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Rosen Believes RIAA is Wrong about P2P Lawsuits

Posted by CowboyNeal on Sat Jun 10, 2006 10:41 AM
from the setting-the-record-straight dept.
Media Music Government The Courts News
Newer Guy writes "Former RIAA head Hilary Rosen now believes that the RIAA is wrong by pursuing their lawsuits of individuals for using P2P programs. In a blog post, she writes that she believes the lawsuits have 'outlived their usefulness' and states that the content providers really need to come up with their own download systems. She also is down on DRM, calling Apple's DRM 'a pain.'"
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  • Have You Ever Noticed? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by eldavojohn (898314) * <my/.username@@@gmail.com> on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:44AM (#15509219) Homepage Journal
    Former RIAA head Hilary Rosen now believes that the RIAA is wrong by pursuing their lawsuits of individuals for using P2P programs.
    Have you ever noticed that it's easier to assume the higher moral ground when your job is no longer riding on your views & political statements? Now for your entertainment, you can not only hear it from United States Generals [nytimes.com] but also former RIAA employees!
    • Yes, I think Hillary may have noticed that too:
      In any event, it is easy to sit back and just comment. And it is usually pretty easy to listen to those comments.
    • This is a no brainer. Obvious to anyone but the current president of the RIAA. She did blog on Lawrence Lessigs site a while back [lessig.org] and I think some posters made some intelligent responses to her points.

      The same thing happened with Jack Valenti after he stepped down. All of a sudden he grew a brain and realized that some of the practices/technologies the MPAA developed/pushed while he was president weren't good for customers. Surprise surprise!

      I think what has happened is that now they are just normal consumers and the realize what a pain in the rear the stuff they pushed is to real people.

      • Re:Have You Ever Noticed? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Chuqmystr (126045) on Saturday June 10 2006, @03:26PM (#15510298) Homepage
        I can't help but wonder if these two clowns are trying to "align themselves" to the "new ways of distributing entertainment media". In other words are they scrounging around for new jobs with dollar signs in their eyes, visions of leading some yet to be formed companies into the brave new world of selling entertainment on the internet? Just a thought...
    • "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it." - Upton Sinclair

      • The most liberal DRM... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Mateo_LeFou (859634) on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:24PM (#15509664) Homepage
        Would you like me to put you in the Loosest Set of Handcuffs ever invented? $18.95 today only.

      • Re:Have You Ever Noticed? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Blimey85 (609949) on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:30PM (#15509689)
        DRM no matter who it's from is still DRM. Just because you haven't hit a limit with Apple's DRM doesn't mean that other users haven't. IMHO there is absolutely no way to effectively stop pirating. Maybe if we started beheading people for pirating we might be able to slow things down but I'm not certain that even something that drastic would have much effect.

        We all have this "I'll never get caught" attitude and so no matter what happens to the next guy, we feel immune. Lots of people got sued by the RIAA but I never had a problem finding any song I was looking for. Soulseek still worked as well as ever. Their threats and subsequent action in the form of lawsuits did nothing to deter me nor millions of other people from pirating songs, movies, whatever.

        So what good does DRM, threats, lawsuits, or any of the other tactics that have been used, what good does any of it do? It doesn't stop piracy. It doesn't even seem to slow it down. Torrent sites get taken down and new ones pop up. Software such as Napster gets shut down and other software comes along to fill the void. The train keeps on rolling. The people who get hurt are the ones who our buying the material legally or who have bought hardware that has restrictions. My Sony network music player (can't really call it an mp3 player since it's primary use is to play atrac files) allows me to transfer whatever I want to the player, but I can't move the songs back off the player to my computer. I had a Creativer player previously that allowed me to move everything both ways and it was a lot less hassle. Sure Sony's format takes up a lot less space and I like the fact that it's offered but I'd also like to be able to convert back to mp3 if I want to move the songs off the device. Especially songs that I've kept in the mp3 format. These limits haven't stopped me from pirating music, they've just frustrated me and made me consider devices from other companies that don't have the same limitations.

