Apple Drops DRM: the Expanded Edition

[HaZ]

Apple is really going out with a bang – out from attending the Macworld conference, that is. In a last hurrah, the company has decided to drop Digital Rights Management (DRM) from all 10 million plus songs on iTunes by the end of this quarter.

Apple Drops DRM: the Expanded Edition : Read more

 

[one-shot]

This is good news. I did a paper about piracy for a technology class and mentioned Apple and their DRM infested music they put out. This is a good thing. I'm not sure if any of us like DRM on our products.

 

[outlw6669]

About damn time Apple!

 

[noahjwhite]

This is very good news. I think apple should take it a step further and allows iTunes itself to remove the DRM from it's existing library. As it is... it's not that hard to remove the DRM using 3rd party apps.

 

[saucysoup]

Steve Jobs has said a long time ago (1yr? +?) that he thought DRM-free was the future of the record business, so I wouldn't be convinced that this was significantly motivated by quick cash. It was coming either way.

Price brackets are also a smart move; for pretty much every product on the planet there are tiers of "quality" (in this case higher quality means more recent or more popular) and therefore price (see: the hardware reported on this site, for instance). It's a tried and true principle that is a win-win for the consumer and the retailer.

Is it really that "hard not to think" this is a "snatch and grab cash cow"? Is this a news report or a blog? Or is there a difference anymore?

 

[Anthony20022]

About damn time Apple!

More like about time record labels. They have been holding out trying to regain some control on itunes by letting amazon, walmart, etc sell high quality DRM free music while forcing Apple to sell with DRM. Apparently to get this, Apple had to compromise and give the record companies the tiered pricing structure they've been wanting for a long time.

I think apple should take it a step further and allows iTunes itself to remove the DRM from it's existing library.

They do. It costs 30¢ per song. They entire upgradeable library must be upgraded at once (no picking and choosing songs).

This article from Macworld will tell you anything else you may want to know about this.

 

[Lpusedyou]

Noahjwhite: are you referring to programs like tunebite? Or are there actually programs that strip the DRM itself from the file? If so, please share Don't get me wrong, I love tunebite I'm just saying if there are programs that strip the DRM from the file instead of just playing back the file and recording it that'd be awesome.

 

[gwellin]

I remember when I saw the add from Dell saying, "for an extra fee you can get your pc without all the trial software". This is no different. You can PAY to remove the DRM on your songs!!!!WTF You paid for the song already, you should be able to have removed at no extra charge. I have friends that have over 1000 songs from iTunes. That is over $300 to remove the DRM on songs they already own. I'm glad I never bought anything apple.

 

[Caffeinecarl]

It's about time! I've been wanting to get away from the Apple empire for a while now since in recent years, they've even got Microsoft beat when it comes to all the anti-consumer red tape they have. As far as having to pay to have the DRM stripped from my files (and the bitrate doubled) nobody ever said that a divorce from Apple would be cheap, but after I get the DRM off my tracks, I plan on taking my hard earned money and getting a different MP3 player with uber capacity. Even after paying to have the DRM stripped off my songs and buying another MP3 player (Zune maybe) I'll still have paid less than I would have if I'd have bought an ipod and much less of my money will have gone to Apple.

 

[del35]

That is nice to hear, but it doesn't move me closer to Apple. I still hate Apple's proprietary handcuffing and its hordes of technologically dumbed-down fanboys that bend over to receive Mr Jobs' every junk piece.