14 DAY TRIAL // Steve Jobs made his thoughts public on the online music industry yesterday. The Apple CEO talks about how and why music on the iTunes Store is protected by the DRM technology. Jobs also evaluates future options regarding the digital rights management (DRM) for his company and its two major competitors, namely Microsoft and Sony.
Jobs claims the major music companies are to blame for the DRM issue. "Though the big four music companies require that all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which contain completely unprotected music. ", says the CEO. Since music sold on CDs has no protection whatsoever against illegal copying and more than 90 percent of music is sold on CDs, the DRM protection offered by Apple seems to be obsolete.
The CEO analyzes two alternatives to licensing DRM-free. The first option is "to continue on the current course, with each manufacturer competing freely with their own 'top to bottom' proprietary systems". This will keep the buyers unsatisfied, being forced to stick with one company only. Another alternative for Apple would be licensing their FairPlay DRM to all its competitors. Steve Jobs feels this will compromise the security because leaks are likely to happen and they will be much more difficult to manage. Leak management is complex enough for one company and it's impossible for multiple companies to quickly and efficiently act to repair the damage.
Referring to the four major music labels, Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI , Jobs states: "Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace." The Apple company will "embrace this wholeheartedly."