Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Job's Thoughts on DRM

Interesting posting about DRM and music by Steve Jobs today. While I agree with much of what he says, I'm not so sure about:

"Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free."


Coming from the principal of a company that controls 80 odd percent of the personal digital music player market, it seems like he himself is indeed situated in a good spot to exert pressure on the big four music companies.

About the DRM-free alternative, he writes:

"This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. "


He clearly forgot the ending to that statement: '... if we weren't making millions with the status quo.'.

His posting is almost successful at putting Apple onside with DRM-free music (and against DRM) but then ends up putting the onus on everybody else to somehow exert pressure.

Why don't we exert the pressure on ALL OF THEM by supporting things like Creative Commons and Magnatune instead.

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