Whoops, not all European governments take too kindly to DRM. The Fairplay DRM system for Apple's iPod and iTunes service, has raised some tempers in Norwegian consumers and, apparently, even its own legality (how ironic...). The Norwegian Consumers Council called Forbrukerradet (now don't hurt yourself pronunciating it) filed a complaint with the Office of the Ombudsman on behalf of the Norwegian consumers.

The complaint said that Fairplay prevented songs bought from iTunes from playing on any other device other than the iPod. This is illegal in Norway. Guess what? The Ombudsman agreed.

Torgeir Waterhouse, a senior adviser at the Consumer Council, said, "It doesn't get any clearer than this. Fairplay is an illegal lock-in technology whose main purpose is to lock the consumers to the total package provided by Apple by blocking interoperability." It would seem that iTunes Music is trying to "kill off" interoperability in order to boost its own profits.

Waterhouse said that the Ombudsman has already written to Apple saying that Fairplay is illegal. He also said, "iTunes Music Store must remove the illegal lock-in technology or appear in court. As of right now we're heading for a big breakthrough that will hopefully pave the way for consumers everywhere to regain control of music they legally purchase."

iTunes must now choose to license the DRM to manufacturers of players so they can play iTunes songs; it can co-develop an open-standard with other companies (make interoperability easier); or it can drop the whole DRM system.

The Ombudsman supports the NCC's claim that the DRM is not just simply a copy protection scheme. The heavy restrictions in the DRM broke the contract law in Norway. How did Apple react?

Tom Neumayr, spokesman for Apple told the AP news agency earlier this week:

Apple is aware of the concerns we've heard from several agencies in Europe and we're looking forward to resolving these issues as quickly as possible. Apple hopes that European governments will encourage a competitive environment that lets innovation thrive, protects intellectual property, and allows consumers to decide which products are successful.

Hmmm... Didn't know something to solve illegal issues could be illegal? What's your take?

 

What might be interpreted by some as cracks in Fortress iTunes, others (more partial to Apple) will rather see it as an expansion of the fortress walls. Tech.co.uk's got a small hare running that Apple might somewhat lift its FairPlay Digital Rights Management (DRM) restrictions that lock iTunes content to Apple products - e.g., the iPod. Let's just say that wasn't well-appreciated by some quarters who held that the Digital Rights were more like Digital "Restrictions."

The word - still a rumor until the official press release from Cupertino - is that downloaded iTunes content will be made available to partners in Apple's "Made for iPod" program. The FairPlay DRM will be licensed to partners, with the envisioned scenario that their products will be able to upload and play FairPlay-protected content. In addition, another expected announcement is that Apple will open up AAC content streaming via USB. The other word is that this is to undercut the potential for the competition to drift to Zune and its own DRM and digital distribution system, by using iTunes as bait. Quite the bait, though.

The Zune isn't exactly the iPod killer yet (even then the jury has yet to be formed, much less to pass judgement), and Apple enjoys quite the comfortable lead in both hardware and software departments of digital media distribution. Still, if it's willing to open up, and release iPhone and Apple TV, all in the same month, it may be a signal to allies and competitors (and investors) alike: Apple ain't quiting the fight yet. And don't forget who bootstrapped this entire thing to the level it's at today. Them's fighting words.

Someone must have rolled over in his grave when MacUser.com's Aaron Freedman wrote the following words: "I never thought IÂ?d say this, but it seems that Microsoft has a product that works better with the Mac than the Sony equivalent." He was talking about his observation that the Xbox 360 system meshes with Apple systems, but that the Sony PS3 didn't.

However, just looking back at our coverage of both consoles, and the comments to Aaron's article, sounds like he needs to make a revision of observation.

There's the observation that "the PS3 can't play music directly off the iPod." Uh, Victor B., can you help me out here? "... the 20 GB video iPod was recognized by the PS3, but you'll need to use the above-mentioned Display All feature to view everything on your iPod." (The "Display All" feature is simply pressing Triangle to browse through - and play - the content of connected media storage devices like the iPod).

And besides, as a MacUser commenter pointed out, both the PS3 and Xbox 360 won't play iTunes-signed music content. But then again, that's Apple's DRM, not MS or Sony.

Now there are things that the Xbox can do with Apple that the PS3 can't, but that's because of the one-year lead time of the Microsoft console, which gives hackers time to play with both devices. The 360 controller could be used with a Mac through a hacked driver and the USB cable, which we won't visit for all the potential EULA repercussions. Even Aaron admits that the SIXAXIS communicates through Bluetooth, which can, in due time, talk to a Mac as well (again, with all potential EULA repercussions). And the SIXAXIS has a USB connection too, by the way.

