Media companies are accused of treating customers 'like criminals'
Former Apple exec slams music DRM
/v3-uk/news/1987194/former-apple-exec-slams-music-drm
11 Nov 2005, Ken Young , V3
Mike Evangelist, former director of product marketing for Apple's 'Pro' applications, has criticised the recording industry's use of Digital Rights Management technology.
"The latest episode in the war between music companies and their paying customers, in which Sony has decided that it's OK to surreptitiously take over your PC so you can't make a copy of the music you thought you bought from them, has finally pushed me over the edge," he wrote in his blog.
Continuing in a manner that will not be going down well at Apple HQ, Evangelist said: "I have to believe that the record companies and movie studios would consider me a good customer.
"But with every day that passes it becomes more and more obvious that the greedy bastards who run these media companies prefer to treat me (and all their customers) like criminals.
"They continually expect us to pay more for less, and even then they are not satisfied. They want to pretend to 'sell' us their product, but they don't want us to actually have it. Well, I've had enough.
"From this day forward I will never spend another dime on content that I can't use the way I please. If I can't copy it to my hard drive and play it using the devices I want, when and where I want, I won't be buying it. Period."
In a response to a reader comment asking him whether he will be giving up the iTunes music store, Evangelist even admits to ripping iTunes content.
"I've spent a lot at the iTunes store, and feel that its restrictions are less objectionable than most others," he wrote. "But I still had to resort to third-party tools to remove the DRM so I can play my music with my Roku player. "
© Incisive Media Investments Limited 2010, Published by Incisive Financial Publishing Limited, Haymarket House, 28-29 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4RX, are companies registered in England and Wales with company registration numbers 04252091 & 04252093
Do you agree?
Get a Mac...
Sony poses ths question on their FAQ:
"3. How can I get tracks I rip from my CD into iTunes and/or onto my iPod?"
They say you can't because of Apple's restrictions with their DRM policy. What they don't say, in response, that all you need is to dump Windows and get a Mac--no problems importing the tracks into iTunes on a Mac.
Weird...
Posted by George, 11 Nov 2005
I wonder what tools is he talking about
I too wish that I could play my iTunes purchases thru my Tivo, but they are DRM encrypted. I wonder what tools he is talking about. I hope it's not the rip to cd and reencode ploy.
Posted by Fedup, 11 Nov 2005
Re: I wonder what tools is he talking about
> I too wish that I could play my iTunes purchases thru my Tivo
Have you ever used Google? Try the following search (w/o quotes) 'remove drm itunes'
You'll soon discover a way to (j)H_ear Y_uor M_usic N_ow
Posted by Jon, 11 Nov 2005
iTunes DRM removal tools
Perhaps you can find something here:
http://hymn-project.org/jhymndoc/
or here:
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/ipod-software/
Posted by genenyc, 11 Nov 2005
jHymn will Remove DRM
Little Java Apps like jHymn will cleanly remove the Record Companies ignorant lock on Music. Don't upgrade to 6.0 of iTunes however.
http://hymn-project.org/jhymndoc/
You can always use Audio HiJack, so no matter what Record Companies do, there is no technical way to lock out a pure electronic stream of Music.
Let the Music Play.
Posted by Wish you Knew, 11 Nov 2005
rip to CD ploy
isn't a third party tool, that's built into iTunes.
Posted by Geradin, 12 Nov 2005