GristyMcFisty used our news submit to tell us
the open source PlayFair program has really riled Apple. It is a iTunes DRM
circumvention software. Once hosted by SourceForge, Apple filed a cease and
desist order to have the file removed from their site. Of course they
complied. It has since been moved to this site in India that hosts work by
freeware creators. Apparently, it has not been moved far enough.
The organisation decided to |
This PlayFair situation is interesting in that one
has to have a key to play the file. Therefore, you could assume that it is a
legitimate track that has been paid for. It would seem fair that you could be
allowed to play it in other devices if you would like. What is Apples problem?
They already made money from the track, or did they?
In Apples defense, we must also remember that there
is another culprit out there, it's the record industry. I placed the image above
of the coins to remind us of our old buddies. In case you don't know, that is
the share of the take on the sale of a 99 cent track purchased online from
Apple. The rest goes to the artist or group, not much.
The labels have taken so much of the pot, that
Apple makes no money from the track once they have subtracted their overhead.
It's a break even situation for them. They have always claimed that the iTunes
player is how they make money. I can imagine how concerned they are to see
their system undermined. Why should they host files for other
players? Maybe if they made good money on the track sales, they
wouldn't worry about it so much. Either way, the record industry comes out
smelling like a rose and they never lifted a finger.
The situation may also remind us a bit of the DeCSS
program and the attempts to stop it's distribution. We can figure this
PlayFair file is being traded on P2P and also may show up on usenet, If it
hasn't already. Apple is surely concerned about that threat of
distribution for this file as well.
Source: The Inquirer
