It seems that not only are MP3 hording individuals tired of DRM, so are countries… Norway recently passed a complete ban on iTunes due to the DRM issue of not being able to play downloaded songs on anything but an iPod.
I’ve long been a fan of the MP3 player, but I do not own an iPod, nor have I ever downloaded DRM’d music - it just won’t happen with me. If I legally download a song, I own it - period. “You’re” not going to tell me when I can listen to it, how I listen to it or what I listen to it on. That means I’m not buying a Zune, an iPod or anything else that is DRM enabled. I would rather lug around my full laptop and duct tape it to my hip to listen while I’m exercising than buy a DRM’d player.
Anyway, funny enough, the Europeans in general are starting to get upset at this issue as well. France and Germany are also complaining about this issue. Check out the full article.
But, in the long run, the question boils down to: Will Apple open the iPod up or will they run away from Norway and other countries that are starting to complain about digital monopolies? That is, in fact, why Apple was so popular with the iPod. They released a slick product, easy download interface that most people think is cheap (I’ll admit, $1 for a song is cheaper than buying a whole CD for that one song, but when you add up the pricing, its technically more expensive in some cases.) and the world went nuts. Now that everyone has copied Apple’s interface, both with software and hardware, people are attempting to move on to better deals and such.
They may run at first, but honestly, I think their only option is to open the iPod and iTunes up. DRM is a very sore subject, but at least the music industry finally admitted that it wasn’t about Piracy, but about profits. Then again, they’re supposedly planning on ditching DRM altogether.
