Steven Levy has awarded Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computers, the second prize in his 'This Won't Work With That' awards.

The Newsweek editor feels that FairPlay, Apple's Digital Rights Manager (DRM) solution, is less than fair because it does not allow music bought off iTunes Music Store to be played on any portable device other than the iPod. Furthermore, Levy feels that Apple has "rigged" the iPod so that it will not play music from other on-line stores without "digital surgery".

Jobs had stated before that this is something that users are simply not asking for, and that if a groundswell of users were asking for this sort of compatibility, he would consider it. "Take my word for it, Steve - when people pay for music, they want it to be playable on any device they choose," said Steven Levy.

Strangely enough, Levy had nothing bad to say about Sony, whose DRM technology, dubbed "XCP", installed a "rootkit" without telling the user, and without providing any way for it to be removed. This rootkit hides itself from the user, and the means by which it does this offers a perfect window for exploits since any program can just "hitch a ride" on the XCP protection and become invisible.

Furthermore, the malicious software prompts PCs to contact a Sony website under the pretense of updating lyrics or art, and in the process, reveals the user's Internet address and details about how often the CD has been played.

Apple's FairPlay is the bad guy and no mention of Sony's XCP. Maybe Mr Steven Levy is what they call 'biased'.