Wednesday, June 11, 2008

DRM Wars

So I've been downloading music from iTunes for about two years now. I love the iTunes interface and streamlined aproach. When I buy something it's there, I don't have to import it and worry about if all my songs are there or not. Alot of people complain about the DRM (Digital Rights Management) that iTunes has to offer to keep the record industry happy. It really doesn't bother me, I don't have more than 5 computers and I only put the music on two portable devices so I'm well within my parameters there. I did run into one thing that has bugged me before and ir rared its ugly head again the other day, I can't play the DRM music on my Xbox 360 or through TVersity (AGGGGGGGGGGRRRRRRRRR!). Not such a big deal 'cause I mainly wanted to watch podcasts on my tv, so I calmed down and realized I could handle it. Then I found out about Amazon.com MP3 downloads. Amazon is able to offer DRM free MP3s of about the same selection as the entire iTunes store, not just iTunes Plus THE WHOLE STORE! Why won't the entertainment companies let iTunes offer DRM free content? I decided I wouldn't spend money at the Amazon store and I would stay faithful to my friend iTunes. I have heard Apple express their feelings about DRM and how it is a pain for them and the user, the only reason they have DRM protection is because the recording labels make them use DRM protection or they won't let iTunes provide the content. Then I started collecting Pepsi bottle caps, which let you acrue points and buy MP3s from Amazon for 5 points per song, and downloaded a song yesterday. Amazon provides a program to download the MP3 and will automatically add it to the iTunes library. Now I have a complex, do I continue to be faithful to iTunes who have to use the limiting protection on their music or do I switch to Amazon who can offer the media without protection. It's not like I want to share music through peer to peer services, I just want to use what I've bought on all my devices. What really intrigues me is how the music labels can demand that iTunes sell their music with copy protection and then turn around to let Amazon and other services sell the music with no protection at all. Let me know what you think in the comments section for this post.

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