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iTunes rivals lobby for Denmark DRM law

updated 09:30 am EST, Mon March 27, 2006

Denmark DRM law in 2007?

Denmark may be the next country to try to counter Apple's dominance in the online music industry, if two of Europe's largest and most influential companies can get their way. The public lobbying effort follows the attention on a French DRM draft law that would force Apple to open up its FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) to ensure interoperability of iTunes songs with other music players. Apple called the law "state-sponsorted piracy," while US officials said that they oppose such legislation. Both Maersk and TDC, which operate their own online music services, are lobbying Denmark to open up the closed iPod/iTunes ecosystem. Ars Technica reports that Henrik Olesen, product manager at Maersk's Dansk Supermarked, told Danish-language Politiken.dk that interoperability would be a win-win situation."We would like to ask the politicians to follow the route they're taking in France, so that it becomes as easy as possible for the consumers to purchase music legally. The Danish Minister of Culture has reportedly promised to introduce new DRM legislation in 2007 to help ensure interoperability.

by MacNN Staff

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Raccoon
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2005

0

03/27, 10:33am | report spam | close Reply |
this is getting funny now

You can't merely budge apple with some company, so instead, people are leveraging it by countries.

wings_rfs
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Joined: Dec 2002

0

03/27, 11:07am | report spam | close Reply |
Yes, Lawmakers=Comedians

And while they're at it why not make a law to force Mercedes to make their engines "compatible" with BMW's, so you could just drop one into a BMW, tighten the bolts and drive away. This analogy isn't far off the mark from what they're trying to do with iTunes & all those other also-ran MP3 players.

ibugv4
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2003

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03/27, 11:13am | report spam | close Reply |
well, i still wouldn't..

y the BMW with a Benz engine, it's got the uglyier body and the better engine! :D

I.P. Freely
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: May 2003

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03/27, 11:34am | report spam | close Reply |
DRM my a**

All you French a** kissers, this is what it's all about, bunch of cry babies whinning about getting their a** beat. NOT about consumer rights. NOT about doing away with DRM.

To those a****** who made comments about "lets ommend the French for standing up to DRM" F**K you!

Feathers
Grizzled Veteran

Joined: Oct 1999

0

03/27, 11:49am | report spam | close Reply |
companies using politics?

Gee, so when French politicians are influenced by vested interests it's a scandal, but when U.S. senators, congressmen, other elected officials and even judges are bought in the U.S.A. the world just keeps on turning, eh? Worry about M$, Halliburton, Bechtel in the U.S. before you start whining about some piss-ant music publishers in Belgium! Get real, you xenophobic american pricks!

aristotles
Grizzled Veteran

Joined: Jul 2004

0

03/27, 11:59am | report spam | close Reply |
Sell Mp3's Ipod compat.

Let me guess, these companies use MSFT's Playsforsure WMA DRM right? The DRM that is incompatible with OS X and locks you into windows and WMP?

I'm a mac user. I don't run windows and I do not want to be forced to run windows.

JulesLt
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Joined: Jul 2005

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03/27, 02:24pm | report spam | close Reply |
Grow Up

Will people stop making the comparison to car engines / parts - it's completely irrelevant. If you want a car comparison, it is actually more like BMW insisting you go to a BMW garage and use only BMW parts - something that the law courts in most countries have sided against.

It doesn't mean Apple need to give up the whole stack integration - no one is saying iTunes has to work with any MP3 player - but that iPod users should be able to buy music from other stores, and people should be able to migrate their iTMS tunes onto another player - something you would all think was reasonable if you had purchased music stuck in WMA format, or if you are in a territory that claims it is illegal to transfer from CD to iPod.

I don't see how anyone can possibly defend Apple on this one - they're acting like idiots over licencing Fairplay, when they have the opportunity to turn in into a standard - everyone goes on about their right to defend their business model - well, this is what happens when industries don't self-regulate / do what is good for them and not for consumers.

