14 DAY TRIAL // 'Bold', 'irresponsible', 'na?ve' are few of the words mentioned by company officials around the world as a reaction to Steve Job's open letter posted on February 6. With this letter, Jobs pleads for the abolition of the digital rights management that was 'forced' onto Apple by the major music companies.
The Apple CEO feels DRM is useless since 90 percent of music is sold on CDs with no protection against piracy and said that Apple will 'embrace wholeheartedly' DRM-free sales. He also stated that he considered the alternative of licensing Apple's proprietary DRM technology, FairPlay, to their competitors, but he thinks this will compromise security as a cause of "sharing the secrets" and that damage from leaks will become unmanageable.
Well, his statements caused quite a stir in the music industry. Officials said that the idea of licensing Apple's FairPlay is a great one, though Jobs rejected it. Recording Industry Association of America feels everyone would benefit from this, starting with the fans, artists and all major labels in the industry. Others were also concerned with what the effect of dishing DRM in the music marketplace would have on protected video content.
Jason Reindorp, Zune marketing director, called Steve Jobs 'irresponsible'. He feels Jobs tried to take credit for the already existing trend of loosening of limitations. He says Jobs placed himself "on top of the mountain making pronouncements", but states the obvious.
The digital rights management practiced by Apple caused controversy and discontent among buyers. In several European countries Consumer agencies are looking into exactly how legal DRM is. Limitation in playing legally purchased audio content was found in violation of the laws of Norway, last month. Apple must make the required changes no later than October first, as ruled by the government's consumer ombudsman.