Over the weekend there were news reports that US trade negotiators had linked success in WTO talks with Russia with the curailment of the popular music site allofmp3.com. An amazing display of lobbying muscle by the lawyers of the US music industry.
This was followed by a bullish response from a representative of Media Services, the Russian company behind allofmp3.com.
Today the BBC website and other news feeds are reporting that Visa and Mastercard (both US companies) have now decided not to allow cardholders to conduct transactions with allofmp3.com. Why? The publicly quoted reason is concern about the legality of allofmp3.com in Russia (although this has not really been questioned previously). Probably they're more concerned that if US lobbying goes the way of Kazaa the card issuers might find themselves jointly liable should the music industry start lobbing out lawsuits.
Will this be the final nail in the coffin of DRM free music? Well, there'll probably be other ways to pay - such as PayPal, but I guess its only a matter of time before that route to the loot gets choked off too.
A plentiful supply of digital music that you could really move from platform to platform, just as you though you could do with iTunes Music Store, and all at low prices. Those were the days, thanks music industry, your customers will endlessly thank you for this price hike.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Ripping Tortoises
When you rip as many CDs as we do you become hyper sensitive to the way computers perform. Little glitches, when you're up against a deadline, become massive headaches. Usually its just the user being a little cranky. Until iTunes 7.
I'll admit to being bowled over by the new facilities. So we put iTunes 7.0 on all our production machines. Soon it became apparent that this new platform isn't just slow, it takes slow to a new dimension. But here's the funny thing, maybe that should be funny in quotes.
iTunes on OS X (the Mac operating system) seems unchanged. Macs have for long been the fastest rippers, particualarly with freestanding CD readers connected via FireWire. But on Windows, well we're talking less than half previous ripping speeds. In practice we've had 60 min CDs take 90 mins to rip, 30 mins per CD became the norm solidly on one machine. Looking at the user support forums at Apple everyone has found the same problem with iTunes 7.0.
There have been suggestions that the suddenly released 7.0.1 would solve the problem, so we upraded again across the board. Here's where 'funny' gets to be 'fishy'. On two machines speed has definitely increased but not up to previous maximum rates, on the others there's been no noticeable difference, so later today all machines except one will be put back to pre iTunes 7.0. If you're experiencing the same issues I'd suggest you do the same, then when your ripping is done you can switch to the latest version for the clever new options.
But all this has set me thinking. Why did it happen? Surely someone in Apple's development team would have noticed this drop in speed and realise the outcry there'd be from the user base? The cynic in me says yes, they must have known, so why did they do it?
Well, it defintely hits Windows machines much harder than Apple's own platform, and the iLife suite (which includes iTunes) is a cutting edge tool in persuading Windows lovers to jump ship in favour of Macs. Second, there has been massive pressure on Apple from the music industry to avoid what music moguls see as piracy.
And that really set me thinking. In the original design of the iPod it was perfectly feasible to be able to drag music off an iPod onto any connected computer. The iPod is a special type of portable hard disc, so it would be possible for iPod users to drop off a copy of their music library at the computer of everybody they met. Following pressure from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) this was lopped off. Yes, there have been several companies offering after market software to do this (XPlay 2 from Mediafour.com is my favoutite), but no Apple feature for years. That is until guess what, yes - Release 7.0 neatly pops the feature back.
Have the RIAA forgotten all about this? Have they given up the witch hunt on piracy? Perhaps, or maybe there's another entirely innocent explanation.
Maybe I'm paranoid, but could it be that extra slow ripping is the price Apple had to pay to get this extra degree of music portability put back into iTunes? The industry here in the UK and America hate the idea of people ripping their own CDs. If I were in their position I'd know that extra slow ripping would discourage many users and make buying those tracks from iTunes Music Store so much more attractive. Well, that's my take on it. How would we know? Well just watch your speed of ripping in iTunes 7 and beyond. If it suddenly jumps back to normal, I'll eat my words.
But just to add to my conspiracy theory. Another popular piece of software used to 'rip' DVDs to play on iPods has seen an even worse reduction in speed. The RIAA works closely with its Motion Picture counterpart.
