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Digital rights management coming to MP3

updated 08:00 am EST, Tue March 2, 2004

DRM coming to MP3

Thomson and Fraunhofer, the company that license and own the patents behind the MP3 audio format, is developing a , c|net reports. In the past year, Thomson and Fraunhofer has seen online music services forgo the unsecure MP3 format in favor of AAC or Windows Media formats that offer copy protection technologies; the company's move is intended get the format into that space, which it sees as becoming a "significant mass market." The protected MP3 format is expected to be available on devices and services by the end of the year and will be available free of charge to MP3 licensors.

by MacNN Staff

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03/02, 08:30am | report spam | close Reply |
A bit late?

..is'nt the cat out of the bag? I have iTunes but I encode to 'un-DRM'd' MP3 since I have no portable player yet, will I encode to protected MP3 in future?

[BTW, 'RIPE-man' try to be unpredictable today]

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03/02, 08:31am | report spam | close Reply |
Great...

Now we can have DRM on a format with lower compression :P

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03/02, 08:36am | report spam | close Reply |
too little....

....too late

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03/02, 08:39am | report spam | close Reply |
once again

people see apple do something off the beaten path, and when it becomes successful, they start hopping on the bandwagon. i wonder how "backward compatible" this format will be?

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03/02, 09:12am | report spam | close Reply |
This is...

... just RIPE to DRM 10-15 songs!

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03/02, 09:37am | report spam | close Reply |
RIPE

OK.. I love the RIPE comments, but this one just makes no sense... sorry...

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03/02, 09:51am | report spam | close Reply |
Ripe

I am just RIPE to get 10-15 copycatters!

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03/02, 09:53am | report spam | close Reply |
Too bad...

...sound quality sux with mp3 - perhaps they can improve that while they are at it?

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03/02, 10:11am | report spam | close Reply |
We are...

so RIPE for getting DRMed to death in the next 5 years!

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03/02, 10:25am | report spam | close Reply |
Late. Period.

Why do people say "too little, too late" when it is really just simply too late? If a DRM for MP3 had been introduced 2-3 years ago then it would have established itself the defacto standard before AAC or WMA even had a chance. So this is not an issue of "too little" but just "too late." MP3 has already lost its potential edge in the legal digital audio download market. AAC and WMA are both well established audio formats with DRM and they are both higher quality audio than MP3. There is nothing big enough to bring MP3 to the front of the line at this point.

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03/02, 10:36am | report spam | close Reply |
Re: so RIPE

" so RIPE for getting DRMed to death in the next 5 years!"

Dude I don't know about you but I don't think I'm RIPE enough. Maybe the general public is RIPE but I'm definately going to accept all this DRM c***!!

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03/02, 10:41am | report spam | close Reply |
RE:Too little too late

Dude use your head. It is too little too late. If MP3 would have had DRM years ago then it wouldn't be "too late" It is "too little" because MP3 is an inferior compression. So if they come out with DRM MP3 it is too little (inferior compression) too late (late to the DRM table)

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03/02, 11:50am | report spam | close Reply |
Compatibility...

This may be "too litte, too late," but the advantage that DRM'd MP3 holds over AAC or WMA is compatibility. It may not matter at this point, but presumably, a music store could offer DRM'd MP3s for sale and they would be playable on iPods as well as the hordes of WMA-centric players -- something that neither AAC or WMA can claim.

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03/02, 12:14pm | report spam | close Reply |
MP3 is still

the most widly used format for storing music digitally. Inferior or not, DRM-free MP3 was, is, and will be the standard.

iTMS and Napster are still a drop in the bucket, and probably always will be. Viva la revolucion!

DRM MP3 will never catch on because AAC and WMA are better formats, but DRM-less MP3 will never be supplanted by AAC or WMA.

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03/02, 12:24pm | report spam | close Reply |
pointless

the one quality of mp3 that is undeniable is that nearly any digital audio player can use it. add in drm and suddenly its just another format, only less advanced. and that most audio players won't be able to use it.

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03/02, 12:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: Compatibility...

