Apparently having missed the embarrassing smack-down received by anti-DRM activists in France last month, Scandinavian countries are lining up for an Apple-delivered reality check:
Denmark, Norway and Sweden plan to force Apple Computers Inc to break the exclusive link between its iPod music players and online iTunes store.
...
"iTunes' terms and conditions are illegal in all three countries," Swedish Consumer Agency spokeswoman Marianne Aabyhammar told AFP Friday.
Apparently, in Scandinivia, buying stuff from someone else would be more trouble than taking Apple to court.
When France tried this, Apple made it clear that it would rather close its iTMS than jeopardize its business model by removing the DRM from music downloaded there. The iTunes DRM model, known as FairPlay, is one of the major reasons that Apple gets to set its own price for music downloads. It alleviates the record labels' fears of unbridled piracy of purchased songs.
Intellectual property moralizing from the people who brought you The Pirate Bay? Thanks, but er...no thanks.
Comments (6)
You might be interested in ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Jo | June 10, 2006 9:27 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
You might be interested in the Consumer Council of Norway's original complaint leading up to the Ombudsman's decision:
http://forbrukerportalen.no/Artikler/2006/1149587055.44
1. Posted by Jo | June 10, 2006 9:27 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on June 10, 2006 09:27
2. Posted by Andrew | June 11, 2006 2:32 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
You have totally missed the point here! The iTMS agreement is illegal because it is in conflict with basic consumer rights. First and foremost this about the contract not obeying local law - if Apple wants to sell it's products in Norway it has to stay in line. This is nothing like the French attack on DRM - it's all about such interesting concepts as 'fair use' (on any relevant machine you like), the 'right-to-return-the-product' and the agreement being available in the local languages.
2. Posted by Andrew | June 11, 2006 2:32 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on June 11, 2006 02:32
3. Posted by Susinga | June 11, 2006 5:08 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
If people wanna get tunes for free they can. DRM is just a way of smackin folks in the face who pay full price. That way they'll likely have to buy the same song more than once! Suckers!
3. Posted by Susinga | June 11, 2006 5:08 AM |
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Posted on June 11, 2006 05:08
4. Posted by Rube | June 11, 2006 7:17 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
@Andrew:
The language part I'll agree with; I imagine it's a software glitch that the localized string isn't displayed properly. I don't imagine that once that gets fixed the anti-DRM zealots will stop their belly-aching.
This whole kerfuffle is being represented as an effort 'to break the exclusive link between its iPod music players and online iTunes store,' as I quoted. And that means stripping out the DRM that makes the iTMS concept work.
4. Posted by Rube | June 11, 2006 7:17 AM |
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Posted on June 11, 2006 07:17
5. Posted by Kazmin | June 12, 2006 12:08 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
You can rip the DRM from songs downloaded at iTunes by burning them onto a CD and then ripping them back off. I do this all the time so I can put songs from iTunes into my Zen Micro.
5. Posted by Kazmin | June 12, 2006 12:08 AM |
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Posted on June 12, 2006 00:08
6. Posted by Joel Smith | June 12, 2006 10:11 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Apple's DRM is clearly the most consumer friendly DRM in the industry. To go after Apple on this basis is really backward and lacks thought. Remember that it is not just Apple: the record labels interests are exposed here also. Apple has to respecet agreements with the record companies that want some degree of control over unbrldied copying.
Apple has been guilty of greed many times, but this time that is not the case. FairPlay is a workable model that provides what consumers want and gives the record comapnies some degre of peace of mind.
6. Posted by Joel Smith | June 12, 2006 10:11 AM |
Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Posted on June 12, 2006 10:11