Since the release of PyMusique, you can’t swing a stick without smacking some pundit talking about Apple and digital rights management. Everyone has a side, it seems. Most are railing against Apple, some are insulting Jon Johansen (DVD Jon), and others just don’t give a rats ass. I guess I walk the middle road with a leaning towards free extremism.

The problem as I see it

I should say first that I use the iTMS. It has gotten a good chunk of change from me. Not as much as from other people to be sure, but a respectable amount. I love it. It has totally changed how I listen to music. I rarely bought albums because I only wanted one or two songs off of it. I usually wouldn’t purchase an album since I was always afraid that the rest of it would suck (and I was usually right). The music industry has gotten a lot more money from me since the iTMS than they would have without it.

I also don’t steal music. I got into the game late (post-Napster) and on the wrong platform (no Kazaa). I also found most of the music to be crap and I hated downloading several versions of a song to find the one version without audible pops and hisses or at a horrible bit rate or that was edited (I hate censuring, even of explicit language). I also despised going through my iTunes library and trying to clean up after trying several songs out. All told, I probably stole maybe 15 songs. Tops. Since the iTMS, I’ve actually bought several of them just to have a better version (audible quality means something to me).

With this in mind, I strongly support Apple and the iTMS. It isn’t infallible, but I like it. I also don’t have a problem with the DRM. It doesn’t affect me. I listen to my songs on my iPod or at my computer. I can always burn them off onto a CD although I do that very sparingly. The only sticking point is the reductions in being able to share your music. I want full sharing, over the internet, including bought songs. I guess people could steal them by streaming them but I think there are more serious issues to worry about. Besides, people could stream from any audio source so this fear is irrational in that it can’t be solved. If the DRM really infringed upon me and I couldn’t use other methods to strip it, I could always stream it and record it using something like Audio Hijack and then reimport it.

I don’t think the DRM is good for consumers. I think that it definitely violates what I consider consumer rights. It lets other people tell me how I can use my music. No thanks, mister. Luckily, they tell me that I can use it exactly how I want to use it. If I were infringed upon, I’d probably be right there trying to fight the machine but as it is, I’m able to buy more and more pieces of my slavery. Should the DRM change for the worse (again), I could be screwed. Then I’d be upset. I guess I’m cool with it until I bump into it but I think I should be more proactive and take a stand against it. I know I don’t agree with it.

On the other hand, we have various laws that protect us. At least, we do at the moment. Congress can always fuck things up and I don’t trust them, either. So long as I can assume that US government backs me, I think I’m much more placid about it. I’m interested in seeing this fought out in court.

Who do we blame?

Apple is the easy target. They are ultimately in control. However, I’m not sure this is what Apple wants. I certainly hope this isn’t. The iTMS still has a rather liberal DRM compared to other services. There have been stories of Jobs standing up to the music companies over the issue of how much to charge for songs. They have also shifted rights around in the DRM that take away from one area but expands in another. I think all of this shows that Apple is caught in a particularly worrisome no-mans-land. They’re getting shelled by the music companies that want complete control and also from the consumers that want complete control. Apple can’t do one without offending the other.

I’d like to blame the music industry for this. They are the big, bad, faceless corporation that eats babies, right? They also have an amazingly ignorant view of modern technology and distribution. RIAA suing dead people, anyone? But ultimately they are looking after the one thing that matters to them: profits. They want more. They’re also afraid something might slip through their fingers if they don’t have a strong enough choke hold. They are just doing what is expected from them. We expect them to make money and do this stuff. It’s just the capitalist model. If they weren’t putting the screws to Apple on this, I think there’d be something wrong in the universe.

I’m going to stop right now and say it isn’t the consumers. Period. Insult me again and I’ll smack you.

It also isn’t DVD Jon or his cohorts. Like the music industry, they are doing what is right by them. And God bless them for it. They are exposing holes in technology that no one would think about. They are making things better by breaking them. They are also standing up for consumer’s rights by attacking practices that they think are wrong. I admire them for that.

Altogether, I think that the music industry and Apple have to hash it out over the needs of the consumers. Apple can’t keep backing down to the industry or else the customers will jump ship.

My prescription

I’m sure everyone has some idea of how to fix this. I certainly have mine. I don’t think sending nasty emails to Apple is appropriate. Neither is writing scathing blog post. My solution comes in from several angles.

First, consumers have to say “no.” The music industry isn’t going to get it on their own. Bloggers need to make this apparent. Editorials need to be written to newspapers. Digital rights management needs to be made into a political issue. Everyone needs to be aware and talking about it.

In the same vein, we have to keep our politicians honest. I’ll continue when you stop laughing…

We can’t let politicians and special interests (i.e. the music industry) rewrite the law. We have to stand up for our rights as consumers. We need to be aware of existing laws such as the DCMA and make sure our rights are not further eroded by Congress. This means writing letters to Congress-people and voting. And the occasional car bombing.

We also all need JHymn. It’s just good to keep on hand in case the shit hits the fan. I haven’t used it yet but I keep it handy in case I do.

We need to support DVD Jon in a particular manner. We need to appreciate what and why he’s doing it but only in ways that we condone. So long as he isn’t stealing songs, I’m cool with it. As long as he isn’t hijacking something or making some illegal profit or embedding malware on our machines, he’s kosher. Ethical hacking is a good thing™. They’re fighting for the consumers and keeping the corporations on their toes. Without them, the suits may think they could get away with anything.