Courts not convinced in Apple DRM battle
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Virgin&#39;s attempt to force Apple to open up its digital rights management (DRM) technology has failed. The French Competition Council has dismissed a Virgin France case that alleged Apple had abused market dominance.
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Apple Inc.   Chief Executive Steve Jobs on Tuesday called on the four major  record companies to start selling songs online without copy  protection software known as digital rights management (DRM).
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Apple's iTunes Store is convenient, cheap and cool. But its music downloads can come with nagging worries driven by the copy-control software behind the iTunes Store -- which generally limits playback to Apple's iTunes software and iPod music players.
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(InfoWorld) - Apple has taken another step toward selling DRM-free tracks from EMI and other labels through its new iTunes Plus service. The company released an update to iTunes (version 7.2) Wednesday that introduced support for new DRM-free music sales, a move first promised by Apple CEO Steve Jobs and EMI CEO Eric Nicoli in early April 2007. "With iTunes 7.2, preview and purchase iTunes Plus music -- new, higher-quality, DRM-free music downloads from participating music labels," Apple urges in notes accompanying the software. The company explains, "The first time you buy an iTunes Plus song, you specify whether to make all future purchases iTunes Plus versions (when available). You can change this setting by accessing your account information on the iTunes Store." However, it's not yet clear where users can find the new DRM-free songs within iTunes. When it comes to introducing new DRM-free music, Nicoli said in April, "Our goal is to give consumers the best possible digital music experience. By providing DRM-free downloads, we aim to address the lack of interoperability that is frustrating for many music fans. The updated iTunes is available for Mac and for Windows systems. A 29.6MB download, it is available through Software Update or for direct download from Apple's support website.
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The latest version of Hymn can already remove DRM protection from songs purchased from the iTunes 7 store to enable playback on non-iPod players.  In Listening Post.
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The tune seems to be changing ever so slowly at some record labels when it comes to DRM. Both out of consumer demand and to some extent necessity, some have begun to offer digital downloads in the unprotected MP3 format.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft downplayed Tuesday the impact of a new hack of its DRM technology, underlining the difficulties in erecting a long-lasting digital barrier against piracy. Doom9.org, a hacking forum, contained a post last Friday from "Divine Tao," presumably the hacker responsible, with download links for the updated version of FairUse4WM. The program, which was released last August, strips the DRM technology that limits how Windows Media files can be used and prevents illegal file sharing. "Microsoft is aware of the DRM issue, and the breach response team is verifying the circumvention," said a company statement. Windows Media DRM is used, for example, on songs sold through online song retailer Napster. Songs purchased from there can't copied to more than three computers, but there are no restrictions on how many times an individual song can be burned to a CD. Hacking activists argue they created FairUse4WM since they deserve broader freedom to move legitimately purchased content from device to device. Removal of the DRM, however, also allows the files to be copied without restriction or uploaded to file-sharing networks, which the recording industry believes has caused a massive sales decline. Microsoft has updated its DRM technologyÂ at least twice before to halt the effectiveness of FairUse4WM and said its DRM system is designed to support dynamic updates. The updates do not require a new release of Windows Media Player or the Windows Media Format Software Development Kit, used by developers to employ the DRM system, Microsoft said. Microsoft did not give a timetable as to when it may update Windows Media DRM to block the latest version of FairUse4WM. Nonetheless, the company acknowledged the DRM system's inherent vulnerability to hackers. "Microsoft has long stated that no DRM system is impervious to circumvention, a position Microsoft's content partners are aware of as well," the company said. Microsoft filed a lawsuitÂ in a district court in Seattle last September against 10 unnamed defendants for copyright infringement related to the release of FairUse4WM. The suit, however, was later dropped after the defendants could not be located. Record labels are increasingly considering removing DRM from their songs after years of lawsuits and legal wrangling have done little to reduce illegal file sharing. In April, EMI Group said it would sell songs on Apple's iTunes Music Store without DRM. The DRM-free songs cost about 20 percent more but are also encoded at 256Kbps, a higher quality than other songs with DRM.
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(InfoWorld) - The head of Warner Music Group defended the use of DRM (digital rights management) with digital music on Wednesday in an apparent response toÂ recent criticism from Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Jobs roiled the music industry last week by suggesting in aÂ letter published on Apple's Web siteÂ that the music labels are to blame for the fact that music from Apple's iTunes music store can only be played on Apple's iPod music players -- something Apple has been criticized for. "DRM and interoperability are not the same thing," Edgar Dorfman Jr., chairman and CEO of Warner Music Group, said in a speech at theÂ 3GSM World CongressÂ in Barcelona on Wednesday. "We believe in interoperability," he said. "Consumers want it and should have it. We at Warner, and I hope the rest of the music and content industry, will make it as easy as possible to achieve interoperability." Jobs said last week that Apple uses a proprietary DRM system because the music industry requires it to fix any failures in the technology in a short amount of time. If Apple shared its DRM technology it would not be able to meet that requirement, he said. Dorfman did not mention Jobs or Apple by name but his remarks appeared to be in response to the criticism. Apple hasÂ come under fire,Â particularly in Europe, for its DRM technology, which ties its music stores to its players. Apple isn't alone, however. Microsoft and Sony also operate digital music stores that require customers to play the music only on their own music players. iTunes is the biggest digital music store, however, and the second largest, eMusic.com, only sells music that has no DRM. Jobs also wrote that he would prefer to sell music without any DRM protection. That's a concept Dorfman doesn't think is up for discussion. "I don't agree that intellectual property should have no protection. We should all agree that intellectual property deserves some measure of protection," he said. "But that is distinct from the issue around interoperability." Today's music protection environment isn't ideal, Dorfman admitted. "There can't be so much protection that we create a poor consumer experience. We need to work to find perhaps a better balance than works today." Â
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With its music-download service iTunes Apple was not unlawfully exploiting its market dominance, an opinion by France&#39;s competition watchdogs, its Anti-Trust Office, concluded, thereby rejecting a suit initiated by the French daughter company of the
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Top executives will be the first to use Microsoft DRM technology when Mathias Thurman rolls it out. So what could go wrong? Best not to find out.
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A&#160;class-action suit filed against Apple&#160;alleges the company unfairly uses technological restrictions with its iPod line and iTunes Music Store to beat out competitors.
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AppleStore buyers' ratings scheme limited to non-Apple products
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The vast majority of consumers are unaware that an Apple iPod digital music player only plays proprietary iTunes files, while a smaller majority agree that it is within RealNetworks&#39; rights to develop a program that will make its music files compatible
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InfoWorld - Just because three major online music retailers bind their music stores to specific portable players doesn&#39;t make it acceptable, a Norwegian consumer group leading the charge against Apple&#39;s DRM (digital rights management) policy says.
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Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs  on Tuesday called on the four major record companies to start  selling songs online without copy protection software known as  digital rights management (DRM).
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European antitrust regulators worry that Microsoft could dominate the burgeoning market for digital rights management software
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NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO  - Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs on Tuesday called on the four major record companies to start selling songs online without copy protection software known as digital rights management (DRM).