I'll admit to being bowled over by the new facilities. So we put iTunes 7.0 on all our production machines. Soon it became apparent that this new platform isn't just slow, it takes slow to a new dimension. But here's the funny thing, maybe that should be funny in quotes.
iTunes on OS X (the Mac operating system) seems unchanged. Macs have for long been the fastest rippers, particualarly with freestanding CD readers connected via FireWire. But on Windows, well we're talking less than half previous ripping speeds. In practice we've had 60 min CDs take 90 mins to rip, 30 mins per CD became the norm solidly on one machine. Looking at the user support forums at Apple everyone has found the same problem with iTunes 7.0.
There have been suggestions that the suddenly released 7.0.1 would solve the problem, so we upraded again across the board. Here's where 'funny' gets to be 'fishy'. On two machines speed has definitely increased but not up to previous maximum rates, on the others there's been no noticeable difference, so later today all machines except one will be put back to pre iTunes 7.0. If you're experiencing the same issues I'd suggest you do the same, then when your ripping is done you can switch to the latest version for the clever new options.
But all this has set me thinking. Why did it happen? Surely someone in Apple's development team would have noticed this drop in speed and realise the outcry there'd be from the user base? The cynic in me says yes, they must have known, so why did they do it?
Well, it defintely hits Windows machines much harder than Apple's own platform, and the iLife suite (which includes iTunes) is a cutting edge tool in persuading Windows lovers to jump ship in favour of Macs. Second, there has been massive pressure on Apple from the music industry to avoid what music moguls see as piracy.
And that really set me thinking. In the original design of the iPod it was perfectly feasible to be able to drag music off an iPod onto any connected computer. The iPod is a special type of portable hard disc, so it would be possible for iPod users to drop off a copy of their music library at the computer of everybody they met. Following pressure from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) this was lopped off. Yes, there have been several companies offering after market software to do this (XPlay 2 from Mediafour.com is my favoutite), but no Apple feature for years. That is until guess what, yes - Release 7.0 neatly pops the feature back.
Have the RIAA forgotten all about this? Have they given up the witch hunt on piracy? Perhaps, or maybe there's another entirely innocent explanation.
Maybe I'm paranoid, but could it be that extra slow ripping is the price Apple had to pay to get this extra degree of music portability put back into iTunes? The industry here in the UK and America hate the idea of people ripping their own CDs. If I were in their position I'd know that extra slow ripping would discourage many users and make buying those tracks from iTunes Music Store so much more attractive. Well, that's my take on it. How would we know? Well just watch your speed of ripping in iTunes 7 and beyond. If it suddenly jumps back to normal, I'll eat my words.
But just to add to my conspiracy theory. Another popular piece of software used to 'rip' DVDs to play on iPods has seen an even worse reduction in speed. The RIAA works closely with its Motion Picture counterpart.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
International Protest by Anti-DRM Group
Consumers are often unenthusiastic about digital protections, but one group is diabolically opposed to it. DefectiveByDesign, a group that first grabbed attention in June, has targeted the use of DRM protections by companies like Apple. On Tuesday, 3rd October Defective coordinated a series of protests in cities around the world, including Lisbon, Tel-Aviv, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Milan. The group proclaimed the occasion "Defeating DRM Day," and asked its supporters to raise awareness both online and off.
The group, which points to DRM as a shackle on digital freedoms, is hoping to discourage companies from using protections in future technologies. "DRM is more than a nuisance," Defective by Design declared in a recent statement. "The film and music industry are setting the agenda to increase their control," the manifesto continued. The group has urged consumers to
stay away from products like "Blu-ray and HD-DVD, iTunes, Windows Media Player, Zune, and Amazon Unbox." Meanwhile, digital music and media fans are often aware of the issue, and actively avoid DRM-protected content - not by
staging protests, but by simply avoiding assets like paid downloads. Pricing is also a factor, though major labels are starting to experiment with MP3-based downloads, something unthinkable even one year ago.
The group, which points to DRM as a shackle on digital freedoms, is hoping to discourage companies from using protections in future technologies. "DRM is more than a nuisance," Defective by Design declared in a recent statement. "The film and music industry are setting the agenda to increase their control," the manifesto continued. The group has urged consumers to
stay away from products like "Blu-ray and HD-DVD, iTunes, Windows Media Player, Zune, and Amazon Unbox." Meanwhile, digital music and media fans are often aware of the issue, and actively avoid DRM-protected content - not by
staging protests, but by simply avoiding assets like paid downloads. Pricing is also a factor, though major labels are starting to experiment with MP3-based downloads, something unthinkable even one year ago.
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