Ballmer bashes iPoders as thieves, industry looks for solutions
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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer took quite a dig at the iPod and its users, implying that the iPod was without significant DRM protection, and that the majority of music on everyone&#39;s iPods is stolen.
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Customers might not like the idea of technology that allows some uses of music (like copying iTunes downloads to their iPods) but forbids others (like copying the same song to another kind of music player). But until recently, it didn't seem to bother the executives behind these anti-piracy systems.
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Apple may dominate the MP3 market, but other players have their fans and laudable features.
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Newspaper is criticized for writing that recording industry wants to criminalize copying music to a computer. RIAA and even some of the group's biggest critics say Post got it wrong.
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Portable audio player manufacturers bet on smaller, simpler devices in an effort to unseat Apple's IPod.
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For more than a year, Apple Computers Inc. enjoyed singular success selling songs exclusively to users of its iPod portable music player. Now, it's got rival RealNetworks Inc. trying to lure iTunes customers away.
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An e-commerce startup that sells property seized by police is asking college students to register their iPods, bikes and laptops just in case those items get stolen and later show up.
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(InfoWorld) - Just because three major online music retailers bind their music stores to specific portable players doesn't make it acceptable, a Norwegian consumer group leading the charge against Apple's DRM (digital rights management) policy says. "ITunes Music Store and others are unfair to consumers no matter how many download services follow the proprietary approach," wrote Torgeir Waterhouse, a senior advisor at The Norwegian Consumer Council, in response to a letter written by Apple CEO Steve Jobs andÂ posted on the Apple Web siteÂ on Tuesday. Jobs examined why DRM exists and discusses alternatives to the current set-up in his open response to calls for Apple to allow users to buy songs from the iTunes store and play them on any device. Norway's consumer representative hasÂ threatened legal action against AppleÂ for violating Norwegian law by limiting iTunes customers to playing their music only on iPods. Consumer groups in Denmark, Sweden, Finland, France, and Germany haveÂ joined Norway's complaintÂ against Apple. Jobs points out that Microsoft and Sony also sell music that can only be played on their players, supporting a model that serves customers well with choice and a continuing stream of innovative products. He also suggests that groups like Waterhouse's "redirect their energies" toward convincing the music labels to sell music without DRM, technology that aims to restrict how buyers can copy or use the music. The four biggest record labels forced Apple to employ a proprietary DRM system as a condition of the agreement that allows Apple to sell their music, he said. Ideally, he said, the labels wouldn't require DRM. "This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat," Jobs wrote. While Waterhouse agrees that the record companies carry some fault for the situation, the iTunes music store and others like it are ultimately responsible. "They're still the company that's selling music to the consumers and are responsible for offering a fair deal according to Norwegian law," he said. Still, with his letter, Jobs' appears to have stirred up some additional pressure on the record labels to change their DRM policies. EMusic.com Inc., which claims to be the second largest music download site, only sells DRM-free music from thousands of independent labels. But the site would like be able to sell music from the four biggest labels. "We are hopeful the remaining four will one day join [the independent labels] by licensing their complete catalogs and reap the benefits of consumer demand," David Pakman, president and CEO of eMusic, wrote in a response to Jobs' letter. Even though Jobs didn't hint that a solution might be impending, Waterhouse appeared to see a glimmer of hope. "If this means that Apple is willing to the kick the lock in technology from the [iTunes/iPod] combination this is really good news -- news that should be put into action as soon as possible to bring us all one important step closer to a well functioning digital society," he wrote.
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By Tony Glover, The Business, London  Sep. 10--Portable music players, such as the Apple range of iPods and the  other MP3 players sold by Philips and Sony are ticking timebombs from a  company security perspective.
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CANNES, France -- With an eye on the success of portable music players, mobile phone makers are going after would-be iPod buyers by building high-quality players into their handsets.
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By Troy WolvertonMicrosoft's Zune had a decent debut last month, but Apple Computer's iPods continued to dominate the MP3 market, according to new data from market research firm NPD Group released this week.
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(InfoWorld) - The contract manufacturer of the iPod music player has filed lawsuits against two Chinese journalists who wrote articles aboutÂ working conditions at factoriesÂ where iPods are made, according to Chinese press reports. Hongfujin Precision Industry Co. is suing the journalists from the Shanghai-based China Business News for defamation, according to the English-language Web site of the official People's Daily newspaper. Hongfujin, which is a subsidiary of Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry's Foxconn Technology Group, is seeking 30 million renminbi ($3.77 million) in damages, People's Daily reported. The journalists are accused of defaming Hongfujin during their coverage of Apple Computer's investigation into working conditions at factories that make its iPod Nano music player. The conditions were first covered in June in a report by the British "Mail on Sunday" newspaper, which accused Apple and its contractor of exploiting workers at the factory in southern China. Chinese media, including Chinese Business News, also picked up and investigated the claims. Earlier this month, Apple released the results of its internal investigation, saying itÂ found few violationsÂ at the iPod Nano manufacturing facility. The Shenzhen Intermediate Court, which accepted the case, froze the assets of the two reporters, Weng Bao and Wang You. On Tuesday, journalist rights group Reporters Without Borders published an open letter to Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs, calling on Jobs and Apple to pressure Foxconn to drop the suit. Representatives from Foxconn did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication. Â
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With a covetous eye on the success of portable music players, mobile phone makers are going after would-be iPod buyers by building high-quality players into their handsets.
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By Duncan Martell SAN FRANCISCO  - An unhappy iTunes online musicstore customer is suing Apple Computer Inc. , allegingthe company broke antitrust laws by only allowing iTunes towork with its own music player, the iPod, freezing outcompetitors, court filings showed.
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Apple Computer Inc.  may have sold more than twice as many of its iPod digital music players in its most recent quarter than its signature Mac computers, but competitors are turning the up the heat in the nascent online music industry.
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Owners of Apple Inc.&#39;s   iPod love to trick out the music players with cases, speakers  and other accessories and its upcoming wireless iPhone promises  to be no different.
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In our gadget-hungry society, where iPods have become the accessory du jour, one lawmaker wants device devotees to wake up and hear the traffic. He's pushing a proposal to make plugging in on New York streets a crime.