After Steve Jobs urged the record labels to release music without DRM yesterday, the RIAA has responded back - by thanking Steve for his offer of additional DRM!
Yesterday, we reported that Jobs had written an open letter suggesting that DRM wasn't working and that music should be sold online without restriction. He apparently came to this conclusion after deciding that licensing FairPlay, his DRM technology currently used on iTunes, would make it so insecure as to be useless - not a good thing for the consumer or the record industry.
In a complete shocker, the RIAA is behaving like an idiot and took Jobs rather out of context, responding this morning by saying that:
"Apple's offer to license FairPlay to other technology companies is a welcome breakthrough and would be a real victory for fans, artists and labels," which clearly isn't what Jobs meant by:
"The second alternative is for Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology to current and future competitors with the goal of achieving interoperability between different company’s players and music stores. On the surface, this seems like a good idea since it might offer customers increased choice now and in the future. And Apple might benefit by charging a small licensing fee for its FairPlay DRM.
However, when we look a bit deeper, problems begin to emerge. The most serious problem is that licensing a DRM involves disclosing some of its secrets to many people in many companies, and history tells us that inevitably these secrets will leak. The Internet has made such leaks far more damaging, since a single leak can be spread worldwide in less than a minute. Such leaks can rapidly result in software programs available as free downloads on the Internet which will disable the DRM protection so that formerly protected songs can be played on unauthorized players."
So, well done the RIAA for making themselves look even more like ignorant idiots only out for number one. The good news is that this response clearly indicates that the vehemence of Jobs' open letter has taken them by surprise.
Of course, this could all be one big power play - the renegotiation rights for iTunes' and the labels are coming up soon, and whilst the industry is keen to get more money from Apple, possibly even a cut of iPod sales, this is perhaps Apple tipping its hand in a bid to keep the deal at least the same, and possibly better.
What are your thoughts on licensing FairPlay DRM? Let us know over in the forums.
Yesterday, we reported that Jobs had written an open letter suggesting that DRM wasn't working and that music should be sold online without restriction. He apparently came to this conclusion after deciding that licensing FairPlay, his DRM technology currently used on iTunes, would make it so insecure as to be useless - not a good thing for the consumer or the record industry.
In a complete shocker, the RIAA is behaving like an idiot and took Jobs rather out of context, responding this morning by saying that:
"Apple's offer to license FairPlay to other technology companies is a welcome breakthrough and would be a real victory for fans, artists and labels," which clearly isn't what Jobs meant by:
"The second alternative is for Apple to license its FairPlay DRM technology to current and future competitors with the goal of achieving interoperability between different company’s players and music stores. On the surface, this seems like a good idea since it might offer customers increased choice now and in the future. And Apple might benefit by charging a small licensing fee for its FairPlay DRM.
However, when we look a bit deeper, problems begin to emerge. The most serious problem is that licensing a DRM involves disclosing some of its secrets to many people in many companies, and history tells us that inevitably these secrets will leak. The Internet has made such leaks far more damaging, since a single leak can be spread worldwide in less than a minute. Such leaks can rapidly result in software programs available as free downloads on the Internet which will disable the DRM protection so that formerly protected songs can be played on unauthorized players."
So, well done the RIAA for making themselves look even more like ignorant idiots only out for number one. The good news is that this response clearly indicates that the vehemence of Jobs' open letter has taken them by surprise.
Of course, this could all be one big power play - the renegotiation rights for iTunes' and the labels are coming up soon, and whilst the industry is keen to get more money from Apple, possibly even a cut of iPod sales, this is perhaps Apple tipping its hand in a bid to keep the deal at least the same, and possibly better.
What are your thoughts on licensing FairPlay DRM? Let us know over in the forums.
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