        The media companies need to realize that there is a way to make more profit but it's not by forcing limitations on us. Make things easier and more available through legit channels and more and more people will abandon piracy. Give us downloads that we can use however we want for a very small fee and people will flock to that. Give us tv shows without commericals for $.99 each that are avail the same day as the episode airs on tv and let us subscribe to the shows we want to see. I'd pay good money for that service. As it is I download my shows the day after they air and I never see any commercials plus I get the widescreen versions even though I don't have an hdtv. The downloaded episodes look better on my tv than what I can get from using my dvr. I'm not going to watch the commericals either way but I am willing to pay for a high quality, fast downloading, widescreen version of my favorite shows as long as it's better than what I'm doing now. Give it to me sooner, faster, and for only maybe $.99 and you'll rake in the dough.

        • There's a huge limit that everyone will eventually hit with Apple's DRM.

          When iPods are no longer popular/available, and people want a different music device, they can say goodbye to their collection!

          Consumer rights groups should be, at the very least, issuing warnings to consumers about DRM.
        • That WinAmp plugin doesn't actually play the music, it simply passes the file to the proprietary iTunes system in the background. If you'll notice, DSP and output plugins don't work on ITMS tracks.
          • If you think you -can't- hear the difference on a portable MP3 player with a set of headphones, you are kidding yourself (or need to get your hearing checked). Buy a decent set of headphones.

            The original 128 kbps AAC is far from optimal to start. It's adequate for casual use, but still clearly inferior to a CD on anything but $20 computer speakers. Transcode, and you'll lose a lot. How sensitive you are to the loss is a personal thing.

            I've done the transcoding with WMAs to MP3s. I find that keeping the MP3

            • Re:Have You Ever Noticed? (Score:4, Funny)

              by squiggleslash (241428) on Saturday June 10 2006, @03:41PM (#15510337) Homepage Journal
              I find that keeping the MP3 bitrate up rediculously high (say 320kbps) helps quite a lot
              Well, obviously, but it still causes a certain amount of artifacts. For example, the "rid" part of the word "ridiculous" is often so distorted it sounds like the word "red", resulting in millions of people thinking the word is spelt "rediculous" rather than "ridiculous".

              If only we all used Ogg Vorbis, at 1440kbps, using a 32 bit/88kHz PCM source, we wouldn't have these "rediculous" artifacts. Still, when you consider people still use regular plastic volume controls, rather than proper wooden ones, and people keep letting speaker cable lie on the ground rather than using pillars to support it a few inches above, not to mention the refusal of the average, Kenwood or Sony buying "consumer" to use proper filtered AC carried using gold plated screened power cables, it's not surprising most people can't tell the difference between a 128kbps AAC and a CD.

              • You're not the typical user, nor is any slashdotter here. It's Just. Not. That. Easy. for the average user who can barely comprehend the difference between a data disc containing audio files and a redbook audio CD.

      • Re:Have You Ever Noticed? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Kihaji (612640) <lemkesr@ u w ec.edu> on Saturday June 10 2006, @02:01PM (#15510033)
        Do you understand what it means to be an elected official at all? Clintons personal opinions are not what should have shaped his policies. An elected official is there to represent the people of the nation, not just himself. The fact that he seemed to be able to separate the two, shows me he at least had a basic idea of what it meant to be a good President.

  • Okay, fess up (Score:5, Funny)

    by Foerstner (931398) on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:44AM (#15509220)
    ...which one of you hacked Hillary Rosen's blog...?

  • Hmm (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Achra (846023) on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:45AM (#15509226) Journal
    That's all well and good, but I want to hear about how the Current head of the RIAA believes these things.

  • Did Hilary Rosen have a "spiritual awakening"? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by BroncoInCalifornia (605476) on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:46AM (#15509234)
    She seems to have had a change of heart. She tries to back peddle on her record a bit. But you have to give her credit for seeing that the RIAA is on a bad course.
    • But you have to give her credit for seeing that the RIAA was/is on a bad course.
      No I don't. You have to be blind not to see that the RIAA is on a bad course, and she knew it all along. Now she's having an epiphany? I don't think so. It doesn't take any guts to say what she says, now that she got her money. If what she says now is to have any meaning, then she should repay all the money lost by the people that she trashed. What she is saying is the same as a politician taking "responsibilty" for their mistakes after they get caught in some despicable act or their negligence. Empty words knowing full well that they will suffer no consequences. Color me unimpressed.

