[Corp. Watch] Apple uses copyright to stifle competition, lock users down

[Corporation Watch]

Apple Shows Us DRM's True Colors

  by Richard Esguerra

(Electronic Frontier Foundation/Deeplinks blog, Jan. 7th) -- At this  
week's Macworld Expo, Apple announced that by April, music on the  
iTunes Store will no longer be shackled by digital rights management  
(DRM).

	Finally, DRM is good and fully dead for digital music -- gone from  
CDs, gone from downloads, and largely dead for streaming [over the  
Internet].
	Apple's announcement comes nearly a year after Amazon.com's DRM-free  
[music store] went live, demonstrating that the record labels were  
holding the DRM card until they could wring business concessions from  
Apple (in the form of variable pricing).

	[The record labels allowed Apple to sell DRM-free music in exchange  
for their being able to price songs according to their popularity on  
Apple's iTunes store.] This just underscores that DRM is not really  
about stopping piracy, but rather about leverage over authorized  
distributors.

	In fact, an inventory of Apple's remaining DRM armory makes it  
vividly clear that DRM -- backed by the Digital Millenium Copyright  
Act (DMCA) -- is almost always about eliminating legitimate  
competition, hobbling interoperability, and creating de facto  
technology monopolies:

  • Apple uses DRM to lock its iPhones to AT&T and Apple's iTunes  
application store

  • Apple uses DRM to prevent recent iPods from synching with software  
other than iTunes (and Apple claims it violates the DMCA to reverse  
engineer the software that prevents it)

  • Apple claims that it uses DRM to prevent its operating system from  
loading on generic [i.e., non-Apple] Intel computers

  • Apple's new Macbooks feature DRM-laden video ports that output  
only certain content to "approved" displays

  • Apple requires iPod accessory vendors to use a licensed  
"authentication chip" in their products in order to allow them to  
access certain features on newer iPods and iPhones

  • The iTunes store will still lock down movies and TV programs with  
DRM

  • Audiobook files purchased through the iTunes store will still be  
crippled by Audible.com's DRM restrictions.
	The majority of these DRM efforts do not have even an arguable  
relation to "piracy". And even where things like movies and audiobooks  
are concerned, DRM is not only futile, but will likely be counter- 
productive, making the "legitimate" [i.e., legally purchased]  
alternative less attractive than the [downloaded for free] options.

	This week's announcement is another step in the meltdown of DRM for  
music. But it is also a stark reminder that Apple remains at the  
forefront of employing DRM to shove competitors to the fringes and  
wrest control out of the hands of users.