And yep, those WMA files won't play on the iPod but that's only a firmware update.

Compete by being the best, not by locking people in.

DudeMac
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Joined: Sep 2002

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03/27, 03:44pm | report spam | close Reply |
RE: Grow Up

And yep, those WMA files won't play on the iPod but that's only a firmware update.

Uh, it's more than just a firmware update. Microsoft's DRM scheme (via licensing) is only available to Windows-only developers. All a part of the PlaysForSure ecosystem and Microsoft's grand plan to lock us all into Windows eventually.

Compete by being the best, not by locking people in.

Tell that to Microsoft who is doing the exactly same thing, only in the opposite direction (lock-in at the desktop computer level instead of the portable media player level)!

Raccoon
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Joined: Nov 2005

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03/27, 03:54pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: Grow Up

ipod and itunes come together bundled in a package.

BMW and Mercedes do not come bundled with the same windshields.

So what you are saying and advocating is that the entire music industry that is willing to sell music online to sell it via one DRM, one format and be compatible with every hardware/software player out there. Who will that *new* company be? Who will run it? and how many developers (hardware and software alike) do you think will role over in their graves?

getta grip.

xianman
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Joined: Feb 2005

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03/27, 05:58pm | report spam | close Reply |
RE: grow up

Well said juleslt. I think certain people are all bent out of shape because it's Apple getting in trouble for not regulating itself this time. Imagine how pissed these same people would be if you replaced Apple with MS in this story.

I guess now I need to add Denmark to my list of countires to commend.

vwtreg
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Joined: Jun 2005

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03/27, 10:00pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: grow up

That's funny. From a pure business perspective oftentimes when you are the best in an emerging market (overall, digital download/tranfer of music is still emerging) you lock people in.

Sorry, sometimes being the best means you do lock people in. Locking people in often means more revenue/profit.

It also means the bullseye is that much bigger on your backside.

You always pay to play in the end....

vwtreg
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03/27, 10:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: grow up

Finishing truncated message:

That being said, Apple has made the market (as it so often does) for the seamless, unobtrusive, connection between human and machine.

In this case the iPod/iTunes connection just works. Works for consumer and producer IMO. Flame me if you want, but the iPod is the market maker b/c of the near flawless integration (MS or Apple OS) between iPod & iTunes.

That's the difference in the end

bigpoppa206
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03/27, 10:26pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: grow up

"It doesn't mean Apple need to give up the whole stack integration - no one is saying iTunes has to work with any MP3 player - but that iPod users should be able to buy music from other stores, and people should be able to migrate their iTMS tunes onto another player - something you would all think was reasonable if you had purchased music stuck in WMA format, or if you are in a territory that claims it is illegal to transfer from CD to iPod."

Exactly WHAT is stopping you from converting music files from other stores and transferring them to your iPod? Everyone's kids are doing it left and right!

"I don't see how anyone can possibly defend Apple on this one - they're acting like idiots over licencing Fairplay, when they have the opportunity to turn in into a standard - everyone goes on about their right to defend their business model - well, this is what happens when industries don't self-regulate / do what is good for them and not for consumers."

So all of a sudden a business must change its model that works seamlessly and make exceptions to allow all of these other music stores in? Did you ever think that the deals Apple has made with the music industry is a part of all of this? If opened up to everyone, Apple cannot guarantee or enforce what the other companies do, but then I guess you think that they will be on the up and up no matter what. Nice utopian dream there sparky.

xianman
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03/27, 11:23pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: grow up

I am really amazed at the idiot to sane minded ratio around here. What do some of you people have against consumer rights? Do you really WANT to be locked to one mp3 player? Yes, it is a good one - easily arguably the best on the market, but what if it's not in say 10 years?

Let me put it another way - how would you feel if the CD's you bought would only run on one CD player made by the distribution company that sold it to you? For some reason I don't think you would buy those CD's, and for the life of me I cannot figure out why you would purchase from the iTunes Music Store. Yes the iTMS is a good user experience, but I wouldn't buy a locked down CD at Tower Records even if they gave me a backrub with it.

