Hello everyone, Apple has finally succeeded in convincing EMI(a major record label :-) to keep its music DRM free and available on the iTunes store. It's good to see that Steve Jobs managed to convince them to do it :-)
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/04/02itunes.html
Its a step in the right direction, i hope more will follow :-) i really wish they would take out a Free Software version of iTunes now :-)
/me hopes...
Regard,
- vihan
VP dropped bits saying:
Its a step in the right direction, i hope more will follow :-) i really wish they would take out a Free Software version of iTunes now
DRM free music increases Apple's income. a Free Software version of iTunes doesn't. There is no reason for Apple to do anything that won't increase its income.
On 5/31/07, Philip Tellis philip.tellis@gmx.net wrote:
VP dropped bits saying:
Its a step in the right direction, i hope more will follow :-) i really wish they would take out a Free Software version of iTunes now
DRM free music increases Apple's income. a Free Software version of iTunes doesn't. There is no reason for Apple to do anything that won't increase its income.
Did we read on /. today that the DRM free music from iTunes contains the buyer's account information and email address? Not actually free then, isn't it?
Did we read on /. today that the DRM free music from iTunes contains the buyer's account information and email address? Not actually free then, isn't it?
Are you referring to liberty or beer? If you are talking about beer, its a store, forget a free beer unless you are buying 3 of them :P. If you are talking about liberty - EMI and Apple could have kept the mp3's with DRM(like is being done with the other labels), but they have chosen not to do that. That is a good thing. Only it would be perfect if they released iTunes under a Free Software license as well.
Regards,
- vihan
On 5/31/07, Vihan Pandey vihanpandey@gmail.com wrote:
Are you referring to liberty or beer? If you are talking about beer, its a store, forget a free beer unless you are buying 3 of them :P. If you are talking about liberty - EMI and Apple could have kept the mp3's with DRM(like is being done with the other labels), but they have chosen not to do that. That is a good thing. Only it would be perfect if they released iTunes under a Free Software license as well.
1. Free as in DRM-free, not Free or free. 2. First impressions may be deceiving. There is a possibility that iTunes may report users having music bought by somebody (read the /. story), or that the media companies may track the music file being shared.
There is no denying that removal of DRM means putting a stop to unnecessary restrictions. However, if you want really DRM free music that you can share, take a look at http://www.magnatune.com - you can listen to entire albums for free, pay any price you want if you download, as long as it is between $5 and $18, and share it with three friends. Of course, you will not get any major artist on Magnatune, but as they do not bind the artists with restrictive contracts, some of them may well become popular and be featured on other labels.
There would be not much need to open-source iTunes if Apple would let others share their infrastructure. btw, have you also checked songbird? It is a good iTunes alternative for iPod owners and is based on Mozilla, only it is not linked with Teh Store.
Just my 2 bits.
Nishit Dave wrote:
- First impressions may be deceiving. There is a possibility that iTunes
may report users having music bought by somebody (read the /. story), or that the media companies may track the music file being shared.
Even if such information is sent back to Apple, there is little that they or the music companies can do with the information - since the encoded name and email can easily be removed or spoofed. From the looks of it, the information is purely for statistical purposes. Apple/EMI wants to know how many of its customers actually respect the freedom that is given to them :)
-- Anant
On 5/31/07, Anant Narayanan anant@kix.in wrote:
Even if such information is sent back to Apple, there is little that they or the music companies can do with the information - since the encoded name and email can easily be removed or spoofed. From the looks of it, the information is purely for statistical purposes. Apple/EMI wants to know how many of its customers actually respect the freedom that is given to them :)
So if you start sharing, -:poof:- goes the DRM-free initiative? meh.
DRM free music increases Apple's income. a Free Software version of iTunes doesn't. There is no reason for Apple to do anything that won't increase its income.
my point in saying that is - have a supported port of iTunes on GNU/Linux and other kernels, then i would have absolutely no problem purchasing a DRM free mp3 using a version of iTunes licensed under a Free Software license. Also, they could offer open compatability standards such that other players could be used as well. They would get praise from the community for doing that more customers as well. i for one would then become a customer :-)
This is interesting.
Open question to the list :
How many people would be willing to buy DRM free mp3's from Apple, using a Free Software version of iTunes ?
Regards,
- vihan
Quoting Vihan Pandey vihanpandey@gmail.com:
Open question to the list :
How many people would be willing to buy DRM free mp3's from Apple, using a Free Software version of iTunes ?
I would consider buying from iTunes, if they charge in INR, and have `Eastern Economy Edition' for us :P
Anurag
Anurag wrote:
I would consider buying from iTunes, if they charge in INR, and have `Eastern Economy Edition' for us :P
Indeed. The iTunes store is not even available in India so far. If you want to purchase music online; fire up Amarok [1] and get some tunes from Magnatune [2]. Magnatune is a very interesting way of selling music, the "trust" system, where the customer chooses how much he/she wants to pay for a particular song :)
-- Anant
On 5/31/07, Anant Narayanan anant@kix.in wrote:
Vihan Pandey wrote:
Open question to the list :
How many people would be willing to buy DRM free mp3's from Apple, using a Free Software version of iTunes ?
FYI: Apple is currently not providing mp3's via iTunes. All of the DRM-free music is encoded in the AAC format.
--
Everybody raring to post to this thread, try out songbird first! Here's an extract from their about blurb:
Made by the Songbird Team Hatched: February 7, 2006
Certain files in this binary application ("binary") are Copyright (c) 2005-2007 POTI Inc.
Certain files in this binary may contain code from VLC and XUL Runner which is copyright their respective copyright holders. These files may include modifications which are Copyright (c) 2005-2007 POTI Inc.
This binary also contains trademarks of POTI Inc. including, but not limited to, the name "Songbird", logos, icons, and page layout files ("feathers"). POTI Inc. does not express or imply any permission to use or distribute these trademarks.
This binary is licensed to you under the GNU General Public License Version 2 as follows: --------------- It is Teh GPL. Go try it. It is teh found at www.songbirdnest.com
Again, it doesn't link to the iTunes store, but that's a different issue.
FYI: Apple is currently not providing mp3's via iTunes. All of the DRM-free music is encoded in the AAC format.
Oh, i didn't know they stopped providing mp3's via iTunes. To be perfectly honest my only interaction with Mac OS X happens via ssh, and even when i do sit on a Mac OS X GUI, i'm mostly on the Terminal :P
Regards,
- vihan
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Anant Narayanan -
Anurag -
Nishit Dave -
Philip Tellis -
Vihan Pandey