That's Aaron's admission: in due time, hackers will probably develop more drivers and code that will enable the PS3 to communicate with the Mac and iPod and God-knows-what-else, creating a very weird menage-a-troi lovefest electronica that neither MS, nor Sony, nor Apple would have envisioned (toss in the Wii and now we have a party!). Enough said.

If Jon Lech Johansen - the same Jon Lech Johansen they call DVD Jon who reverse-engineers data formats and has become infamous for hacking encrypted DVDs so that they play in Linux at the tender age of 15 - is after your technology, would you lose sleep over it?

Well apparently not Apple head honcho Steve Jobs. After a meeting with Johansen and his partner Monique Farantzos some time in January discussing their new company plans, he dismissed it by saying that while Apple was not a litigious company, other firms of the same nature might not go so easy on whatever DVD Jon might be up to.

Now, while Steve Job's extreme confidence is admirable, will it bite him back in his arse? See, Johansen's plan is to add the DRM rather than breaking it. He wants to license the technology to companies who want their content to be playable on Apple devices.

This is not the first time for DVD Jon to get in the ring with Apple. In November 2003, Johansen released QTFairUse, an open source program which dumps the raw output of a QuickTime AAC stream to a file that could bypass the digital rights management (DRM) software used to encrypt content of music from media such as those distributed by the iTunes Music Store, Apple Computer's on-line music store.

In the battle between armor and warhead, the warhead always wins, so goes an adage in military engineering. In the battle between media free play and digital rights management (DRM)... Honestly, we don't know. DRM tends to provoke an unsavory reaction just by talking about it.

The right of the music customer to listen to his purchased music wherever, whenever he or she wants, without unnecessary restrictions. The right of the music artist to receive the proper compensation for all his hard work on his or her music that the customer's listening to. The right of the music publishing company to be compensated for recording and marketing the music track made by the artist and enjoyed by the customer. How do you balance these three without pissing someone off?

Back to the battle between warhead and armor. Have you heard of QTFairUse6? It's based on the original QTFairUse program that would bypass or "strip" the DRM code off of a downloaded-from-iTunes music track. QTFairUse6 is an update designed to work on iTunes 6, though it's still not perfect (the current build is 2.4), and it lacks an easy-to-use GUI interface (such as its Media Player sister FairUse4WM).

There are those who would welcome software like these, which would make iTunes-downloaded music tracks playable on MP3 players which do not support DRM-protected files. In essence, they cry freedom. On the other hand, there are those who fear that denying companies like Apple or the music companies some sort of protection on their "ownership rights" over downloaded music will destroy their innovation and creativity - in short, seeing no profit in the market, they would leave the market altogether. In essence, they cry rape.

Welcome to the real face of DRM. Neither "right" nor "restriction" at the moment, only people trying to find the proper definition of "Fair Use" that will be acceptable to everyone. As it always is in economics, the market is a harsh mistress - and that's putting it mildly.

Would it be an exaggeration to say that iTunes built the legal music download world? Maybe not - after all, it has 85% of the digital music download market (which is way too much for the entertainment industry's comfort). Apple is the undisputed king of this world. And there are upstarts who want to revolt - Microsoft, Sony, SpiralFrog and a few other brave souls. But a Financial Times analyst reckons they're going to have a heck of a hard time scaling Fortress iTunes' walls.

What is the secret to the success - nay, dominance - of iTunes? The analyst chalks it up to rivals botching up their plans to compete with Apple, but more to key advantages Apple holds in the market.

• First, they've got network effects and technological lock-in on their side. People can share their iTunes-downloaded music with each other's iPods - there's the net. And Apple's digital rights management software (so far) allows this to happen - there's the tech. These two turn the iPod and iTunes into natural partners, feeding off each other's market advantages and popularity. The word for this is "synergy."

• Not one to rest on their laurels, Apple has diversified and segmented their captive market to squeeze out more profits and an even bigger share. There's the video iPod and downloadable videos from iTunes. There's the basic iPod, the Mini, the Shuffle, and the Nano. And there's all the marketing support the company has poured into the iPod, turning it into a style icon and a hot-buy item.

• And finally, perhaps the greatest advantage of all: it pays to be first, it pays to be ahead. History demonstrates that, once established, technology leaders are seldom overthrown by direct competition. No, to seize the throne, you've got to go for the jugular: the business model, the technology paradigm. In the case of Apple, the iPod-iTunes synergy.

