Yes! Let's solve the problem of labels giving their artists too little money and applying customer-unfriendly restrictions by, uh, giving the artists no money whatsoever.
There is no loss in sound quality when you burn a song to a CD. It'll sound as good or bad as the original and no better.
Quote:
Originally posted by Mr. H
Really, I'm amazed by the number of people jumping to the defence of DRM. DRM sucks. Apple do not need it to be successful, the quality of the iPod/iTunes combination will do that.
Agreed. Now tell the record companies.
Quote:
Originally posted by Mr. H
What if I want to play my iTunes purchased songs on an iPod and something else (like a Roku, Sonos or Sony Ericsson Mobile)? Ever thought of that? Why should I have to suffer quality degredation just because Apple refuse to licence Fairplay to anyone else?
The quality degradation has nothing to do with Fairplay. It's entirely due to transcoding from one lossy format to another. In the absence of an industry standard for DRM what's Apple to do? use Microsoft's DRM?
The fact that Apple can get away with a closed DRM scheme is highly annoying. Legislation such as this would help consumers, not hinder them. Except, if it only happens in France, Apple will probably just exit that market and nothing will change.
How in the world ANYONE would think this is suspect. ( Are you french;?) The fact is Apple is going to become more and more of a target of these anti-capitolism moves the more enormous the whole iTunes/iPod sect becomes. Everyone wants to upset a good thing. Apple should be allowed to make all the money they can for offering such an easy way for us all to enjoy our music. If you dont like it.....buy something else. Its called competition. Nice and healthy competition.
If the French think they can do it better let them deal with not having ANY ipods available for their citizens. Because obviously thats what Apple will do. ( AT least I think so.) Why would Apple change a recipe that is the biggest thing since the Walkman in the early 80's. The French are proving once again that they hate all things American. Which is fine because seemingly the feelings are mutal.
This is not about conusmer protection, or consumer rights. This is about France trying to protect native companies from competition. Apple will pull it's music store from France, and that is exactly what French politicians, backed by French companies eager to fill the void, want.
Protectionist policies veiled as consumer protection.
I say we boycott all things French, and start calling them freedom fries again.
By the way, the iTunes Music Store France is not a French company, it's based out of Luxembourg or some such place. As such, I do not see how it would be affected by this new law.
And in any case, they already supply a method of making iTunes purchases compatible with other devices. It's called 'Burn to CD'.
The real issue here is for DVD production and Music subscription services which do not allow you to burn to CD. ie. all the Microsoft services.
The fact that Apple can get away with a closed DRM scheme is highly annoying. Legislation such as this would help consumers, not hinder them. Except, if it only happens in France, Apple will probably just exit that market and nothing will change.
Ridiculous. iTunes exists thanks to the protections the recording industry demanded, not the other way around. Consumers can take their business elsewhere if they don't like it. Go buy a Samsung player or a Sony player with their lousy design. I dare you.
What if Apple stops selling iPods 10 years down the road like they stopped selling printers? Bang, all the music you "bought" is gone. What if the competition develops a better player? a smaller, cheaper, whatever? You are locked in if you bought at iTMS.
I don't believe the above statement is true. I can burn any song I've bought on a cd, then do whatever I want with it. Who knows what will be available 10 years from now. I don't recall crying when I switched from 8-track to cassette, or from cassette to CD's. Change happens, and you enjoy what is available at the time.
Anyway, I was under the impression that one could have an opinion without being called "a boneheaded nationalist". Oh well, it seems that most here so far are somewhat against what France is doing here, so I am not alone.
Personally, I could care less what they do in France. It is an interesting topic, and as an Apple stockholder, I have a right to an opinion. I never said that France would fall apart if they lost itunes, just that it is a possibility that Apple could choose to pull out of France if they so choose.
Burning your iTMS songs then reripping to an mp3 for playback on another type of player will have a quality loss, you are compressing a compressed audio source again.
As I said I wasn't ultra familar with Monopoly Law (microeconomics isn't my favorite subject) but when would you consider Apple a monopoly on the Downloadable Music and MP3 Player Market? Wasn't there market share for both industries like 80% thats pretty damn close to being a monopoly.
For all the complaining and moaning from all you people, interoperability is great. If this was the other way around and they made a law that hurt MS more then Apple you'd be praising it. Hopefully this will get companies to start offering DRMless music.
Burn the music into CD and rip it to whatever piece of shit mp3 player you have ! Done !
Where's the problem ?
You're confused. The original file is still Closed. The copy of the file you suggest making is the one that's not Closed. Is it really that hard to understand.
I would expect that this law has far reaching consequences that have not yet been discussed, like copy-protected CDs.
The exact ramifications are still up in the air, but Apple has to adhere to existing agreements with record labels so I doubt Apple will open up the iTMS. I doubt they want to drop the store, but they may. I think they'd rather sell more devices like iPods and Mac minis, however these are increasingly tied to the iTMS and its content, so who knows.
The big question is if this law also applies to video. I suppose iTunes can still be available, its just that the iTMS might be disabled.