  • Her master's voice? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Sun (104778) <shachar&shemesh,biz> on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:46AM (#15509235) Homepage
    Since this seems to stand in direct contradiction with everything we (or, at least, I) thought about her in the past, does that mean that Rosen, like any other CEO, will do whatever they think their current employer needs, regardless of personal opinion about it?

    Even if the RIAA did start to go down the "sue individuals" after she left, it seems unlikely that this is not a direction she helped point the organization in.

    Shachar
    • Since this seems to stand in direct contradiction with everything we (or, at least, I) thought about her in the past, does that mean that Rosen, like any other CEO, will do whatever they think their current employer needs, regardless of personal opinion about it?

      That's pretty much a CEOs JOB, friend, to further the interests of the people investing in thier company no matter what. Google and Canonical are exceptions, where having a social concience is not considered a liability. Usually the question "Am I d

    • Re:Her master's voice? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by kimvette (919543) on Saturday June 10 2006, @03:17PM (#15510275) Homepage
      No. The slashdot hive mind shall now regard Hillary Rosen is good. Get your doublethink straight.

      Hillary Rosen is good, therefore she has always been good. She is our ally, and always has been our ally.

      Seriously though - it is great to see that she admits it. One thing I would like to criticize is her implying that sharing on P2P networks is not legitimate. The legitimacy of P2P networks and the file sharing is not in question in the slightest, really. What is in question is how the people use it. If you download music and burn it to a music CD-R, the RIAA gets their royalties, which is divvied up among publishers and artists based on percentage of average sales over the latest period (I don't know if it's weekly, monthly, or quarterly - I never bothered to check that). I'd say that if a user downloads a music file and burns it to audio CD-R, that copy is fully legitimate and paid for, legally. Now, whether it is ethical or moral is debatable, because download activities may actually not line up with sales averages over a certain period, or the CD-R purchase may be way out of line (in terms of time) with the time period the CDs were actually burned, so artists and publishers may actually not be getting paid what they are entitled to out of those royalties.

      The fairest method is to collect states of completed downloads (not failed, partial, or aborted downloads) per royalty period - WORKING with folks like The Pirate Bay to obtain those stats - then they will know how to slice that blank media royalty pie. Hell if they did something reasonable and fair like that, I would actually support an increase in levies on the CD-AUDIO blank media. Yes, I know most slashdotters would buy the data CDs to avoid the levy, but the majority of people are convinced that you NEED the CD Audio discs in order to make music CDs from MP3 files. Even many computer-literate people - people WORKING in technology, think that you need CD-audio discs, so this could be a workable solution.

      Even if folks don't buy, and are happy burning 64kbps files to CD, they're not the target market anyway. They're the type who would be just as happy with recording songs off the radio, and are the type who will be swooning over HD-Radio despite the fact that it's lower fidelity than analog FM radio. No loss for the RIAA there, because those are the folks who would not purchase it ANYHOW. Let them have their free, low-fidelity music and at least carry out viral marketing for RIAA members by word of mouth. Eventually they will tell friends who WILL want to buy the CD, or share their download with a friend who is not happy with the fidelity and changes their mind and buys the CD.

      I'd also argue that downloading live bootlegs is legitimate. Many bands openly encourage trading of recordings of live performances. That is the only audio I download lately because I do not want to be exposed to new acts until the RIAA gets their collective act together.

