One small step at a time...
Norway Outlaws iTunes
Thursday, January 25, 2007
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One small step at a time...
Norway Outlaws iTunes
Posted by
Michael
at
1/25/2007 10:23:00 PM PERMALINK
Labels: copyright, Rights and Freedoms, tech
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1 comments:
From
http://blogs.pcworld.com/digitalworld/archives/2007/01/norway_outlaws.html
Norway Outlaws iTunes
Good intentions, questionable execution. European legislators have been giving DRM considerable attention for a while, but Norway has actually gone so far as to declare that Apple's iTunes store is illegal under Norwegian law.
The crux of the issue is that the Fairplay DRM that is at the heart of the iTunes/iPod universe doesn't work with anything else, meaning that if you want access to the cast iTunes library, you have to buy an iPod. That didn't sit well with the Norwegian Consumer Council, the body that kicked the whole thing off by filing a complaint with Norway's consumer ombudsman. France and Germany have also joined in on the action. (See our earlier reports on Norway and France's ongoing debates here, here and here.)
Now, I'm not much for DRM (though I'll admit that Fairplay is comparatively liberal) and I resent theoretically having to buy an iPod in order to listen to iTunes downloads away from the computer. But as it happens millions of people don't seem to care. They have an iPod, they have iTunes, they get their music, and they're happy because the whole thing does what they want.
My use of the word "theoretically" seems to apply here. As far as I can tell, this entire case came about because of the theoretical problem of a closed system; but I wonder, how many Norwegian (or French or German) consumers were clamoring for Apple to open up iTunes?
I guess we'll find out soon enough. Apple has until October 1 to open up Fairplay to other companies, or face fines and the threat of iTunes being closed down in Norway. Since the first option is about as likely as Satan skating to work, Apple's only choice in the long run -- assuming endless legal wrangling fails -- will be to close iTunes in Norway, and possibly other European countries. I wonder how many consumers would go for that?
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