Steve Jobs Stirs Up the DRM Hornet’s Nest

2007 – Steve Jobs spoke to the world last Tuesday about his outlook on digital music and what, if any, continued role DRM would have in the marketplace of digital music. While carefully worded – indeed no talk of DRM as it relates to video was broached – the written statement linked from the Apple […]

Microsoft Zune Incompatible with Microsoft PlaysForSure Media

Microsoft has done some stupid things in the past, and we’ve taken our pot shots at their PlaysForSure initiative. Microsoft is a big, easy target. But now they’ve taken the next step and created an MP3 player that’s not compatible with their own PlaysForSure standard or DRM protected WMA and WMV files (see Microsoft’s Zune Won’t Play […]

Myth Busting: Microsoft PlaysForSure Is Not Hardware Neutral

2006 – “The clueless shall inherit the earth, because there are so many of them.” The latest example of that truism comes from Mike Langberg in his Monday column in the Mercury News. In Apple’s iTunes Solo Act Is Getting Competition (free subscription required), he explains both the Windows monopoly monoculture and the closed iPod/iTMS system.

Apple Sued for Providing Integrated Music Solution

2005 – In a legal system with more than enough stupid lawsuits, Thomas Slattery’s suit against Apple is one of the dumbest. For those who haven’t been paying attention or believed this had to be from of The Onion or Weekly World News, the truth is that Slattery has initiated a class action suit against Apple, […]