The Electronic Frontier Foundation has put together an excellent guide for us to read. In the article we can see the reasons that a CD was so popular and also reasons why the online product that is rapidly taking it's place, is not the same caliber. Let's face it, you can "own" a CD that you bought 20 years ago and it still plays in any device such as a car or a stereo and even a PC, but will your online purchase still play 20 years from now?
You would think so if you were naive and if you were to believe the hype put out by online services like iTunes and Microsoft. But, if you are more of a "techie" then you probably suspect that these tracks are not going to be much use in the years to come. The article looks at the sales pitch from several online services and then it takes down the mirrors and blows away the smoke. Everyone should read this excellent piece, especially if you are an online customer.
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Imagine if Tower Records sold you a CD, but then, a few months later, knocked on your door and replaced the CD with one that you can't play in your car. Would you still feel like you "owned" the CD? Not so much, eh? But Apple reserves the right to change at any time what you can do with the music you purchase at the iTunes Music Store. For instance, in April 2004, Apple decided to modify the DRM so people could burn the same playlist only 7 times, down from 10. How much further will the service restrict your ability to make legal personal copies of your own music? Only Apple knows. Another hallmark of ownership is the right to give away or sell your property. That's called "first sale," and it's explicitly protected under copyright law. Yet Apple's DRM frustrates first sale'”just ask George Hotelling, who had to give away the login and password to his iTunes Music Store account in order to resell a single song. As the table below shows, there are many other ways that Apple's DRM limits what you can do with a song you "own." Many other a la carte download services choose to impose similar restrictions. How "generous" of them. |
Hmmm, not such a great deal and we have to remember these are lossy tracks as well! Yet people just can't buy these tracks fast enough it seems, probably due to the ease of obtaining them. If you want to check out the entire article then follow this link. Don't forget to come back and give us your opinion on the DRM situation and downloadable music. On an interesting side note, there is a small box off to the side of the article where the EFF has listed a few spots for you to download (legally) some DRM free music!
Source: EFF
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