Limewire to offer DRM-free music
,----[ Quote ]
| "Our DRM-free MP3s are compatible with all standard MP3 players [even those
| from another fruit company] and will be available a la carte or through
| low-cost prepaid plans." It says. Yep, even that fruit company bit.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/03/20/limewire-offer-drm-free-music
Ogg would be good too, but this marks a good trend anyway.
More reasons to avoid iPod and Zune:
Linux Blog: Hacking the iPod for Linux
,----[ Quote ]
| However, with the new Classic and Nano models, Apple added a checksum to the
| database that locked out existing Linux tools. Even worse, the iPod Touch is
| totally unusable with a Linux PC without installing a jailbreak on the
| device.
|
| [...]
|
| Thankfully, alternative players from vendors like Creative, iriver, Sandisk,
| Cowon, Samsung, and Sony all work with Linux, because they adhere to
| standards, rather than using proprietary databases. These players work as
| standard USB disks that you can copy files to directly, or they support the
| Microsoft-developed Media Transfer Protocol (MTP), which is set to become an
| official USB standard. Some of them even support open file formats like FLAC
| and Ogg Vorbis. With so many options, I'm having trouble finding the perfect
| player, but when I do, I'm sure it'll suit me much better than my iPod did.
|
|
| The only real gap in the market is in large-capacity players, which the iPod
| Classic has sewn up. The Zune 80 could be an option when it launches here,
| but in an odd twist, Microsoft has pulled an "embrace-and-extend" on its own
| protocol with the Zune, adding undocumented extensions that make it
| incompatible with standard MTP tools.
`----
http://www.pcauthority.com.au/news.aspx?CIaNID=72444
Apple and Microsoft 'extending' as usual.
Related:
A Linux User's Perspective on the ITunes Store (and DRM in General)
,----[ Quote ]
| What if tomorrow you went to Best Buy or Walmart or Sam Goody and purchased a
| CD? What if, before you left the store, the salesman told you that although
| the CD was in all other respects a standard CD, that you could only play it
| if you owned a Pioneer or Sony stereo? Would that make any sense? Would it
| make you a bit hesitant about buying music from that store again?
|
| Well, if you purchase music or videos from the iTunes Store,
|
| [...]
|
| With content from the iTunes Store, however, users may find themselves a bit
| stuck if they ever want to make the switch to a more open computing platform,
| such as Linux. Because none of the DRM-restricted content from the iTunes
| Store will play on Linux. And it's all because that's how Apple wants it, to
| be honest, and not because of any technical limitation.
`----
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/324936/a_linux_users_perspective_on_the_itunes.html
Apple's latest trick to enforce digital rights
,----[ Quote ]
|
| [...]
|
| With this version of iTunes, users were finding that music
| subjected to the old download-burn-rip would no longer
| load onto their iPods.
`----
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/06/09/10131156.html
Legal, major label DRM-free MP3s hit UK (at last)
,----[ Quote ]
| Play.com said the average price per track will be 70 pence. Album bundles are
| charged at £6.99.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/02/13/play_uk_drm_free/
Embarrassed by DRM
,----[ Quote ]
| The point behind all this is, of course, to conceal the very existence of DRM
| from the user..
|
| Ergo, we need to shout about the presence of DRM from the rooftops: the more
| people know about it, the more they will dislike it, as Microsoft well
| understands....
`----
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2008/02/embarrassed-by-drm.html
Microsoft: We Like DRM
,----[ Quote ]
| Steve Jobs wants the music business to drop restrictions for digital
| tunes. But Microsoft, which began competing head to head with Apple
| in the digital music business last fall, is happy with the way things
| are, says media exec Robbie Bach.
`----
http://www.forbes.com/2007/02/08/zune-drm-itunes-tech-media-cx_df_0208bach.html?partner=yahootix
http://tinyurl.com/2lrz3y
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