Originally posted on sciy.org by Ron Anastasia on Wed 07 Feb 2007 02:09 AM PST
Jobs assails music labels
APPLE CEO URGES END TO COPY LIMITS
By Troy Wolverton
Mercury News
Apple CEO Steve Jobs wants the music industry to loosen its grip on the way digital music is sold, but depending on whom you ask, his stance is either a call to arms or a clever marketing ploy.
In a letter posted on Apple's Web site Tuesday (dubbed ``Thoughts on Music''), Jobs joined the growing chorus of tech leaders and consumer advocates who have called on the major record labels to allow consumers to purchase music online in a format without copy protections.
``This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat,'' Jobs said.
Currently, the major labels require Apple's iTunes music store and its competitors to wrap their songs in software that's called digital rights management. DRM restricts what consumers can do with the songs, most notably how many copies they can make of them and where they can play them. So songs downloaded from iTunes can be played only on iPods, while songs downloaded from Microsoft's Zune Marketplace can only be used on Zunes.
Some in the digital music industry hailed Jobs' letter -- or at least its sentiments. RealNetworks not only supports Jobs' position, but Chief Executive Rob Glazer has been making similar calls for a ``long time,'' noted Gabriel Levy, the company's general manager of label relations.
``I don't know if (Jobs' letter) will have an immediate resonance,'' Levy said, but he added that it wouldn't hurt. ``When the entire (digital music) industry is speaking to the record labels about this issue, it's got to resonate with the labels.''
But Jobs' missive was also met with skepticism by some in the industry, with whom the Apple CEO has tangled in the past.
The letter comes, for instance, as Apple is under attack by regulators in Europe over the way iTunes and the iPod are so tightly bound, a restriction built into FairPlay, Apple's own DRM software.
That Jobs is calling for the record labels to offer unprotected music while not opening up Apple's own DRM software is ``kind of hypocritical,'' charged one music industry source, who asked not to be named.
License agreements
The letter also comes as Apple's licenses to sell the major labels' digital music are thought to be up for renewal again. The company said in spring 2006 that it had re-signed its licensing agreements with the Big Four, which were reportedly just one-year deals. And Jobs has been known to use the press in negotiations, last year calling industry representatives ``greedy'' because they wanted Apple to move away from charging 99 cents a song.
But the music industry might be closer to Jobs than generally known. One industry insider said that one of the major labels is ``days away'' from opening up a large portion of its catalog in MP3 format, and the industry as a whole has been questioning whether to embrace unprotected formats.
In his letter, Jobs acknowledged the debate in Europe over FairPlay, but argued that security concerns shackle the company. The music industry wants Apple to ensure that consumers can't make unauthorized copies of songs or allow them to be played on unauthorized devices, he said. To do so, Apple has to make sure that its DRM software is secure and to immediately plug any security holes in FairPlay.
That's difficult enough when Apple makes all the devices and software that use FairPlay, Jobs said. It would be all but impossible if Apple licensed FairPlay broadly, he said.
In contrast, offering music in unprotected form would solve both the security question -- by making it irrelevant -- and the question of allowing other devices to play songs purchased on iTunes, Jobs argued.
``Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies toward persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free,'' Jobs wrote.
Music from CDs
Still, Jobs argued that the whole debate over licensing Apple's DRM software was largely beside the point, because consumers avoid DRM schemes. The vast majority of music sold today is on CDs, which don't have any DRM software, he noted. And most music on iPods is probably from CDs, he said.
``DRMs haven't worked, and may never work, to halt music piracy,'' Jobs wrote.
Jobs is only the latest technology figure to call on the music industry to drop its insistence on DRM. In addition to Glazer, Dave Goldberg, the head of Yahoo's Music service, has made similar arguments.
But given Apple's standing in the market, Jobs' call for unprotected music could push the industry in that direction, said Eric Garland, CEO of BigChampagne, a digital media research firm.
``Here you have a company that's done well with DRM . . . taking a big step away and disowning the whole system,'' Garland said. ``That applies a lot of pressure'' to the industry.
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