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EFF Criticizes DRM Schemes of Apple, Microsoft, Napster, Real
Thursday, September 1st, 2005 at 3:00 PM - by Bryan Chaffin
The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) issued a report Friday that slams the Digital Rights Management (DRM) schemes of all four major players in the online music business, including Apple's iTunes Music Store, RealNetworks' Real Music Store, Microsoft's "Plays for sure" scheme, and Napster's Napster 2.0 music subscription service. The organization, whose goal is to "protect our fundamental rights regardless of technology," said that DRM schemes mean that music customers are getting less than they did from CDs.
Apple
Each of the services was criticized for different issues. For Apple, the EFF noted that Apple has the right to retroactively change the rights tied to songs already purchased, as it did when the ability to burn the same playlist to CD was retroactively changed from 10 times to seven times.
Not mentioned is that at the same time, Apple retroactively increased the number of Macs and PCs that could be authorized to play a song from three to five. However, that restriction itself was also criticized in the report.
Something not often mentioned is that FairPlay (and the other DRM schemes) also takes away the right of "First Sale," which in copyright law before the Digital Millennium Copyright Act gave users the right to resale a book, CD, piece of art, etc. after they bought it.
Microsoft
Microsoft has put its marketing efforts behind the "Plays for sure" campaign, an effort to educate customers that music downloaded from sites with the Plays for sure logo will work on digital devices with the same logo. With DRM, said the EFF, "nothing truly 'plays for sure.'"
"Many online music stores offer songs wrapped in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) DRM," the report said, "but not every device supports this format. You have to check for the "Plays for Sure" label, and, even then, only a few media players support 'subscription' WMA content, like songs offered through Napster To Go. Not exactly hassle-free."
RealNetworks
The object of the EFF's wrath when it comes to RealNetworks is the company's "Freedom of Choice" campaign, specifically the tag line: "'Freedom of Music Choice' ... to help consumers break the chains that tie their music devices to proprietary music downloads."
Poppycock, said the EFF.
"That's what you want, but it's not what you'll get from Real or any other service that sells songs wrapped in DRM. Real's customers are chained to the narrow set of software and devices licensed to unlock Real's proprietary DRM or Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) DRM. Want to stream music throughout your home with Creative's Sound Blaster Wireless Music? Too bad. Can't do it with music from Real."
The EFF listed several other issues, too.
Napster
Lastly, the EFF tackled Napster 2.0, which has one of the most successful subscription services on the market. Napster promises "All the Music You Want. Any Way You Want It," but the EFF interpreted that as being "Music Any Way You Want It' -- So Long As You Pay for It Over and Over Again."
For those happy to pay for it over and over again -- which is a similar charge leveled by Apple CEO Steve Jobs when asked if Apple would offer subscriptions -- the EFF said that the promise of "any way you want it" is still far from the truth.
From the report: "Want to move your music to a portable player? That'll be an extra five bucks per month for Napster To Go and you'll still only be able to play it using software or devices licensed to play WMA-protected subscription content, which excludes the iPod and most other portable players."
You can find the full report at the EFF's Web site.
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