And please people, enough with the 'just convert the files' argument. Online purchased music is already bordering on too compressed. Using any method out there (aside from illegally stripping the drm out of the file) results in recompressing already compressed music. I don't think I have to spell this out, but just in case - twice compressed music is NOT twice as good.

Raccoon
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Joined: Nov 2005

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03/27, 11:59pm | report spam | close Reply |
Mr xianman..

you have good arguable points there, however...

The 8-track tapes I bought no longer work in todays vehicles and more than likely neither do my cassette tapes (because of their age).

Some of the first market CD's will no longer work because of the dye problems they first had.

Some of the standalone audio Cd burners such as RCA, put some sort of DRM on the copied CD's that prevents you from copying the CD's.

Asking Apple, Microsoft and every other software vendor and hardware developer to get together and develop products that work on all and everybody's software/hardware is basically like saying- no need to innovate, it aint worth it.

Another analogy would be like saying that all of Apple software and OS's have to work on anything that runs Microsoft and visa-versa with linux and anyone-else out there.

This isn't about apple, it's about business.

Now if I could only buy that Pepsi bottle without the Pepsi, but the Coca-Cola instead, because I like the labels more and the latter better, then the world would be better off.

just a poster
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2004

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03/28, 02:56am | report spam | close Reply |
I think it is silly for

governments to focus on Apple's small, non-critical, non-leverageable monopoly in iTunes and iPod when the real, criminal monopolist, Microsoft, is running roughshod over the law everywhere.

xianman
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Feb 2005

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03/28, 03:58am | report spam | close Reply |
RE: mr me

The thing with 8-track tapes though is when they were the format of choice, they worked universally in all 8-track decks.

And while I would argue it would be best for the industry to ditch DRM all together, if we're going to have it I really don't think it's too much to ask for a standard to be developed to be used by all hardware and software manufacturers. Format standards have existed since the beginning of recorded music and I don't see why it has to be any different now. Since iTMS is the dominate online music distro service, asking them to open it up seems like a no brainer.

So, just imagine for a second that Apple gets pressured into opening up Fair Play. The iPod will still be there, iTMS will still be there, all the other music stores and mp3 vendors in the universe would probably scrap anything having to do with Windows Media and switch ASAP to AAC with Fair Play. Apple will continue to dominate with their awesome user experience between the iPod and iTMS, and people like me _might_ actually buy a track or two every now and then because we wouldn't have to worry as much about investing in something that locks us into only one choice.

bigpoppa206
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2003

0

03/28, 11:55pm | report spam | close Reply |
Actually

If Apple opened everything up, Microsoft would sense a moment of opportunity and really dig in deep to try to establish their own format instead of adopting Apple's. History has shown us that Microsoft does not always put the best product forward, but does an overwhelming job of dominating anything it touches.

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iTunes rivals lobby for Denmark DRM law

updated 09:30 am EST, Mon March 27, 2006

Denmark DRM law in 2007?

this is getting funny now

Yes, Lawmakers=Comedians

well, i still wouldn't..

DRM my a**

companies using politics?

Sell Mp3's Ipod compat.

Grow Up

RE: Grow Up

re: Grow Up

RE: grow up

re: grow up

re: grow up

re: grow up

re: grow up

Mr xianman..

I think it is silly for

RE: mr me

Actually

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iTunes rivals lobby for Denmark DRM law

updated 09:30 am EST, Mon March 27, 2006

Denmark DRM law in 2007?

Related Articles

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this is getting funny now

Yes, Lawmakers=Comedians

well, i still wouldn't..

DRM my a**

companies using politics?

Sell Mp3's Ipod compat.

Grow Up

RE: Grow Up

re: Grow Up

RE: grow up

re: grow up

re: grow up

re: grow up

re: grow up

Mr xianman..

I think it is silly for

RE: mr me

Actually

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