Sony, Apple on DRM

Apple is standing in the way of Sony's latest CD . "[Sony's] use of the software, which is designed to limit consumers to making no more than three copies of a CD, reflects an effort to alter a format that is two decades old and contains music that can be readily copied and digitally distributed," the New York Times reports. The companies have been pressing Apple to amend its software to make it compatible with the tools used to restrict copying. The restrictive software Sony BMG is using on CDs -- like it did earlier this year with Stand Up by the Dave Matthews Band -- is not compatible with Apple's popular iPod. "It's just a proprietary decision by Apple to decide whether to play along or not," Thomas Hesse of Sony BMG said. "I don't know what more waiting we have to do. We think we need to move this forward. Time is ticking, infringement of intellectual property is happening all over, and we've got to put a stop to it I think."

by MacNN Staff