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Beware the Apple iPhone iHandcuffs

Posted by CmdrTaco on Sun Jan 14, 2007 09:26 AM
from the future-of-gizmos dept.
Nrbelex writes "Randall Stross makes a fresh and surprisingly accurate review of one of the biggest "features" in the upcoming iPhone and the iPod in general, 'fairplay'. Stross writes, 'If "crippleware" seems an unduly harsh description, it balances the euphemistic names that the industry uses for copy protection. Apple officially calls its own standard "FairPlay," but fair it is not.... You are always going to have to buy Apple stuff. Forever and ever.' Can mainstream media coverage help the battle over DRM or will this warning, like those of the past, continue to go unnoticed?"
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  • Just rip your CD's fool (Score:5, Insightful)

    by bobalu (1921) on Sunday January 14 2007, @09:32AM (#17602180)
    I really don't understand the repeated efforts here to brand Apple as the devil over "FairPlay". I'm no fan of DRM, and don't use it because it's entirely unnecessary. I've bought about 6 songs and one video off of iTunes in the last 3 years. I just don't get the freedom-threatening nature of ripping my own CDs.

  • Had to happen by wallyhall (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @09:32AM
  • by LibertineR (591918) on Sunday January 14 2007, @09:34AM (#17602192)
    No matter how sexy or cool things seemed early on, the day will come when you will wonder what the fuck you were thinking.
  • This is dumb! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by N8F8 (4562) on Sunday January 14 2007, @09:36AM (#17602204)
    The suit contends that Apple unfairly restricts consumer choice because it does not load onto the iPod the software needed to play music that uses Microsoft's copy-protection standard, in addition to Apple's own.


    As far as I'm considered, this is a stupid argument. Slam Sony instead. How about a $400 DVD plaver that won't play MP3 file.
  • Article is about iPod, not iPhone (Score:5, Insightful)

    by phozz bare (720522) on Sunday January 14 2007, @09:37AM (#17602214)
    The iPhone is mentioned in the first paragraph and in the headline, perhaps to grab the reader's attention. The rest of the article is about the DRM restrictions in music purchased from iTunes. While this will also apply to the iPhone (as it includes iPod functionality) I really can't see why this article is remotely interesting or newsworthy. I was expecting to read something about the 3rd party software lock-in on the iPhone, but there really is nothing to see here.

    phozz
  • Don't buy it if you don't like it... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by stewbacca (1033764) on Sunday January 14 2007, @09:37AM (#17602216)
    So people want to force Apple to make Microsoft formats work on the iPod? Those same people blame Apple for iTunes purchased songs not working on a Zune as well? I don't get the double standard. If Apple should be forced to make iPods play Microsoft DRM, then isn't it the responsibility of Microsoft to make Apple's FairPlay work on Zunes? I think I'll go buy a Zune then sue Microsoft because my iTunes songs don't work on the Zune. I hope this case gets thrown out and the woman has to pay the court costs.
  • Locked music? What about locked OS? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by jezor (51922) on Sunday January 14 2007, @09:38AM (#17602222)
    (http://www.tourolaw.edu/)
    I read the NYT article, and this is really not a new issue, is it? The iPod has had this issue, as did Apple's previous foray into cellphones (the ROKR and now the RAZR [apple.com]). The bigger challenge the iPhone faces is that, according to Steve Jobs [slashdot.org], 3rd party developers won't be able to write programs for the iPhone without Apple's blessing and distribution channels. That's a product killer, given that the most popular smartphones already on the market (especially those running PalmOS and Windows Mobile) are tremendously extensible via 3rd party offerings. It's also a huge mistake. Having a phone that plays music isn't a revolution; it's a necessity these days. Heck, the phones that are being given away by the carriers can all play MP3s at least. Rather, anyone spending as much as Apple wants for the iPhone (even before locking in a data plan from Cingular) is going to want to do whatever he or she can imagine with the iPhone in all aspects of life, not just music or telephoning. That will require 3rd party developers. Apple should embrace 3rd party development, since it will sell many more iPhones, rather than the current strategy.

