MESSAGE
| DATE | 2007-01-25 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] DRM is Theft itunes
|
Netherlands joins European rebellion against Apple's iTunes rules The
Associated Press Published: January 25, 2007
E-Mail Article Listen to Article Printer-Friendly 3-Column Format
Translate Share Article Add to Clippings
Text Size
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands: The Dutch consumer protection agency said
Thursday it has joined a drive by consumer rights groups in Germany,
France, and the Nordic countries to force Apple Inc. to change the rules
it imposes on customers of its online music store.
Consumentenbond spokesman Ewald van Kouwen said his group had filed
a formal complaint with the Dutch antitrust watchdog NMa asking it to
investigate what he called "illegal practices" by Apple's iTunes Store.
"What we want from Apple is that they remove the limitations that prevent
you from playing a song you download from iTunes on any player other
than an iPod," he said.
"When you buy a music CD it doesn't play only on players made by
Panasonic. People who download a song from iTunes shouldn't be bound to
an iPod for the rest of their lives."
Currently, songs bought on iTunes can be played only on iPods,
and an iPod can't play downloads from other stores with similar
premium content from major artists — like Napster Inc.'s
service or Sony Corp.'s Connect. Today in Business New chief
breaks with tradition to remake Ford Fearing a strike, BA cancels
flights Climate change expert seeks expansion of carbon trading <A
HREF="http://ad.fr.doubleclick.net/click%3Bh=v8/34e6/3/0/%2a/a%3B20438110%3B0-0%3B0%3B4944048%3B6734-190/90%3B12112130/12130026/1%3B%3B%7Esscs%3D%3fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com/products/timesselect/iht/overview.html?excamp=ts:iht_more"
TARGET="_blank"><IMG
SRC="http://m.fr.2mdn.net/518758/backup_iht_170x60.gif" WIDTH="170"
HEIGHT="60" ALT="Click here..." BORDER="0"></a>
On Monday, a spokesman told The Associated Press that Apple is "aware
of the concerns we've heard from several agencies in Europe."
"Apple hopes that European governments will encourage a competitive
environment that lets innovation thrive," Tom Neumayr said then. The
company declined further comment Thursday.
Van Kouwen said his group was "inspired" by Norway's consumer ombudsman,
who on Monday gave the company a Sept. 30 deadline to change its rules
or face legal action.
Simmering European discontent with Apple's rules first boiled over in
June 2006, when consumer agencies in Norway, Denmark and Sweden claimed
that Apple's practices violated contract and copyright laws.
French consumer lobby UFC-Que Choisir and its German counterpart
Ferbraucherzentralen joined the effort late last year, along with
Finland's Kuluttajavirasto.
In August, France passed a law that giving regulators power to force
Apple to license its software or hardware to rivals so they can make
compatible music players and stores.
Early drafts of the law would have ordered the outright removal of DRM or
"digital rights management" software — which prevents song files from
playing on other players. Apple, which only reached agreement with major
record labels to license their music by agreeing to add DRM software,
complained the law was tantamount to "state-sponsored piracy."
But in its final form it has not led to any significant change in Apple's
practices in France.
Van Kouwen said it will take months for the NMa watchdog to investigate
the complaint against Apple, but he was confident the agency would find
Apple is abusing a "dominant position" in the music download market.
In the meanwhile the Consumentenbond is advising Dutch consumers not
to buy iPods or use iTunes, but instead buy generic mp3 players and
use services like eMusic, owned by JDS Capital Management Inc., which
doesn't add DRM software to its songs.
"They're growing like crazy, and have much lower prices than iTunes,"
he said.
He conceded that eMusic's offerings don't contain many of the most
popular international artists.
Van Kouwen said the Consumentenbond would also oppose Microsoft Corp.'s
use of DRM software on music for its new Zune player "or Sony or any
company that does so."
_____
-- http://www.mrbrklyn.com - Interesting Stuff http://www.nylxs.com -
Leadership Development in Free Software
So many immigrant groups have swept through our town that Brooklyn, like
Atlantis, reaches mythological proportions in the mind of the world -
RI Safir 1998
http://fairuse.nylxs.com DRM is THEFT - We are the STAKEHOLDERS -
RI Safir 2002
"Yeah - I write Free Software...so SUE ME"
"The tremendous problem we face is that we are becoming sharecroppers
to our own cultural heritage -- we need the ability to participate in
our own society."
"> I'm an engineer. I choose the best tool for the job, politics be
damned.< You must be a stupid engineer then, because politcs and
technology have been attacted at the hip since the 1st dynasty in
Ancient Egypt. I guess you missed that one."
|
|