"This may be "too litte, too late," but the advantage that DRM'd MP3 holds over AAC or WMA is compatibility. It may not matter at this point, but presumably, a music store could offer DRM'd MP3s for sale and they would be playable on iPods as well as the hordes of WMA-centric players -- something that neither AAC or WMA can claim."

Exactly. My portable CD player will play mp3's from a CD, but not AAC or WMA. And among people who don't frequent tech news sites like this, MP3 is still the most widely-known format -- that is, "brand" recognition. I wonder how many people who use iTunes Music Store think AAC is just another name for MP3?

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03/02, 12:53pm | report spam | close Reply |
This will kill MP3

MP3's only remaining selling point is that it is un-DRMed. Once DRM is in MP3, who the h*** is going to use it any more? There are a zillion better made codecs which give you better quality for smaller file size.

In fact, if I were them, I would be hyping up the fact that MP3 does NOT have DRM. In a world where the ballance of power is with copywrite makers, and every codec is enslaved with copywrite controls, MP3 would have a definate advantage. It's a huge selling point to be the only format left that's not designed by copywrite-grubbing industry cronies. I would say that's probably the reason why MP3 has lasted so long. It's certainly not the best codec anymore, so why do people keep using it. Because it's a free an open format that works with lots of hardware and software. You're not restricted to when, how often, and on what hardware you play your music. Take that advantage away by encasing it in DRM, and MP3 becomes nothing more then just another outdated codec.

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03/02, 01:06pm | report spam | close Reply |
What a can of worms

This opens up numerous problems they are not even bothering to think about. No way DRMed MP3 will play on existing MP3 players. Guess what that turns MP3's existing hardware advantage into? Zero- no compatablity at all. On top of that, in order for the DRM to be effective, DRMed MP3 has to replace unDRMed MP3. Guess what that means? That huge collection of unDRMed MP3s you have? You can kiss it goodby- it won't play on any of the new players.

There isn't any standard for ripping a CD to a DRMed format- DRM is only for song downloads. They would have to develop specific software support for ripping to DRMed MP3. Not to mention, how likely do you think it would be that this said software would be cross-platform? Not likely at all.

So this would be an incredibly stupid thing to do. Top this all off with the fact that MP3 is an old codec. Why should developers and consumers go to more trouble to make new hardware, software, and re-rip MP3s just to support an old codec? People will switch to WMA or AAC, and MP3 will be dead.

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03/02, 02:03pm | report spam | close Reply |
Hope it catches on

for online stores but I don't think it will. I'd much rather take DRMed MP3 than DRMed WMA, as long as they encode it at a bit rate high enough that is comparable. I don't see any reason for Apple to switch at this point in time though.

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03/02, 06:35pm | report spam | close Reply |
MP3 is bad quality...

I dunno about you guys but I cannot tell the difference between a a 160 kbps MP3 and a 44100 kHz 16 bit AIFF file.... Both sound exactly the same on my Logitech Z-680's....

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03/03, 01:27am | report spam | close Reply |
Why another one?

DRM is independent from the codec. Apple uses FairPlay for AAC and MS uses "MS-DRM" for "MS-WMA". (Nokia uses even another DRM for AAC)

So wave yet another DRM standard, inkompatibel with iPod and the WMA Players.

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Digital rights management coming to MP3

updated 08:00 am EST, Tue March 2, 2004

DRM coming to MP3

A bit late?

Great...

too little....

once again

This is...

RIPE

Ripe

Too bad...

We are...

Late. Period.

Re: so RIPE

RE:Too little too late

Compatibility...

MP3 is still

pointless

re: Compatibility...

This will kill MP3

What a can of worms

Hope it catches on

MP3 is bad quality...

Why another one?

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Digital rights management coming to MP3

updated 08:00 am EST, Tue March 2, 2004

DRM coming to MP3

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A bit late?

Great...

too little....

once again

This is...

RIPE

Ripe

Too bad...

We are...

Late. Period.

Re: so RIPE

RE:Too little too late

Compatibility...

MP3 is still

pointless

re: Compatibility...

This will kill MP3

What a can of worms

Hope it catches on

MP3 is bad quality...

Why another one?

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