    Personally, I was pondering how to make the business case for an iPhone at work until I read about the current 3rd party app limitation. As someone who's used the PalmOS for 10 years, I am *not* going back to one-vendor sourced apps. {Prof. Jonathan Ezor, PalmAddict Associate Writer} [typepad.com]
    • Re:Locked music? What about locked OS? by Jeff DeMaagd (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @09:56AM
    • Re:Locked music? What about locked OS? by Thrudheim (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:09AM
      • by jezor (51922) on Sunday January 14 2007, @10:23AM (#17602516)
        (http://www.tourolaw.edu/)
        My point is that a lot of little niche markets make up one honkin' big one, and whether or not Apple is encouraging 3rd party development, if every app has to pass through Apple's screening process and be distributed (read: priced and sold) through Apple's own structure, it will significantly discourage niche products.

        As a long-time PalmOS user, I look to Palm for both negative and positive examples. Palm's success was built not on the PIM applications, but on 3rd party tools, and while Palm offered certification for software programs, it didn't require certification in order for programs to run. Not only did that drive innovation by 3rd parties, but many of those 3rd party developments put pressure on Palm to extend the basic OS accordingly. Tapped drop-down menus, fullscreen Graffiti entry, running apps off SD cards, full backup (not just PIM apps) and hard button reassignment all began as 3rd party innovations, and were later adopted by the PalmOS. At the same time, though, Palm's uncertainty about whether it was a hardware, software, or OS company has led to stultification of the underlying PalmOS, to the point where the iPhone has a real opportunity not only to get Treo users but non-smartphone users like me (I use a T|X) to cross over, if it's done properly by Apple.

        I'm not counting Apple out by any means, nor am I assuming that 3rd party developers won't be able to create homebrew apps that will load and run on the iPhone, Apple-certified or not. That said, I hope that Apple is looking at the PDA rather than cellphone market for inspiration. Otherwise, this Newton 2007 may rot unpicked. {Prof. Jonathan}
        [ Parent ]
      • Re:Locked music? What about locked OS? by aaarrrgggh (Score:3) Sunday January 14 2007, @11:40AM
      • Re:Locked music? What about locked OS? by dfghjk (Score:2) Monday January 15 2007, @11:59AM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • Re:Locked music? What about locked OS? by westlake (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:09PM
    • 4 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • Apple picked the least evil option (Score:5, Insightful)

    by gravesb (967413) on Sunday January 14 2007, @09:39AM (#17602230)
    (http://bgcommonsense.blogspot.com/)
    Apple had to produce a DRM that was acceptable to the music industry, or else iTunes would never exist. MP3 players would still be gimmicks, much like minidisk players, and the advances we have seen across all brands of MP3 players never would have happened. Instead, Apple came up with a solution that appeased the music industry, and which doesn't remove that many rights from consumers. The really brilliant thing Apple did was allow FairPlay to be so easily cracked by burning the music to CD's. I find it interesting that the article complains about Apple locking in consumers, but the far more interesting thing is how they have locked in the music industry. The music industry would love to raise prices, make all services subscription, and restrict our rights in more and more ways. Instead, Apple is strong enough that not only can it maintain the status quo (which they improved by allowing us to buy single songs, instead of CD's with a decent song and 9 crappy ones), they are extending it to other music labels and now movies. They have created a means for more independent artists to make a living without giving into the labels (not as good as eMusic, true, but they had to give up something to get the major labels.), allowed consumers to buy music ala carte, and are changing the face of the industry. There are the vocal few who claim that all DRM is evil, and refuse to buy anything from the music labels. I admire both your stance and your dedication to it. However, most of the public do not understand the issues, and they provide enough revenue for the labels to ignore you. Apple is a middle ground now. Hopefully in the future, we will be able to move to an even better situation. However, without this middle ground, we would all be talking about buying music in a hopelessly outdated, unfair manner, or stealing it.
  • yada yada by erikwestlund (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @09:40AM
    • Re:yada yada by theurge14 (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:34PM
      • Re:yada yada by erikwestlund (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:40PM
  • Choice by eefsee (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @09:40AM
  • Anti-Apple week (Score:5, Informative)

    by Oniros (53181) on Sunday January 14 2007, @09:43AM (#17602254)
    Geez, the iPhone must have scared the crap out of everyone in the industry, seems it's Anti-Apple FUD since the iPhone was announced.

    I own an iPod (3rd gen or something), works great with the hundreds of CDs I own and ripped. I bought 1 song on the iTunes store. The article lie in implying the iPod is limited to FairPlay music. This is not the Zune, iTunes doesn't add a DRM layer to your music. It plays non-DRMed songs just fine.

