iTunes Plus replaces DRM with paranoia
As audiophiles that manage their music collection through Apple’s iTunes upgrade their libraries to DRM free files, they are being hit with fees and other unpleasant surprises. The strangest being the tagging of their music files with personal information in an attempt to bully would-be file sharers.
Even music that was purchased before Apple relaxed DRM requirements can be upgraded to iTunes Plus. This upgrade removes the DRM protection that prevents a user from copying music onto another computer, even if it’s his or her own.
However the upgrade to iTunes Plus files come at a price. Even though buyers already paid a dollar per track, they must pay an additional 30 cents per song to remove the DRM protection.
While this amount may be relatively small, it can start to add up for early adopters of Apple’s iTunes music store. Plus a 30 percent fee is outrageous in terms of the overall price of a track.
Once upgraded, the files are still in Apple’s proprietary AAC music format. If you intend to play these on most standard MP3 players, you’ll still have to convert them through iTunes to make a playable file.
But don’t let those DRM-free files stray too far from your home computer. Each file is tagged with your personal information to discourage file sharing.
Aren’t we supposed to be in a warmer, fuzzier era of copyright protection? Even the RIAA has given up harassing individual file sharers in favor of going after companies that facilitate the behavior.
The blogosphere has already dubbed this new approach “social DRM.” It seems like good old-fashioned fear mongering to me, courtesy of Apple.
Tagging my music files with my name is a blatant disregard for my privacy, no matter how hard I try to hold onto my files. Further, I doubt it will stop anyone savvy enough to use a torrent client from deleting the tags and uploading the files anonymously.
Related Posts:
January 13th, 2009
No audiophile truly worth the title would ever have their collection based in iTunes, for the simple reason that the quality of sound reproduction typical of Itunes, and compressed digital audio in general, is appallingly bad by audiophile standards.
Don’t ever let Apple’s hype about iTunes or the iPod ever blind you to the fact that 128kb digital sound is vastly inferior to CD quality. Even higher bit rates like 320kb still run distant second to CDs.
(I know it is a small nitpick largely unrelated to the story, but as an audiophile myself, I would like to see the term applied appropriately).
January 13th, 2009
Invasion of privacy? Hilarious. Don’t share your files!
January 13th, 2009
AAC is not an apple proprietary format. DRM free AAC works on any decent music player from SanDisk, Sony, even Zunes.
BTW if you’re a really an audiophile you’re not using CDs, you’re using vinyl. There’s a reason why records are still printed today.
January 14th, 2009
“Tagging my music files with my name is a blatant disregard for my privacy, no matter how hard I try to hold onto my files”
…Just how hard is it to hold onto your files? Do you share music with others in your sleep?
Apple is completely within their legal rights and justified in this action.
February 9th, 2009
Thanks for a post about iTunes Plus …
Regards,
SBL – Video tagging