      Lastly: RIAA (AND MPAA) members need to embrace the idea of try-before-you-buy, FULLY legitimize FREE downloads of low-bitrate (say, 64kbps or so) files, and look the other way for 128kbps files (unless a site is charging for them without paying the respective parties their dues). Higher bitrates should be cracked down on, but it ought to be to be PROVEN beyond reasonable doubt that an infraction is taken place by specific, identifiable persons. That means no suing gramma who has never owned a computer other than webtv, and no suing 7-yr-olds who may have happened to download the wrong file. Also, the settlement has got to be FAIR. Like, say, Oh I don't know, the person(s) involved MUST buy the infringing works at the average retail price, or at worst, since the RIAA may be entitled to damages, triple the average retail price. NOT thousands per track, because there has been NO damage. A sale they did not make is NOT lost money; it is monies they never possessed or had right to in the first place.

      There has to be a happy medium workable for all in this whole

  • We've seen this cycle before... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by davecb (6526) * on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:47AM (#15509239) Homepage Journal
    I'm in the middle of trying to post the following to the Huffington Post, but it seems not to be able to see this particular Hilary Rosen posting... we may have a link to a very new article.

    I suspect that the RIAA members are just re-living the tempest in a teapot we had in the software businesses: we used to ship programs with all sorts of expensive copy protection devices.

    One of my employers then shipped their product without protection and saw no difference whatsoever in the rate of copying. So they dropped the "dongle", and saved precious dollars by doing so.

    Now my publisher and others are doing the same thing with electronic copies of their books, with similar good results.

    I expect we'll see the same with both music and movies. Commercial copiers will be dealt with by the courts, and individuals will be so minor a problems as to be ignored.

    --dave

    • Not to support the RIAA which I don't, but I really do have a hard time believing that. If its a niched program you have a specific audience. Photoshop being a great example, not everyone wants it. There is a specific crowd who are looking for it and will pirate it for personal use (probably pretty computer literate people). Assuming they take a hobby professional they will most likly have to get a legal copy for a business.

      Downloading music on the other hand is a different story. EVERYONE wants music, a
      • The point is that the music will be distributed, whether you DRM your songs or not. DRM won't affect the rate of copying at all, since there will always be people around to defeat it and then distribute the non-DRMed copies. Therefore, DRM is just wasted money.

  • She 'now' believes... (Score:3, Informative)

    by tetrode (32267) on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:47AM (#15509240) Homepage
    When she was head of the RIAA, they had one lawsuit after the other to people that were either innocent or had downloaded one or two mp3 files. They didn't go after the big guys.

    They didn't dare to go after the big guys.

    Now that she is no longer head of the RIAA, she says - I'd might have been not 100 % right what we have done... DRM might not be so usefull (she is having problems with her iPod?).

    Anyway - this is so low, I cannot even reach that low...

    Sorry, Hillary - once you're on the wrong side of the hallway, you will allways stay there. Whatever you do.

        -- Mark

  • "A pain"? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Pink Tinkletini (978889) on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:51AM (#15509263) Homepage
    Nowhere in the linked article do these words exist. What Rosen actually says is that Apple's "propietary [sic] DRM just bugs me," which is a quite different message in tone and substance--it's not the DRM itself that she finds annoying, but rather Apple's unwillingness to share.

    Note to submitters: Don't invent quotes out of thin air, especially when you encase them in quote marks, for Chrissake.

  • Please... (Score:5, Funny)

    by l3prador (700532) <wkankla@gmaTOKYOil.com minus city> on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:53AM (#15509275) Homepage
    Futhermore, she adds, "You guys are right, ok? So will someone please be my friend?"
  • Now that the RIAA has filed all these lawsuits and ruined a lot of people's lives, including actions which, in some cases, were filed against innocent people, the former head of the RIAA decides that it was a bad idea. Thanks a lot. Why do I suspect that if she were still head of the RIAA she would not be making this comment and would still be insisting on having the RIAA going after anyone they could find?

    I believe her comments are hypocritical, and I don't believe she's sincere. Or, to put it colloquially, "I'll forgive her when Vietnam Veterans forgive Hanoi Jane [wikipedia.org], or when the Jews forgive Hitler."