    I own a Mac, plays all the fansubbed unlicensed anime series I get on bittorrent. Works even in FrontRow. And on the video iPod and Apple TV if I batch convert them to H264. Again, non-DRMed video plays fine.

    So, allow me not to be scared.

    If you want to worry, check the big brotherish content protection in Vista:
    A Cost Analysis of Windows Vista Content Protection
    http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_c ost.txt [auckland.ac.nz]
    • Re:Anti-Apple week (Score:5, Insightful)

      by mccalli (323026) on Sunday January 14 2007, @10:05AM (#17602382)
      (http://www.eruvia.org/)
      Geez, the iPhone must have scared the crap out of everyone in the industry, seems it's Anti-Apple FUD since the iPhone was announced.

      Allow me to present my Apple credentials. An original LC owner from around 1993 (I think), then skipped out but back in for a 12" Powerbook when Jaguar was released. Our household has a MacBook Pro, a MacBook, a dual G5 tower, an (Intel) Mac Mini and an SE/30 for nostalgia. Pro-Apple enough perhaps? Well then, I think that as announced so far, the iPhone is a poor product.

      • No 3G. A killer in Europe for something at that level. I'm assuming this won't be a problem by the time of launch though, because I simply cannot imagine anyone trying to launch a 2.5G smart phone here these days.
      • No video calling. Minor league problem for me and directly related to no 3G.
      • "First proper browser on a phone" says Jobs in the keynote. Err...no, no at all. My phone is happily running Opera, as are plenty of others.
      • No user-replaceable battery. No spare batteries? Are they serious? Not a problem with an iPod, you just lose your music for a while. Annoying but liveable. For a phone however, that's a much bigger hassle.
      • No third-party software. Err...no. Won't fly for me.
      • Can't use your "iTunes music" as a ring tone. Now admittedly the source I read for this didn't make it clear if they really meant iTMS-purchased music or just any old MP3 but either way that's pretty poor.
      • No GPS (that I'm aware of). I'm spending that amount of money, I'd like a GPS-enabled phone please.
      • No radio. For the love of god, what is it that Apple have against radios? Even the built-in Radio function of iTunes is utterly useless. I don't want to carry around an add-on for that, it should be built into the phone like damned near every other phone.
      • Fixed capacity - I can't move my own flash cards in and out of the phone.
      • No video at all - not just lack of video calling but also it's unclear if that camera will actually shoot video for storing on the internal memory and transferring off later.


      I love the look of the interface, though in practice I do wonder how well it's going to stand up to daily use (smears on the screen etc.). Right now though, the hardware itself just looks too weak to me. Not enough features for the cash - my N70 already does functionally more than the iPhone, and that came as a freebie with my contract. I'll admit the Nokia interface is terrible in comparison, but for me at least the OS X interface isn't enough to compensate for the lack of capability in the phone. Not asking for the moon on a stick here - everything I've mentioned can currently be done by other phones, all but GPS in already done by my freebie N70.

      Roll on v1.x please.

      Cheers,
      Ian
      [ Parent ]
      • Re:Anti-Apple week by Dan_Bercell (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:17AM
      • Re:Anti-Apple week by GRW (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:30AM
      • Re:Anti-Apple week by bheer (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:32AM
      • Re:Anti-Apple week (Score:4, Insightful)

