(Updated: see below) Well, the Apple-RealNetworks Harmony controversy has blown up and I’ll be documenting it in almost real time time (no pun intended!)…more to come later.
So first, Apple has released a terse statement: a “stunned” Apple accused RealNetworks of adopting the “tactics and ethics of a hacker” with the release of its Harmony software. “It is highly likely that Real’s Harmony technology will cease to work with current and future iPods,” the company said in its statement.
Then, RealNetworks released a counter statement: it contends that consumers, not Apple, should be the ones controlling which music files can be played on their iPods. In the statement, Real says the DMCA is not applicable to Harmony. (Full statement here)
So now, I’ll bring in other bloggers and analysts into the play:
– Fred Wilson: “I think this is blowing what Real did way out of proportion. For example there are a bunch of software applications that allow you to print to a PDF file that aren’t made by Adobe. There are a bunch of programs that allow you to create .xls and .doc programs that aren’t sold my Microsoft. Have these developers “hacked” into Acrobat, Word, and Excel? I don’t think so.”
– Derek Slater: Some legal perspective to this, and links to other legal views on this.
– Forrester’s View: As Apple’s 70 percent market share in portable devices and downloads erodes, the iPod maker could be forced to license its format or once again see a market it created swarmed by Microsoft-compatible hardware and software.
– Dan Gillmor: “I’m no fan of Real’s sometimes slippery ways, but if you don’t like Real you don’t have to use its service. To deny people who want more choices in how they use their iPod, however, strikes me as illogical.”
– Siva Vaidhyanathan: “If Apple is smart (as it occasionally is, but rarely in this domain) it will welcome Rhapsody users. Tethering may be the hot corporate move of the moment. It may be what all the consultants are pushing (corporate consultants are basically anti-competitive). But it
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