The French have never lifted a finger to force interoperability of computer software, gaming consoles, etc. that would help consumers. So, why the sudden assault on Apple (a perennial victim of Microsoft's lockout)?
It's not for the benefit of French consumers, it's to help out companies like FNAC and the French subsidiary of Virgin and other losers that failed to win the business of their countrymen.
FairPlay is the most consumer-friendly version of DRM, and DRM is the ONLY way the owners of content (not artists) will make the material they control available for legal download. FairPlay, therefore, is a necessary evil and Apple is to be commended for keeping it as consumer-friendly as it is.
At this point, Apple's only course is to shut down iTMS France on the day the law goes into effect and advise angry French consumers to take action against their legislators who caused the termination of service.
You're also confused - in order to make software iterorable with other operating systems you have to add something. In order to make Fairplay AAC tracks work with other music players you have to remove something. There lies the difference.
For all the complaining and moaning from all you people, interoperability is great. If this was the other way around and they made a law that hurt MS more then Apple you'd be praising it. Hopefully this will get companies to start offering DRMless music.
This DOES hurt MS more than Apple. It blows large holes in the side of their subscription services.
I say we boycott all things French, and start calling them freedom fries again. [/B]
Call them Belgian Fries. It's a hell of a lot more accurate, as that's where they're from.
That, or English Chips (but cut them thicker!).
Don't be a land of pissants and call them Freedom Fries, it's lame and xenophobic. There's no single way to live life, and the French are always different, but does it make them wrong all the time?
Sony: ATRAC (Proprietary) + whatever they use (Proprietary)
Why these articles are written in such a way is beyond me, but it does seem likely that there's some behind the scenes stuff going on to try and damage Apple's system.
Comments
Originally posted by Robin Hood
I wasn't going to, but I've decided to throw the solution for all of this out there:
http://www.allofmp3.com
Yes! Let's solve the problem of labels giving their artists too little money and applying customer-unfriendly restrictions by, uh, giving the artists no money whatsoever.
That sounds like FairPlay(TM) to me!
Originally posted by Mr. H
The massive loss in sound quality?
There is no loss in sound quality when you burn a song to a CD. It'll sound as good or bad as the original and no better.
Originally posted by Mr. H
Really, I'm amazed by the number of people jumping to the defence of DRM. DRM sucks. Apple do not need it to be successful, the quality of the iPod/iTunes combination will do that.
Agreed. Now tell the record companies.
Originally posted by Mr. H
What if I want to play my iTunes purchased songs on an iPod and something else (like a Roku, Sonos or Sony Ericsson Mobile)? Ever thought of that? Why should I have to suffer quality degredation just because Apple refuse to licence Fairplay to anyone else?
The quality degradation has nothing to do with Fairplay. It's entirely due to transcoding from one lossy format to another. In the absence of an industry standard for DRM what's Apple to do? use Microsoft's DRM?
Originally posted by Mr. H
I'm surprised by the
The fact that Apple can get away with a closed DRM scheme is highly annoying. Legislation such as this would help consumers, not hinder them. Except, if it only happens in France, Apple will probably just exit that market and nothing will change.
How in the world ANYONE would think this is suspect. ( Are you french;?) The fact is Apple is going to become more and more of a target of these anti-capitolism moves the more enormous the whole iTunes/iPod sect becomes. Everyone wants to upset a good thing. Apple should be allowed to make all the money they can for offering such an easy way for us all to enjoy our music. If you dont like it.....buy something else. Its called competition. Nice and healthy competition.
If the French think they can do it better let them deal with not having ANY ipods available for their citizens. Because obviously thats what Apple will do. ( AT least I think so.) Why would Apple change a recipe that is the biggest thing since the Walkman in the early 80's. The French are proving once again that they hate all things American. Which is fine because seemingly the feelings are mutal.
WAKE UP FRANCE!!! Its called Capitolism.
Originally posted by Zubba
This is not about conusmer protection, or consumer rights. This is about France trying to protect native companies from competition. Apple will pull it's music store from France, and that is exactly what French politicians, backed by French companies eager to fill the void, want.
Protectionist policies veiled as consumer protection.
I say we boycott all things French, and start calling them freedom fries again.
Amen...AMEN!!!!
Originally posted by Robin Hood
By the way, the iTunes Music Store France is not a French company, it's based out of Luxembourg or some such place. As such, I do not see how it would be affected by this new law.
And in any case, they already supply a method of making iTunes purchases compatible with other devices. It's called 'Burn to CD'.
The real issue here is for DVD production and Music subscription services which do not allow you to burn to CD. ie. all the Microsoft services.
Now I can rip them to my video iPod!
What's that? I won't be able to?
Just as I thought, this bill (and that's all it is) is so going nowhere!
Originally posted by Dean812
WAKE UP FRANCE!!! Its called Capitolism.
Capitalism even. Want to buy a dictionary?
Originally posted by Mr. H
I'm surprised by the
The fact that Apple can get away with a closed DRM scheme is highly annoying. Legislation such as this would help consumers, not hinder them. Except, if it only happens in France, Apple will probably just exit that market and nothing will change.