        by roard (661272) on Sunday January 14 2007, @12:04PM (#17603340)
        (http://camaelon.blogspot.com/)
        er... the iPhone is possibly not the miracle that some hailed, but it's difficult to be sure until they actual sell it :-) In particular, most of your "problems" are misleading:
        • No 3G. A killer in Europe for something at that level. I'm assuming this won't be a problem by the time of launch though, because I simply cannot imagine anyone trying to launch a 2.5G smart phone here these days.
          Well, THIS model does not have 3G, only 2.5G. But Steve Jobs specifically said they were working on a 3G model. Considering it's only supposed to come in europe around september (so, likely introduced at the paris expo) I frankly expect that it will be a 3G model.
        • No video calling. Minor league problem for me and directly related to no 3G.
          As you said, without 3G, video calling is useless anyway. Beside, video calling is more a gadget than something useful, really... did you ever try videoconf with your webcam ? do you use it regularly ? most people in then do not use it apart from an initial "wow it's cool". And with a webcam there's still a few occasions where it is useful (showing kids to grandparents, business conf..) but these uses are anyway quite impractical for a frickin mobile PHONE. Now tell me that Apple would let you plug an iSight on their new AppleTV, and do videoconf in your living room, and here it would be interesting.
        • "First proper browser on a phone" says Jobs in the keynote. Err...no, no at all. My phone is happily running Opera, as are plenty of others. Er, I have opera on my 3G mobile. You can't seriously compare it to what was shown on the iPhone. The only vaguely comparable browser on a mobile device I know of is opera, but running on the nokia 770, eg with a high res screen. Certainly not the mobile browsers you have on mobile phones.
        • No user-replaceable battery. No spare batteries? Are they serious? Not a problem with an iPod, you just lose your music for a while. Annoying but liveable. For a phone however, that's a much bigger hassle.
          Yes, that sucks. The autonomy seems fairly good though, and there was this talk about using two batteries, but still, it would be better to have a user-replaceable battery. At first I even thought that this black part on the back was here for just that...
        • No third-party software. Err...no. Won't fly for me.
          There WILL be 3rd party software -- jobs said it, and if you think about it, why mention Cocoa and Core Animation if not ! The question is not that. The question is that apparently Apple wants to "control" the software that will run on the iPhone; how THAT will work is unknown yet (eg, could be a compliance test your app will need to pass, or could be more closed -- we just do not know. Wait for the developer conference this summer...). I admit, as a cocoa developer I'm quite pissed about it, I would have prefererred an open access. Though if it's just a compliance test it will be ok for me (depends of course if it wil be costly or not, or if the compliance test will apply to all apps or only the ones using the GSM chip, etc.). As you see, there's a lot of possible combinations on how that will work, and we can only make conjectures for the moment. But there will be 3rd party software, they said it, and it would be moronic to not have them.
        • Can't use your "iTunes music" as a ring tone. Now admittedly the source I read for this didn't make it clear if they really meant iTMS-purchased music or just any old MP3 but either way that's pretty poor.
          First time I hear that rumor. I frankly doubt you'll have a problem to set your ring tone... anyway, it's only a rumor. Wait for the real device.
        • No GPS (that I'm aware of). I'm spending that amount of money, I'd like a GPS-enabled phone please.
          Far from a deal-breaker. Sure that would be a nice addition.
        • No radio. For the love of god, what is it that Apple have against radios? Even the built-in Radio function of iTunes is utterly useless. I don't want to car
        [ Parent ]
      • Re:Anti-Apple week by nordicfrost (Score:3) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:25PM
        • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
      • Re:Anti-Apple week by ppp (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:37PM
      • Re:Anti-Apple week by NanoProf (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:44PM
      • Re:Anti-Apple week by Blakey Rat (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @01:37PM
      • Re:Anti-Apple week by willy_me (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @04:28PM
      • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
    • It's about iTMS, not iPod by Sloppy (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:51PM
    • 2 replies beneath your current threshold.
  • I'm confused.. (Score:4, Insightful)

    by ack154 (591432) on Sunday January 14 2007, @09:44AM (#17602256)
    How is this fresh? That is... we knew it was an iPod, right? Did people think it would not have DRM just because it was a phone this time?

    This is the same argument every time a new iPod comes out... "hey, it only works with songs from iTunes" and "iTunes only works with iPods." No shit. We know this by now. This article really has nothing to do with the iPhone specifically, it's just another DRM bashing article. Which is fine, I'd love to see it gone as much as the next guy... but as far as DRM goes, Apple's is pretty "fair" IMO and definitely simple.

    I spend almost 2 hours yesterday trying to get my little sister's Sansa to work with some songs my mom bought for her from the Walmart music store. Now THAT is some crappy DRM. Crappy software. Crappy everything.
  • Yawn @ article by ParraCida (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @09:45AM
  • iComment by daveling (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @09:50AM
  • Forever and ever, amen. by Masque (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @09:55AM
  • How long until someone comes up with FoulPlay? by Snarfangel (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @09:56AM
  • Wait for alternatives by allden (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:07AM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • Ugh sundays... (Score:5, Insightful)

    Sundays on /. always reminds of Ed Norton's monologue in Fight Club, when his boss discovers the rules for Fight Club.

    It ends with him saying maybe his boss shouldn't bring him every piece of trash he happens to find.

