Music Executives Dismiss Call to End Digital Rights Management: FT
Apple's CEO Steve Jobs called for the end of digital rights management (DRM) technology in an open letter published Tuesday. However, according to the Financial Times, music executives have dismissed his suggestion as disingenuous. They argue that inter-operability between devices would be improved if Apple were to license its own DRM to other companies rather than doing away with the protections altogether.
DRM is software designed to stop copyrighted music from being shared illicitly. Jobs says Apple would sell only DRM-free music on iTunes if it could.
Jobs published an open letter on Tuesday arguing that selling music online without such protections would make it easier for consumers to listen to music on different devices, boosting the overall market.
The Financial Times reports that said music executives also suggested that Jobs’s true motive was to defuse legal problems in Europe, where Apple is being asked to make iTunes compatible with other devices.
