’s poll results. Surprising.
http://www.mac360.com/index.php/mac360/more/mac_poll_how_many_songs_on_your_ipod_legal_not_legal/
BTW – I like that site.
Apple has to licence fairplay by the end of the year!
If they don’t microsoft will dominate the music market too.
Time is ticking away… PLEASE DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE AS YOU DID IN THE 1980’S WITH YOUR OS BY NOT LICENCING IT!
Solar Flare…you’re terribly misinformed. Read this please.
http://daringfireball.net/2004/08/2004_wont_be_like_1984
Another battle Apple is going to face here is that Microsoft only need a tiny amount of forward momentum to get a huge amount of positive press – ie negative, damaging, press for Apple. As stories go, the media are well up for a new slant on the ‘online music battle’ – the months of positive iTMS/iPod news is beginning to wear thin.
Imagine the headlines:
“Microsoft catching up with iTMS… is this the end for Apple?”
“But RealNetworks’ contention that Apple is stifling freedom of choice is self-serving. You can play music from any CD on an iPod, once it has been digitally copied, and the device works on PC’s and Macs…”
That sounds like it came from Daring Fireball.
Are they(NYT) plagarizing again?
It’s about time that someone in the press finally says that you don’t need iTMS to use an iPod. I could care less about the online download market right now. It’s all entertaining talk, but the market is still very young. It will be interesting to watch.
For what it’s worth, a total of 50 songs out of the 5000+ in my iTunes library are from iTMS- and they were from the iTMS/Pepsi promotion! The remaining 4950+ songs are from my purchased CD collection- all legit. I still have a lot of CDs yet to rip in as well!
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”grin” style=”border:0;” /> I have not spent one cent at the iTMS and don’t plan to any time soon. I still prefer CDs and controlling what bit rate to rip them in with.
Here is a link to a newspaper article about the FBI going after folks involved in illegal downloads. Being a parent of 2 teenagers I STRONGLY encourage them to use iTunes vs. P2P.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/789/4948249.html
From MacWorld UK
“The Beatles ‘may go with’ Microsoft”
http://www.macworld.co.uk/
Having grown up in the 60’s I appreciate the Beatles. But I don’t think many people under 40 know who they are anymore. But I just saw the Beach Boys in concert and they’re fantastic and iTunes carry their songs!
Again I have to sign in to a newspaper’s website to read an article! What the @!#$? What gives?
Why the hell can’t we have ONE place to sign in to read all these newspapers (I was gonna say “crappy” in anger, but I doubt the NYT is)
It’s only so they can target the ads you see to your interests. They’re all the fricken same guys – I like Apple computers, technology, classical and pop music, hitchcock movies (not too many of those to flog me since he’s dead), sci-fi movies (yea, ok, got me there)… get it? I like the same stuff as when I surf to the other news papers as well as this one.
Marketing sucks.
Next they’ll charge to read the pages.
Mike, the Beatles were good, but since then have become the men in suits they so despised when they were together. Perhaps it was jealousy? Who knows.
They should have gone with an innovative company like Apple Computer (esp. since they’re companies are named the same), but they’ll go with M$ coz M$’ll give ’em more cashola.
Greedy fscks they’ve become.
Heard a story about when one of my old music teachers was part of the Black Dyke Mills Band (he was living in England at the time, he’s now Down Under afaik) and anyway, they got to play on Wings’ “Back to the Egg” … and during the studio session McCartney kept bumming smokes off my teacher! A guy with his $$$$$ and he bummed smokes! What a tightwad.
The “happy” ending is that due to royalties, my teacher still kept getting the odd cheque years after the album came out (this was back in the mid 80’s I was told this story.)
You want the Beatles? You don’t want to use P2P?
AllofMP3.com
Any bitrate any format (yes ACC) for about 6� a MB.
Use PayPal or some other third party payment and a university network or something anonomous, keep it on a external hard drive in a hole in the wall not in your house, handle the hard drive with a towel so you don’t leave finger prints and can have complete denial and not raise suspicion wearing gloves.
Even if PayPal rats you out, they need to find the music to bust you. Else you can simply claim someone stole your credit card. In fact “lose” your credit card after downloading everything you want.
It’s the Russians your buying from and it’s the Jack Booted RIAA thugs you need to protect it from.
Take a walk on the wild side. You won’t to jail, you can settle for a few thousand which you can raise online when people hear about your story.
Be a star.
Three rules to criminal behavior
1: No evidence
2: No witnesses
3: Keep your mouth shut, always.
They may know, but your mouth confirms their investigation or gueses.
Apple’s closed Fair Play licensing scheme will only make the iPod a niche player in the face of the WMA/Janus advance. Why not promote the sale of iPods by licensing the DRM? My goodness, they had a window of opportunity. Now it is being squandered. Just as the iMac is a niche and so will be the iPod until finally Apple will ahve to admit defeat and TURN ON WMA support which is already built into the PortaPlayer chip. They could do that today.
Sean
As of today, HP computers have iTMS pre-installed and they sell their version of HPod. How will iPod become a niche player?
Apple simply *licence* the iPod technology on THEIR terms, why should they *licence* on others’?
What stops other PC manufacturers to go HP way? Are they all dorks at HP or dorkies are elsewhere?
AND, you may convert WMA tunes to AAC with iTMS so some support is already there. Your WMA tracks are not left out if you get an iPod.
And, BTW, iPod + iTMS already have been declared dead by pundits some 5 times, each time someone else announced *their* store with WMA.
Microsoft is not adding anything, it is just words. “Play for Sure” is already the status-quo: all those dead iPodKillers all share the same WMA format and play tunes bought from the plethora of existing download stores.
Xbox story will repeat itself this time. Big fanfare, lots of muscle showing, and a losing money business niche player.
THIS time, it is Windows users gobbling – once again – Microsoft crap to be left out of mainstream.
It’s the music, not the fscking frigging DRM scheme, the music and the service. iPod and iTMS.
Ask anyone in a dorm and you’ll have your answer. Either you are in (iPod) or a dull blockhead shithead looser (any other MP3-WMA player)
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