    This, and most 'Sunday' driver stories on /., seem to be the same piece of trash.

    Really the issues is that PlaysForSure DRM doesn't work on the iPod. That's almost always what the bitchin' is about. Well, it doesn't work on the Zune either. And on the flip side, FairPlay doesn't work on their media players. It's not the Mp3 (or in this case iPhone) player's issue. In this case, Apple doesn't support PFS because 1.) MS has never been very forthcoming in sharing and 2.) When Apple is totally and completely dominating a single market they just don't need second rate technology.

    The good news is that the iPod plays Mp3s. First and foremost. Playing a DRM-ed song is just an annoyance that people have to put up with if they want easily acquired legal digital music. I told people for years that the reason I used Napster was because there was no effective alternative. When Jobs opened the iTunes store (before anyone else mind you), I had to pay the piper. If I continued to steal my music at that point, I could claim no moral high ground, and I would have been robbing the artists just as much if not more than the RIAA. So, I started buying music from the iTunes store. Yeah, it's DRM-ed, yeah I'll probably be stuck buying iPods for a long time. What a shame. Fortunately for me, and everyone else, iPods have really been popular and easy to come by.

    Stories like this just make me wonder WTF we even show up here for on Sundays. Go back to bed. Wake up later. Watch the playoffs.
  • FairPlay lock in? Not really. by mveloso (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:09AM
  • by fermion (181285) on Sunday January 14 2007, @10:13AM (#17602440)
    (Last Journal: Thursday May 03 2007, @11:34AM)
    The article summary is bad. First, it is quite amazing how we can get an accurate review about a product that doesn't even exist, at least not in any real sense. The products on display and in use are preproduction prototypes, and reviewers at most have seen in for a hour, perhaps some have used a prototype for an hour. At this point, the iPhone is cool, but until we have massive quantities shipped, it is vaporware. Until it sells, it is nothing more than an interesting concept.

    Second, fairplay is not the primary format of the iPod, or even iTunes, and presumable not the primary format of the iPhone. The songs are not translated to a Fairplay format, or any other format, when copied to the iPod. Songs are not by default imported into iTunes as Fairplay files, and there is not even an option to so do. I do not think Apple marks files that are imported in iTunes at all. And while the default import format is the is ACC, is it easy to change it to MP3 which is compatible with most players, except maybe Sony.

    So fairplay will only effect users that buy songs from iTunes, and only those songs that are bought from iTunes and not burned to CDs. This is all covered in the article, but not the summary

    The article is really about the fact that Apple will not license fairplay. This is really indicates a sad state of writing. First the author decries Fairplay as crippleware, and then complains that it cannot be acquired universally. This is like complaining that polio is a horrible disease, but innoculations means most of us won't get it. The article is correct that if you use the iTMS, you must buy apple stuff. The logical response to this is not to use the iTMS, and fight for non DRM online formats.

    Then the article goes onto say that MS is better because it does license formats, but then has to admit that the Zune does not use the format. What the article does not admit is that this situation indicates that there is no money to be made in licenses DRM formats and thus compete with walmart on price instead of locking consumers in to an optional online format.

    The point that the article does get to, after losing all credibility, is that consumers may end up with songs a product they cannot use. They may buy Play for sure, and then buy a zune or an iPod. They may have a collection of iTMS tracks, and then buy a Sandisk, in which case they will have to butn all the tracks to CD and reimport then. What the article does not mention is that we did this all before when we copied all our vinyl to tape, and even worse when we replaced all our vinyl with CDs.

    I really believe that this article is the case of an uninspired writer cribbing from old articles. The lesson learned, and probably needs to be taught to the masses, is if possible buy a used CD and rip it to your computer.

  • DRM is, at the moment unavoidable. by sircastor (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:13AM
  • WOUAF? by Udo Schmitz (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:14AM
  • Fair Play by Dunbal (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:15AM
    • Re:Fair Play by Hamilton Lovecraft (Score:1) Monday January 15 2007, @05:26PM
  • Same old drivel by tkdog (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:16AM
  • The "Right Thing" is NOT "Give Me Music For Free" by ScienceMan (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:17AM
  • Not redundant at all by JeffElkins (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:18AM
  • Apple's DRM sucks _the_least_. IS it there? yeah. Does it impact 99% of the people that use the iTunes store? Not really.