Ridiculous. iTunes exists thanks to the protections the recording industry demanded, not the other way around. Consumers can take their business elsewhere if they don't like it. Go buy a Samsung player or a Sony player with their lousy design. I dare you.
Apple can live without Paris.
Originally posted by JimDreamworx
Cool! No more copy protection on DVDs in France!
Now I can rip them to my video iPod!
What's that? I won't be able to?
Just as I thought, this bill (and that's all it is) is so going nowhere!
You could have done this at any time anyway.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11943799/from/RSS/
and
http://www.cnn.com/2006/BUSINESS/03/....ap/index.html
What if Apple stops selling iPods 10 years down the road like they stopped selling printers? Bang, all the music you "bought" is gone. What if the competition develops a better player? a smaller, cheaper, whatever? You are locked in if you bought at iTMS.
I don't believe the above statement is true. I can burn any song I've bought on a cd, then do whatever I want with it. Who knows what will be available 10 years from now. I don't recall crying when I switched from 8-track to cassette, or from cassette to CD's. Change happens, and you enjoy what is available at the time.
Anyway, I was under the impression that one could have an opinion without being called "a boneheaded nationalist". Oh well, it seems that most here so far are somewhat against what France is doing here, so I am not alone.
Personally, I could care less what they do in France. It is an interesting topic, and as an Apple stockholder, I have a right to an opinion. I never said that France would fall apart if they lost itunes, just that it is a possibility that Apple could choose to pull out of France if they so choose.
As I said I wasn't ultra familar with Monopoly Law (microeconomics isn't my favorite subject) but when would you consider Apple a monopoly on the Downloadable Music and MP3 Player Market? Wasn't there market share for both industries like 80% thats pretty damn close to being a monopoly.
For all the complaining and moaning from all you people, interoperability is great. If this was the other way around and they made a law that hurt MS more then Apple you'd be praising it. Hopefully this will get companies to start offering DRMless music.
Originally posted by European guy
What Boccaccini said !
Apple's DRM IS NOT CLOSED !
Burn the music into CD and rip it to whatever piece of shit mp3 player you have ! Done !
Where's the problem ?
You're confused. The original file is still Closed. The copy of the file you suggest making is the one that's not Closed. Is it really that hard to understand.
The exact ramifications are still up in the air, but Apple has to adhere to existing agreements with record labels so I doubt Apple will open up the iTMS. I doubt they want to drop the store, but they may. I think they'd rather sell more devices like iPods and Mac minis, however these are increasingly tied to the iTMS and its content, so who knows.
The big question is if this law also applies to video. I suppose iTunes can still be available, its just that the iTMS might be disabled.
Originally posted by macFanDave
Hypocrites!
The French have never lifted a finger to force interoperability of computer software, gaming consoles, etc. that would help consumers. So, why the sudden assault on Apple (a perennial victim of Microsoft's lockout)?
It's not for the benefit of French consumers, it's to help out companies like FNAC and the French subsidiary of Virgin and other losers that failed to win the business of their countrymen.
FairPlay is the most consumer-friendly version of DRM, and DRM is the ONLY way the owners of content (not artists) will make the material they control available for legal download. FairPlay, therefore, is a necessary evil and Apple is to be commended for keeping it as consumer-friendly as it is.
At this point, Apple's only course is to shut down iTMS France on the day the law goes into effect and advise angry French consumers to take action against their legislators who caused the termination of service.
You're also confused - in order to make software iterorable with other operating systems you have to add something. In order to make Fairplay AAC tracks work with other music players you have to remove something. There lies the difference.
Originally posted by scavanger
For all the complaining and moaning from all you people, interoperability is great. If this was the other way around and they made a law that hurt MS more then Apple you'd be praising it. Hopefully this will get companies to start offering DRMless music.
This DOES hurt MS more than Apple. It blows large holes in the side of their subscription services.
[i] then you'll hear France do what they do best.....whine. [/B]
the only people I can hear whining are americans..
Originally posted by Zubba
I say we boycott all things French, and start calling them freedom fries again. [/B]
Call them Belgian Fries. It's a hell of a lot more accurate, as that's where they're from.
That, or English Chips (but cut them thicker!).
Don't be a land of pissants and call them Freedom Fries, it's lame and xenophobic. There's no single way to live life, and the French are always different, but does it make them wrong all the time?
Originally posted by aegisdesign
That Associated Press piece is doing the rounds but can anyone spot the difference between the report on...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11943799/from/RSS/
and
http://www.cnn.com/2006/BUSINESS/03/....ap/index.html
What I don't get is how:
Apple: AAC (Open Specification) + Fairplay (Proprietary DRM)
is somehow MORE proprietary than
Windows: WMA (Proprietary) + PlaysForSure (Proprietary)
Sony: ATRAC (Proprietary) + whatever they use (Proprietary)
Why these articles are written in such a way is beyond me, but it does seem likely that there's some behind the scenes stuff going on to try and damage Apple's system.