    • Is this really the same thing... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by algerath (955721) on Saturday June 10 2006, @11:30AM (#15509402)
      I am not saying I agree with the RIAA business practices, they are pretty shitty. Are shitty business tactics in the same ballpark as "hanoi Jane" or Hitler? I might even classify the RIAA as evil, but as far as I know they have not committed acts bordering on treason nor have they committed genocide. Let's keep some perspective here Hitler, WOW

      Algerath

  • The buyers are the problem all too often (Score:3, Insightful)

    by MikeRT (947531) on Saturday June 10 2006, @11:02AM (#15509309) Homepage
    Ok, fess up, how many of you have downloaded gigs of MP3s before with no intention of going out to see the band live or buy the merchandise? DRM exists primarily because many college students today enjoy a quasi-middle class lifestyle on campus and still rape and pillage the file sharing networks. I'd be a lot less cynical if I didn't see a lot of the guys I knew flat out not give two shits about supporting small bands because they'd rather buy a case of beer than actually pay for the music they listened to at the party or in their apartment/dorm. And I'm not talking about bands like Metallica, but Lacuna Coil, Nightwish, theStart and others like them.

    What we need is less DRM and more basic law enforcement action. It'd be a lot more effective for them to monitor bandwidth usage on campus and then start "wiretapping" students who are heavy users to see just what the hell they're doing. Chances are, it ain't home movies, porn or Linux ISOs they're sending.Then send them a bill for $5-$10/file traded illegally. Treat it like a minor property crime like stealing a candy bar and maybe juries will actually go for it.
    • 1) Most of the $ from the album purchase is not going to the artist. It's going to the distributor. Technology has advanced to the point where the means of distribution has become dirt cheap. Yet these distributors still demand outrageous cuts of the money. And the artists are stupid enough to still indulge them. Downloading MP3z is an act of civil disobedience and wake up call to the distributors that evolution discarded them a long time ago. They're on life support. Time to pull the plug. Market forces al
      • If you do not buy any merchandise AND download their albums, you just leave the bands in debt. Your "civil disobedience" doesn't help these bands at all because you're not building an alternative marketplace. You're just copying music, and leaving the bands with no money to live on or pay off their debt. Basically, from their point of view, you're not a fan, you're just an asshole who's miserly with his money.

        People like you cannot accept the fact that intellectual property doesn't come out of thin air. If
        • If you do not buy any merchandise AND download their albums, you just leave the bands in debt. Your "civil disobedience" doesn't help these bands at all because you're not building an alternative marketplace. You're just copying music, and leaving the bands with no money to live on or pay off their debt. Basically, from their point of view, you're not a fan, you're just an asshole who's miserly with his money.

          People like you cannot accept the fact that intellectual property doesn't come out of thin air. If
    • OK, I'll fess up... I have lots of MP3s. Music is very important to me.

      Most of the MP3s I have, I have encoded myself from CDs borrowed from friends.
      I have occasionally downloaded as well, without any qualms whatsoever, because:
      I have bought a lot more CDs after discovering the wonder that is mp3, and electronic distribution in general. I've bought the whole back catalogue of several small bands to support the band, also because its a lot nicer to have the CD and inlay in my rack than to have an entry in a
    • Good in theory, but if a college student is downloading gigs of mp3s, then they are not a fan of any one small band enough to go out and buy any CDs (they won't download the latest single from iTunes either due to DRM being a pain). If file sharing was heavily prosecuted then they'd listen to the radio.

      I think if FM radio didn't SUCK now, then a lot of college students would turn to that to get their random music fix instead of bit torrent / emule.

  • Her Role (Score:5, Insightful)

    by HardCase (14757) on Saturday June 10 2006, @11:15AM (#15509347)
    Rosen's blog points out that it was in her "role as Chairman and CEO of the Recording Indsutry [sic] Assciation [sic] of America" that she participated in planning the lawsuits. I suppose that means that in her "role" as a private citizen she had some objection to them.