    Okay, you're stuck with Apple's iPodlike devices. So what? They're really good. I realize the people I'm talking to in this form: The Apple Haters and the DRM freedom fighters, but as a well educated IT person, my impression is:

    Apple has managed to negotiate with folks that can't be negotiated with. Further, they were able to do so in a way that greatly benifits the customer. In doing so, they managed to jumpstart the current, DEVELOPING, download industry.

    Do the permit renting the music? No. and I can see why: Rentals rely on the end user getting complacent and 'forgetting' that $15 a month fee. Once it gets past their notice, and they fall into complacency, the bult of that $15 is free money to the vendor. (Assuming they don't get bought or go out of business, or whatever)

    DRM may be an unnecessary evil, but Apples done a lot to make it hurt as little as possible. I can't say that alternative has _ever_ acted with the consumer's interests in mind.

    I've got absolutely NO qualms with sticking with Apple. Their products mesh extremely well with my needs.
  • DRM Jail (Score:5, Insightful)

    Microsoft has now proved the most popular reason to dump DRM: the Zune player forces users to rebuy their legit content, because its DRM conflicts with the old DRM.

    I bought Pink Floyd's _Dark Side of the Moon_ on vinyl, on "audiophile" vinyl, on cassette, on CD, on "remastered" CD, and again a few times to replace worn-out copies of those (but never on 8-track, smartass - that was my copy of _The Wall_). But then I scanned my audiophile CD to HD/WAV, and have transferred it a dozen times: to backup CD in a closet, to mobile devices, to new HDs that aren't worn out, to SHN, then FLAC compression, to MP3 for streaming to my remote locations. I own that content, and I'll do whatever I want with it that's fair. If I want to prop up a wobbly table leg with the audiophile CD, I'll do it if I damn well please, even if the "license" I bought doesn't specify that use.

    These record companies make most of their money from "catalog reissues". Records they made (usually cruelly unfair to artists) deals to sell decades ago, when they profited on their balance sheet. The biggest hits, that already paid for themselves many times over, are naturally the ones most desired to be played today. Because last generation's pop culture is this generations' folk culture - that's why we call our parents our "folks". The corrupt "copyright extension" monopoly laws are bad enough. "Enforcing" them beyond the publisher's rights, destroying rights and purchased privileges of the owner, and the public, is a culture-destroying crime.

    And now, Microsoft has painted the picture for everyone to see. Make your player equal "Microsoft", and you'll pay for the privilege of using your own property as often as they "upgrade" their predictably buggy and inconvenient equipment.

    Now is the time to make "DRM" as dirty a word as is "censorship". Kill it now, before it's permanently rooted, while people are still surprised to hear we have to dump our "old" content just to play it in some incrementally newer way.
    • DRM or MS ? by Nicolay77 (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @11:45AM
  • Warning of the PAAS? by Afecks (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:32AM
  • News for Nerds.... by Hercules Peanut (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:32AM
  • What's Past is Pas by SEWilco (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:39AM
  • As an Apple PowerBook user... by w3c.org (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:45AM
  • DRM is bad, and no DRM is bad. Abandon DRM? by Angelwrath (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:53AM
  • Anything new? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Midnight Thunder (17205) on Sunday January 14 2007, @10:58AM (#17602830)
    (http://slashdot.org/ | Last Journal: Saturday February 05 2005, @03:50AM)
    Given that:

      - the iPhone is likely to use iTunes for the synching
      - this limitation of only supporting Fairplay DRM and Audible DRM, has been around since the iTunes store came out
      - iTunes allows you to use your own none-DRMed music

    I don't know why the fuss is being made over the DRM on the iPhone, since this argument applies to any iPod out there, and therefore is neither new, nor iPhone specific.
  • It's a new phone. by jpellino (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @11:14AM
  • /. becoming anti-digg? by peterjhill (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @11:30AM
  • oh, please. by Triv (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @11:41AM
  • /. missing the boat as usual by cinnamon colbert (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @11:52AM
  • Biased by thespace101 (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:11PM
    • Re:Biased by cdrguru (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @01:14PM
  • The mystery of "authorization" by Sloppy (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:33PM
  • by BoRegardless (721219) on Sunday January 14 2007, @12:40PM (#17603648)
    The reason I see value in the iPhone is unlimited communication, NOT FOR MUSIC! Music is an afterthought & even a distraction for me.

