Drm // Current

Sony potrebbe unirsi a EMI su iTunes Plus con le tracce DRM-free

Sembra che Sony, assieme ad EMI, finirà sull’iTunes Plus di Apple. Si parla infatti dell’opzione di iTunes che... more

sonounprecario
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Apple threatens iTunes shutdown over royalty dispute

Apple has threatened to shut down the iTunes music store if an obscure three-person board appointed by the Librarian of Congress... more

busboydanny
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Wal-Mart Gives Consumers Number 1 Reason Why DRM is Not the Answer

The music industry is struggling to gain a foot-hold in the battle with online piracy. The options available for music lovers to... more

jcmoisan
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EA threatens to cancel Spore accounts

"EA has threatened to ban the Spore accounts of members discussing DRM issues on the official game forum. "SecuROM... more

PWNtheVOTE
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The Pirate Bay Tops 15 Million Peers

Today, The Pirate Bay reached a new milestone, as they now have more than 3 million registered users. On top of that, they track... more

Nothingness
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Apple wants to tie your shoes to your clothes with DRM

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axiomcafe
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Apple's latest DRM will restrict your wardrobe

You've heard, of course, of digital rights management - used to control how you play, copy or otherwise use media files like... more

Nothingness
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Yahoo Music Shutting Down in September

The bad dream of DRM continues. Yahoo e-mailed its Yahoo! Music Store customers yesterday, telling them it will be closing for good—and the company will take its DRM license key servers offline on September 30, 2008. Sure, it's bad news and yet another example of the sheer lobotomized brain-deadness that has characterized music DRM, but the reaction of most music fans will be: "Yahoo had an online music store?"

If you think this sounds familiar, it's because this happened earlier this year with MSN Music, although Microsoft has since relented and will keep the DRM authorization servers up and running through 2011.

Once the Yahoo store goes down and the key servers go offline, existing tracks cannot be authorized to play on new computers. Instead, Yahoo recommends the old, lame, and lossy workaround of burning the files to CD, then reripping them onto the computer. Sure, you'll lose a bunch of blank CDs, sound quality, and all the metadata, but that's a small price to pay for the privilege of being able to listen to that music you lawfully acquired. Good thing you didn't download it illegally or just buy it on CD!

No, you were one of the digital pioneers, and in this brave new frontier world, a few people are just going to get malaria. Fact of life. And someone will step in a bear trap, and then it's time for the bite rag, the alcohol, and the saw. Just the price of progress. And yes, some poor group will get trapped in snowfall when crossing the pass, and cannibalism may or may not be involved by the time they stumble barefoot from the mountains next spring. No one can prevent such tragedies.

Well, except for everyone who saw this coming. Ars has been one of only many groups banging the anti-DRM drum for years. We're not pro-piracy, we're just not dumb as rocks. DRM makes things harder for legal users; it creates hassles that illegal users won't deal with; it (often) prevents cross-platform compatibility and movement between devices. In what possible world was that a good strategy for building up the nascent digital download market?

The only possible rationales could be 1) to control piracy (which, obviously, it has had no effect on, thanks to the CD and the fact that most DRM is broken) or 2) to nickel-and-dime consumers into accepting a new pay-for-use regime that sees moving tracks from CD to computer to MP3 player as a "privilege" to be monetized. What we really need to do is just—you know what? Why bother. We've been down this road so many times before that everyone knows their lines by heart.

No, it's not the end of the world; yes, we have bigger problems. But the Yahoo news is just another depressing reminder of all the wasted time and energy put into these schemes designed to create roadblocks for legal users. At least the music business has gotten the message, and all four major labels and most indies now sell DRM-free online. The bad dream of DRM continues. Yahoo e-mailed its Yahoo! Music Store customers yesterday, telling them it will be closing for... more

enum_Bossman
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4 months ago

AT&T, DirecTV are backing MPAA's DVR-blocking initiative

As Ars Technica has reported, the petition comes from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), which wants a waiver on... more

Octoguy
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4 months ago

Youtube hosting full-length movies and shows

Hulu is kicking ass because of a simple marketing device: The NBC and News Corp.-backed site is advertising full-length programs... more

smorrisey
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5 months ago

Obama opens up his iPod

The Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama showcased his diverse musical taste, ranging from Bob Dylan to Jay-Z and Bruce Springsteen, after revealing the playlist on his iPod.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, to be published this Friday, the Illinois senator said he had "pretty eclectic tastes".

The list of bands reads like the acts at a summer music festival, with the Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow and Ludacris all in the mix. Obama said that, growing up, he listened to Elton John and Earth, Wind & Fire but that Stevie Wonder was his ultimate musical hero during the 70s.

The Stones' track Gimme Shelter topped his favorite songs from the band. His selection also contained 30 songs from Dylan. "One of my favorites [for] the political season is [Dylan's] Maggie's Farm. It speaks to me as I listen to some of the political rhetoric." In the song, Dylan sings about trying to be himself, "but everybody wants you to be just like them".

The jazz legends Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Charlie Parker were also included in the compilation. Many of the musicians on Obama's iPod, such as Bruce Springsteen, are supporting his White House bid.

Earlier this month, Dylan said he believed Obama was redefining politics in the US and could bring change to a nation in upheaval. "I've got to say, having both Dylan and Bruce Springsteen say kind words about you is pretty remarkable," Obama said. "Those guys are icons."

Obama said he had not met Springsteen but that the two had talked over the phone. "Not only do I love Bruce's music, I just love him as a person," Obama said. "He is a guy who has never lost track of his roots, who knows who he is, who has never put on a front." He added that, when speaking to the singer, he addressed him by his moniker the Boss. "You've got to," Obama said.

The candidate said he thought rap music was also helping to break down barriers within the music world. Indeed it was reported last month that Obama will make a cameo performance[siiic] on the rap singer Q-Tip's next album. However, he expressed concern over his daughters – Malia, nine, and Sasha, seven – listening to some rap songs.

"I am troubled sometimes by the misogyny and materialism of a lot of rap lyrics," he said, "but I think the genius of the art form has shifted the culture and helped to desegregate music."

He said the hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons and the rappers Jay-Z and Ludacris were "great talents and great businessmen".

"It would be nice if I could have my daughters listen to their music without me worrying they were getting bad images of themselves," he added.

Obama appears on the cover of the Rolling Stone issue. The magazine endorsed him for president in MarchThe Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama showcased his diverse musical taste, ranging from Bob Dylan to Jay-Z and Bruce... more