« January 2007 | Main | March 2007 »
February 7, 2007
Steve Jobs takes a stand against DRM
Apple has probably benefited the most from DRM systems with their tightly controlled FairPlay DRM and iTunes-iPod lock-in, so its very surprising that Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, has assumed an anti-DRM stance in his recent article on the Apple website, Thoughts on Music.
Jobs basically lays out three possible futures:
1. Stay the course and continue with the "walled garden" scenarios.
2. Apple could license their FairPlay DRM technology so that other online music stores/services could sell DRM protected music for the iPod (Jobs claims Apple cannot support this scenario as it would compromise the effectiveness of FairPlay).
3. Abolish DRM.
Jobs throws his support behind Option 3, and blames the Big Four music publishers (Universal, Sony BMG, Warner, EMI) for requiring Apple to protect digital downloads with DRM, even though iTunes represents a small portion of music purchases while the much larger market of CD sales are sold without any DRM protection.
Overall, I agree with Steve Jobs. DRM is a fundamentally flawed technology and it is not what consumers actually want because, as it currently exists, it leads to lock-in and ultimately prevents consumer choice. Personally, I purchase music from eMusic because it is the only online retailer that offers music without DRM protection, so I can play the music I've legally purchased on just about any device. The only problem with eMusic is its lack of selection as they only carry a catalog of independents. Still, eMusic is the number two online music store behind iTunes since its the only other music store that supports the iPod -- even with its lack of selection.
But, there is another scenario that Jobs doesn't mention -- what is stopping Apple from supporting Microsoft's PlaysForSure DRM on the iPod so that iPod owners can use competitive online music stores that sell DRM protected music (Yahoo, Rhapsody, Napster, etc)?
If this were the case, then consumers would actually have a real choice -- the other music retailers offer much more competitive prices than the iTunes Store, and currently it is possible to play the purchased music on most other MP3 players. The only thing that prevents consumers from using these services is the simple fact that the purchased music is not compatible with the iPod, which leads the MP3 device market by a long shot.
So why was this option left out of Steve Jobs article? It could be a solution that gives consumers the choice and freedom they want in selecting both media devices and online music stores/services, while also satisfying the needs of Big Four music publishers who require some assurance of copy protection.
Is there something I'm missing? Please leave a comment and let me know.
Posted by jkinberg at 10:36 AM | Comments (1)