    The wide capabilities (& wider in next gen releases) of the iPhone are such that any respecting user of technology can see the device as a VCD, Virtual Connection Device.

    Whether you are doing a local simple bit of a document or image collection, it is the bi-directional communication with what is arguably an unlimited number of devices through multiple RF & potentially IR methods that means it is a programmable blank slate computing communicator.

    Whether you merely do simple things sending and receiving messages, or you actually use a VCD to do complex interactive and controlling functions is entirely up to the software you will eventually load into the VCD.

  • I am no fan of DRM by Enrique1218 (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @01:04PM
  • What you have to realize by Budenny (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @01:30PM
  • cf. The Zune by fa2k (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @01:38PM
  • FairPlay is like a virus... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by w3woody (44457) on Sunday January 14 2007, @01:53PM (#17604424)
    (http://www.alumni.caltech.edu/~woody)
    Apple officially calls its own standard "FairPlay," but fair it is not.... You are always going to have to buy Apple stuff. Forever and ever.'
    Yeah, because the moment I take my MP3s ripped off my music CDs and play it on an Apple device, this dreaded FairPlay thing takes over, steals my credit card, and automatically orders stuff Apple thinks I will need forever and ever. And the FairPlay thing infects the MP3s, reprogramming me so that I feel irrational joy everytime Steve Jobs speaks, causing me to wake up the next day three thousand dollars poorer and tons of empty Apple boxes surrounding my bed from a purchasing binge that I had the night before.

    And God Help Me if I should ever even think about buying a Zune and burning the few songs I bought through iTunes onto a CD then re-ripping them for the Zune. Hell, even typing in the four letters 'z', 'u', 'n' and 'e' in that order is causing me incredible amounts of pain and suffering from the FairPlay mental virus that Apple planted in my brain. And besides, if any of my FairPlay ripped CDs ever get into the Zune, it will cripple the Zune forever with a horrible user interface and turn the Zune a crappy shade of brown.

    Please. Do you think Steve Jobs gives a flying flip about DRM--outside the fact that it was the only way he could get the music industry to allow him to sell music via the iTunes store? Hell, the DRM lock-in isn't even applied on the iTunes servers--it's applied after the song is downloaded, which means the microsecond the music industry allows Apple to sell DRM-free music, it would take a simple upgrade to iTunes to remove DRM.

    Besides, FairPlay is an odd duck--has anyone with an iPod noticed that DRM locked FairPlay music just plays on any iPod without having to register the device first? I mean talk about a weak form of DRM--I suspect it's a slightly more sophisticated version of the bozo bit used in MacOS System 5 or earlier, which was a file attribute bit which told the finder not to copy the specified file. This is unlike every other DRM-enabled device which requires that the device be registered with whatever ID you're using so it can read those files.
  • Forever is not in the cards by rssrss (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @01:53PM
  • by LKM (227954) on Sunday January 14 2007, @02:02PM (#17604518)
    (http://www.lkmc.ch/)

    From the article:

    the iPhone's music-playing function will be limited by factory-installed "crippleware."

    This is not true. Only tracks bought from the iTunes store are DRM'd. You're perfectly free to rip your own music, or - legally or illegally - download it from sources without DRM. I encourage everyone not to buy from the iTunes store (although I have to admit to buying about 10 tracks and 2 albums for convenience's sake).

  • DRM-free format by ksd1337 (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @03:02PM
  • Orchestrated bashing by stefaanh (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @03:21PM
  • Crippleware? That's inconcievable! by sokoban (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @04:14PM
  • No 60 gig HD? by RexRhino (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @04:37PM
  • Rip, Mix, Burn by argent (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @05:10PM
  • eMusic a red herring by argent (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @05:19PM
  • tards by Ffakr (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @05:40PM
  • where was he for the last 2 1/2 years? by The_Rook (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @06:11PM
  • *shrug* (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Peganthyrus (713645) on Sunday January 14 2007, @07:03PM (#17607470)
    (http://egypt.urnash.com/)
    Nothing about the iPod stops you from loading MP3s onto it.

    For that matter, nothing about the iPod stops you from loading non-DRMed AACs onto it.