Read on for the whole analysis on Fortress iTunes.

In a story that reflects some of the contentious, often sticky issues facing the online digital sales and distribution of music (and other media), attorneys for American Idol winner Taylor Hicks filed suit with Alabama's US District Court last Tuesday over the online distribution of his music. No, Hicks' not suing iTunes or other online music distributors (probably a refreshing change). He's suing musical producer William Smith of Nashville's William Smith Productions, Inc., to stop the release of his pre-Idol tunes on iTunes.

Smith made available three of Hicks' old songs, one dating back to 1997, on iTunes. Though he had asked permission from Hicks, the latter refused. Hicks' attorneys claim that the artist is the owner of the legal copyright over the disputed tracks, and that Smith had no right to offer them on iTunes. Smith would not comment on the matter of copyright ownership, but claimed that the songs at the heart of the lawsuit came from an audition Hicks had done with him. Hicks filed the suit to prevent damage to his reputation from the songs' release, and to claim his share of the profits generated from already-concluded downloads and sales. The court issued a restraining order that effectively pulled the songs from iTunes.

Think it's a small deal? Remember though that this is only one part of a larger debate in the industry regarding the ownership of artistic media - especially in the digital realm - and the rights attached to such ownership. There has already been one case of musicians claiming that their record company was duping them of their iTunes royalties. Then there's the entire DRM debate. The safe bet we can make is: expect more of these cases to pop up as the industry and consumers alike grapple with these issues at the heart of the music playing in our iPods.

Some press have reported that the string of bad PR, such as the Chinese sweatshop iPod City claims, quality control issues, MacBook Pro battery problems and French DRM legislation, has resulted in an anti-Apple backlash from consumers. But a columnist from Wired thinks the Hate Apple movement is more hype than real. "In fact, there's no consumer backlash at all," Kahney says. "Apple's firing on all cylinders and is selling more Macs and iPods than ever."

Sales figures indicating Mac sales up by 20 percent year-over-year and iPods sales surging to a 200 percent increase is Kahney's proof the backlash is a media move by reporters just looking for more to write about it - good or bad. Kahney also says Apple's strategy of using secrecy and invitation-only product announcements doesn't always works for the company. "The downside of this oversized press profile is that bad news also gets overplayed," he says.

If you wanna transfer iPod files to another iPod without even touching a computer, then maybe you should take advantage of the services of Sima Products' Hitch. Pictures, Video, Audio, Documents-- name it! All can be transferred quickly and easily without being tethered to a PC the Â?old wayÂ?. Plus, it does this all without being plugged into a wall like a portable hard-drive, AND Hitch's internal battery can charge any USB charge-capable device.

So just how long would the transfer take? The company claims that Hitch can transfer a 4MB song in 5 seconds, an album with 15 songs for 80 seconds, a 2MB photo for 2.5 seconds, a 30 minute video for 3 minutes, and a 2 hour video for 12 minutes. Pretty good numbers there. Plus, Hitch will recognize and transfer files between the PSP's Memory Stick and another USB device (not games or UMD movies). Since the PSP is a multimedia player, go ahead and send that hot new song from your iPod to the PSP and listen to it everywhere.

This one will cost you $150. Aside from its capabilities, Hitch features a backlit LCD display and scroll-wheel navigation and is compliant with Digital Rights Management (DRM) copy-protection.

It seems that a new version of Apple Computer's iTunes Producer software suggest that the Steve Jobs camp may begin to offer tracks through its iTunes Music Store that are encoded in its higher-quality lossless compression format.

The Apple Lossless format is an audio codec developed by Apple Computer for lossless compression of digital music. It does not utilize any digital rights management (DRM) scheme, but by the nature of the container, it is commonly perceived that DRM can be applied to the Apple lossless audio codec much the same way it can with other files in QuickTime containers.

The iTunes Producer is a software that is distributed to record labels by Apple as a tool for prepping and submitting their content for inclusion on the iTunes Music Store. The iTunes service currently serves tracks only in the Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format. In a release of iTunes Producer 1.4 recently, Apple said that the software "now encodes music in Apple Lossless format, which produces larger audio files and will increase upload time."

For now, this development has no major role on the iTunes Music Store. The format, unlike AAC, does not presently utilize a digital rights management (DRM) scheme to assure copy-protection but as mentioned earlier, it is speculated that a DRM could be applied to the format in much the same way as other QuickTime file formats.