From a friend, posted on my Facebook wall:
Just so you know, as soon as I read the Steve Jobs "Thoughts on Music" memo, one of my first reactions was to see what marteydodoo.com had to say about it. The world waits, Martey…
I initially did not write anything about this because I did not think it was very important. Yes, several large media organizations reporting on it considered it groundbreaking that Jobs was calling for an end to DRM:
Mr. Jobs's appeal, posted on the company's Web site Tuesday, came in the form of an essay titled "Thoughts on Music," but in essence it was a letter to the "Big 4" music companies: Universal, Sony BMG, Warner and EMI.
Good ol' Steve Jobs! Fighting for the rights of the American consumer against Big Music! He really cares about the little guy, right?
No, of course not. The true audience of Jobs' memo is evident by his last paragraph:
Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries. Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard. The largest, Universal, is 100% owned by Vivendi, a French company. EMI is a British company, and Sony BMG is 50% owned by Bertelsmann, a German company. Convincing them to license their music to Apple and others DRM-free will create a truly interoperable music marketplace. Apple will embrace this wholeheartedly.
Could this possibly be related to the growing furor in European legislatures and courts regarding the possible illegality of Apple's Fairplay DRM? Could Jobs be trying to redirect the anger of European consumers against record companies instead of Apple, Inc.? No, of course not.
Informative Articles
Norwegian Jon Lech Johansen has written a series of three posts skewering Jobs' memo:
- Steve's Thoughts on Music - why Jobs' claim that the music industry is forcing Jobs' hand in respect to DRM is wrong.
- Steve's misleading statistics - how Jobs is manipulating facts about the iTunes Music Store in order to make it seems as if consumer lock-in is not a problem with the iPod.
- Steve on licensing FairPlay - how licensing FairPlay to other companies (like RealNetworks, for example) would not hurt security.
Also of interest is James Willcox's short post on why the history of Apple's ever-increasing restriction of iTunes' music sharing feature shows that they are not really interested in convergence and usability.
Ah, so…
Your response leaves me similarly unsatisfied. Even if, as you say, Jobs has some ulterior motives for writing, does his argument itself stand or fall in your enlightened opinion?
I think it should be clear where I stand on the issue of DRM; I do not like it nor do I think it is necessary. I did not come to this conclusion on my own - I was aided and inspired along the way by various online mentors and associates, my high school physics teacher, the Free Software movement, and figures like Lawrence Lessig. To paraphrase Newton, if my opinion is enlightened, it is because my view has been illuminated by the torches of giants.
While the question of whether Jobs is right about whether the online music market needs DRM is interesting to others, in my mind the question has already been answered in the affirmative. As I stated above, it is more interesting to see if Jobs' supposedly anti-DRM convictions will translate into concrete action.
OK, Martey…again…so if you were Jobs would you remove DRM from your music? Are you saying that Apple should/could do this, or would the record companies then revoke digital music privileges? Is Jobs right or wrong in his depiction of the state of things?
Let me put it this way - if everything Jobs says is correct, then Apple will convince the record companies to let it sell music without DRM. According to Jobs, this would be in Apple's best interest, and we know from prior events that Apple always acts in its best interests. Le me also say that I do not think this is what will happen.
Reasonable, I guess.