    So if you don't want limited AACs, go buy a physical CD and rip it yourself, or buy cheap unlimited downloads from other sources like EMusic or the artists themselves and throw them into iTunes, and from there onto your iPod/iPhone/iWhatnot. When Jobs dies and someone else fills the niche of 'computer company that gives a shit about the user experience and style', move your MP3s/AACs/etc onto there.

    So much for "always buying Apple". Yeah, if you buy music from the iTunes Store it'll be DRMed. So don't do it.
    • Re:*shrug* by stor (Score:2) Monday January 15 2007, @05:16AM
      • Re:*shrug* by Peganthyrus (Score:2) Monday January 15 2007, @09:07AM
    • 1 reply beneath your current threshold.
  • DRM by mike3k (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @09:14PM
  • I bought eMusic songs but prefer iTMS for GUI by aristotle-dude (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:07PM
  • Why I won't buy Apple by buss_error (Score:2) Monday January 15 2007, @12:54AM
  • I don't know about you by guruevi (Score:2) Monday January 15 2007, @12:56AM
  • Tried both eMusic and Microsoft music sites by barbarus (Score:1) Monday January 15 2007, @04:52AM
  • Unnoticed? by whisper_jeff (Score:2) Monday January 15 2007, @07:38AM
  • tell me something i don't know by elmedico27 (Score:1) Monday January 15 2007, @05:54PM
  • Re:"Fresh"? More like -1 Redundant by drt1245 (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @10:58AM
    • No just DRM like the iPod, but signed apps too by DECS (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:08PM
      • Re:No just DRM like the iPod, but signed apps too by Divebus (Score:2) Sunday January 14 2007, @03:47PM
      • by dfghjk (711126) on Monday January 15 2007, @11:49AM (#17615074)
        Here's the reason RoughlyDrafted offers for why Apple doesn't offer 3G data:

        "With the iPhone, Apple is forcing Cingular to support and subsidize a phone that will save users money."

        Apparently, RoughlyDrafted feels WiFi is ubiquitous and free while 3G data forces users into high fees. Couldn't be more stupid than that.

        Likewise, its "substantiated look at how the iPhone is indeed running OS X" is nothing but substantiated. For example:

        "Microsoft has intentionally referred to its various operating environments under the brand Windows, despite the fact that its Windows 95, Windows NT, and Windows CE products lines are all significantly different systems."

        In other words, iPhone OS X is "OS X" like all flavors of Windows are Windows just as /. people have said. Never mind that most versions of Windows have run all Windows apps and have family resemblences in their UI. No one claims that Windows CE or WM5 is actually "Windows", we all know different, and likewise iPhone "OS X" is not "Mac OS X". The iPhone OS shares no development platform with OS X, it runs no Mac OS X software, and has no UI elements in common. It is in no way "OS X" from a user's perspective, it's simply named so by Apple. Of course, they also offered the following:

        "Despite losing the Finder, key ideas are retained on the iPhone that will be familiar to Mac users. Along the bottom of the home screen is an iconic list of its four principle functions: phone, mail, web, and iPod."

        They are suggesting that the icons across the bottom of the screen are like the dock, never mind that my dock doesn't run across the bottom of my screen. Apparently, the dock constitutes the "key ideas" that make OS X what it is according to RoughlyDrafted. "Substantiated look" indeed.

        The third party software article is even more absurd and offers nothing constructive at all. In fact it's not even worth a read. The author attempts to redirect the argument to the iPod, Zune, and Xbox ignoring the fact that those are fixed function devices while the the iPhone is specifically advertised as a pocketable computer. He also parrots the Apple line that 3rd party software is of unacceptably low quality while ignoring that fact that it's never hindered other computer platforms including the Mac itself and other smartphones before the iPhone. The rest of the article is full of mental masturbation, attempted demonstrations of expertise, and claims of Apple genious and capability. The most blatantly transparent apology of the three.

        RoughlyDrafted is just another Apple apologist blog and brings nothing new or interesting to the discussion.
        [ Parent ]
  • Re:stop stealing and pay up... by Travelsonic (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @12:33PM
  • Re:Cheap, hackable Linux smartphone due soon by Hebetsubeach (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @01:34PM
  • Re:"Fresh"? More like -1 Redundant by Yaotzin (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @04:09PM
  • Re:stop stealing and pay up... by MrNaz (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @04:58PM
  • Re:Only Apple by MrNaz (Score:1) Sunday January 14 2007, @05:02PM
  • 18 replies beneath your current threshold.