Comments on: DRM Still Strong With Apple, Just Different

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:59:38 +0000

I also agree with most of the comments here. There’s no reason to consider this an issue unless you plan to distribute your purchases, which is not within fair use. This is how it should have been all along. DRM was always too strict, but completely anonymous files takes it to the opposite extreme. This is a happy compromise.

And as others pointed out, if you are so inclined to distribute your music, or perhaps you want to share a song with a friend and don’t want to worry where it goes from there, it’s a simple two-click process in iTunes to convert it to MP3.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:34:21 +0000

Apple has not made an attempt to hide this. This information is plainly available for view within iTunes itself. Those who complain about this are not the people who opposed DRM due to fair use. The complainers are would be pirates that are apparently to technically inept to open up a binary editor and simply remove their personal information. Really, it’s not a big deal.

By: Nuno

Nuno — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 10:53:49 +0000

All of the above: spot on. I see no problem in it either.

I’d add that an email address is hardly a social security number.

“Social DRM”? seriously. c’mon, it doesn’t cripple the media in anyway and *that* is what is really wrong with DRM anyway.

By: MacSheikh

MacSheikh — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:11:39 +0000

I absolutely agree with everyone above. What’s the big deal? If you don’t intend to “gift” your songs to the world, what’s the problem? Any reasonably knowledgeable person will know this is not a license for unlimited freedom to pirate the music. The ones who do distribute them are those who will do so regardless of DRM or not.

Come on, this is at best a non-issue and worst just an attempt to dig up crap where there is none. Get over it.

And the EFF? Please…to me, they lost the plot long ago.

By: smartchina

smartchina — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:05:52 +0000

So this is perfect. I can now actually freely own my tracks and I am hardly going to worry about my email address being embedded if I don’t do anything illegal. They are hardly going to prosecute me for sharing songs with my wife but may well do so if i post them on P2P. Anyone complaining about this is a thief, pure and simple.

By: Patrick

Patrick — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 00:35:50 +0000

Yeah, there’s no DRM in the tracks anymore. I can play them now on whatever, and however many, devices I own now without paying a penalty in lost quality by burning and re-ripping. Who cares if your email is in the track… unless, of course, you’re wanting to do illegal things with it? At which point, I don’t care what you think about it.

By: punkcoder

punkcoder — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:26:43 +0000

I thought they also embedded this information because it helps with their complete my album feature? It’s funny that people go crazy over this, because it kind of shows the real intention of some of them. To me, if that song is no longer tied to my machine, and I can play it on any music device, the DRM is gone.

By: andyzhang

andyzhang — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:22:48 +0000

Personally, I think this is good to give people freedom without displeasing music companies. Stop whining, nobody cares about your email address – at least as long as you don’t go nuts with it on torrent, in which case the consequences are deserved.

By: Gazoobee

Gazoobee — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:17:22 +0000

Putting the name or email of the purchaser in the file is not “DRM” even if you use the (made-up) term “social DRM.” By that reckoning, putting your name in your schoolbooks is “DRM” when most people would think it was merely identification.

This has also *always* been the case with *all* music and video files form iTunes. It’s also easily removable.

Why is it a big deal now?

By: Bill H

Bill H — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 23:03:21 +0000

This move changes the game from controlling the copying of a song to controlling the distribution a song (to other people). Focusing on controlling distribution enables me to copy the song as much as I want or need so I can play on a variety of personal devices. I only get in “trouble” if I distribute it beyond my personal use. That seems fair.

By: Alex

Alex — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:52:15 +0000

Why the hell is this the topic of the day? It doesn’t hinder your ability to play it on a Creative Zen or something. Besides, this is an OLD topic; this topic arose when iTunes Plus first appeared.

You could also always convert them inside iTunes. This gets rid of your iTunes account info if you wish to share it on The Pirate Bay… I mean, if you don’t want your email address in a music file for “no reason.”

By: DTNick

DTNick — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:16:59 +0000

iirc, this issue came up when Apple first announced iTunes Plus. Me, I see nothing wrong with it; it isn’t like I’ll be sharing music on P2P or BitTorrent anyway.