    It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that there can be a difference between a person's public and private opinions. In Rosen's case, maybe the difference is extreme. If she really didn't support the lawsuits, maybe that's the reason that she resigned - who knows. But somehow it seems kind of slimey to chair an organization like the RIAA while the decisions are being made, then take the position that she bears no responsibility for the lawsuits because she'd already made the decision to leave:

    I don't honestly know what I would have done about the individual lawsuits had I stayed. I certainly participated in multiple planning and debate sessions about them. There were good arguments on both sides and the staff at the RIAA are thoughtful, good people who work hard to protect their constituency. Thankfully my plan to leave was firmly in place and I didn't have to make that tough call or take the heat for the one that was made.

    The CEO isn't a dictator - decisions are commonly made in companies that the CEO doesn't necessarily agree with, but that carry the support of other executives. But it's pretty craven to let a plan go forward, then quit and say that you really had nothing to do with it because you were going to quit anyway.

    But what really caught my eye was the extraordinary amount of misspellings and basic grammar errors in her blog entry. I'm no grammar nazi, but I have to say that I was stunned.

    Oh yeah, to the submitter of the story: Rosen says that Apple's proprietary DRM "bugs" her. Hilary Rosen can say stupid things on her own - you don't need to make quotes up.

    -h-

  • This only proves... (Score:5, Funny)

    by SeaFox (739806) on Saturday June 10 2006, @11:55AM (#15509501)
    That the RIAA/MPAA is actually a dangerous cult completely out of touch with reality!

    Look, this woman has escaped and now the effects of their brainwashing are starting to wear off.

  • This is obviously preparing her to run for office as a "protector of the people".

    You don't think she's any more trustworthy now than before do you? When someone has proven repeatedly that they cannot be trusted, why would you trust their "conversion"?

    I'll wait for some proof a bit stronger than a public statement before I start taking anything she says are worthy of belief. "Actions speak louder than words" may not be true, but I find them much more convincing.

    • Re:Dear Hilary (Score:5, Interesting)

      by cbiltcliffe (186293) on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:51AM (#15509265) Homepage Journal
      No, I think we should take this and publicize it as much as possible. Point out to your MP, Senator, Resident Dictator, or whoever that the person who used to espouse DRM and P2P lawsuits is now saying they're pointless and "a pain."
      A bunch of /.ers have very little pull in political circles, but Hillary Rosen, even though she's been a PITA before, now appears to be on our side. And she does have a lot of pull in political circles. Let's use that to our advantage.

      •   Au contraire, my friend. A bunch of /.er's have much more sway to the political tide than Hillary Rosen. All they have to do is vote. (Oh, and get into the Diebold machines)

        • Re:Dear Hilary (Score:4, Interesting)

          by cbiltcliffe (186293) on Saturday June 10 2006, @01:07PM (#15509830) Homepage Journal
          A bunch of /.er's have much more sway to the political tide than Hillary Rosen. All they have to do is vote.
          Let's see...vote for the Republicans, who are in the pocket of corporations. Nope...
          Or we could vote for the Democrats, who are in the pocket of corporations. Nope...that doesn't work either.
          Or we could vote for an independent, but they'll never get elected, because 90% of the US population are stupid, short-sighted pricks who'll only vote for something if they know it might win.

          Yeah, voting seems like a real good option, there.....
          (Oh, and get into the Diebold machines)
          Now, that's the best idea anybody's had all year. We all know it's possible....so why don't you (I'm in Canada...I can't) make sure the next winner of a federal election is Chuck E. Cheese?

    • Re:Dear Hilary (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Buran (150348) on Saturday June 10 2006, @10:52AM (#15509273)
      I agree.

      If she thinks suing is wrong, then why the fuck did she allow anyone to be sued? What a hypocrite. I'll believe this when I hear that she is ordering all the money taken from dead people and 13-year-old girls and Mac users and all the other wrongfully-sued people be returned, but I don't see any hint of that. I'll believe that when the lawsuits stop.

      Actions speak louder than words, and talk is cheap. Put our money where your mouth is, or fuck off.
      • If she thinks suing is wrong, then why the fuck did she allow anyone to be sued?

        She didn't. She says she had left before they started suing individuals.

        What a hypocrite.

        Where's the hypocrisy? As far as I know she never did it, or advocated it, why is saying it's wrong hypocrisy?

        I'll believe this when I hear that she is ordering all the money taken from dead people and 13-year-old girls and Mac users and all the other wrongfully-sued people be returned

        How would she order that? She's no long

      • Re:the DRM statement (Score:4, Insightful)

        by NutscrapeSucks (446616) on Saturday June 10 2006, @11:12AM (#15509338)
        > It's one of the least-annoying there is.
        This is astroturfing and unsubstantiated FUD.

        > Apple probably didn't want to add it at all but only did it grudgingly,
        More astroturfing or possibly groteseque stupidity -- Proprietary DRM is the cornerstone of Apple's online music business

        > I don't get why she's complaining about Apple's DRM specifically.
        Because it has 90% of the market. Initally, the RIAA probably thought non-interoperable DRM was a great idea because Apple, Real, and Microsoft would split the market, and people would end up re-purchasing music depending on device compatibility.

        However at this point, Apple is so dominate, the market for online music can never really grow larger than Apple wants it to be. There's whole categories of digital music devices that are not feasible right now because of the lack of iTMS compatibility. So while Apple grew the market from nothing, now that it's established. they are really the limiting factor to the total size of the market and how the songs are priced and marketed.

        Or at least that's how the RIAA would see it -- and they're not always exactly objective. But still, if there were to do it over again, they would be industry-wide standards for DRM.

        • Re:the DRM statement (Score:4, Insightful)

          by Have Blue (616) on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:17PM (#15509630) Homepage
          This is astroturfing and unsubstantiated FUD.
          What stores have less annoying DRM? There are stores with zero DRM, but see point 2 for why that's not feasible for Apple.

          Proprietary DRM is the cornerstone of Apple's online music business
          No, RIAA music is the cornerstone of Apple's online music business. DRM was how Apple secured their cooperation. Do you think the music store would have been a fraction as successful as it was if it was stocked with unknown independents?
          • What stores have less annoying DRM?
            It's not my job to substantiate FUD he pulled out of his ass. The truth is probably that they are all about equally annoying because they are all under the same RIAA licensing program.

            DRM was how Apple secured their cooperation.
            Oh, I guess that explains why Apple doesn't licence their DRM to third parties. No wait, it doesn't because you're just here to appleturf, and you actually have zero understanding and insight into Apple's business model.

      • Re:the DRM statement (Score:4, Insightful)

        by shaitand (626655) on Saturday June 10 2006, @11:14AM (#15509342) Homepage Journal
        Here we go, we should have known the apple apologizers would come out. Look, Apple is one of the most vile anti-consumer monster corporations out there. Learn to the live with that. Apple gives not one flying fluck about its 'loyal fans' but it knows a buck when it sees one. If Apple fought more restrictive DRM it was because they thought it would hurt their bottom line not for the sake of their customers.

        As for which DRM to attack, it makes the most sense to complain about the least obtrusive DRM you can find. That way things start off on the basis that, that minimal DRM is too much. Otherwise that minimal DRM would become the best compromise we could hope for.

        • Re:the DRM statement (Score:5, Insightful)

          by telbij (465356) on Saturday June 10 2006, @12:27PM (#15509679)
          Look, Apple is one of the most vile anti-consumer monster corporations out there. Learn to the live with that. Apple gives not one flying fluck about its 'loyal fans' but it knows a buck when it sees one. If Apple fought more restrictive DRM it was because they thought it would hurt their bottom line not for the sake of their customers.

          Welcome to America buddy. Why should anyone think that Apple would be different than any other company? By this standard all corporations are vile anti-consumer monsters. Why the double standard? The only distinguishing aspect of Apple for me is that they make products I like (not in the 90s, but I really dig Mac OS X).

          If there's something that I think makes a company 'viley-anti-consumer' it would have to be lobbying for laws to protect monopolies or other business practices that harm the public. The most vile corporations in my mind are the ones that exploit natural resources and create huge amounts of pollution, thus making profits at the expense of things that should belong to all of us. I find it hard to demonize a company for simply creating and marketing a product that I don't like for some reason.

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