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Digital Rights Management

M

modyouup

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 18, 2002
66
0
What the hell is digital rights management and why has Apple stooped low enough to intigrate it into iTunes 4? I have yet to install iTunes 4 because I'm afraid of this new thing.

Does this new crap like, somehow check if your mp3s are pirated and then send the gestapo to your house when something's detected?

Someone splain this new thing to me.
 
GOd people see DRM as such a bogeyman...

All DRM does is mean tracks that you purchase that are protected will only play on that computer or can have some other limitations built into them, it has no effect on your existing music collection.

As far as i'm concerned DRM is the only way we're going to have online music services - the industry needs to support itself somehow. The debate tends to be about exploitation, errosion of traditional 'blackup' rights etc. Apple's service lets you do an amazing range of stuff, i don't see a problem with it. IF THEY ACTUALLY ALLOWED THOSE OF US THAT ARE NOT IN THE USA TO BUY grrrrrrrrrrrrrr
 
Apple had to put in DRM or none of the record companies would come on board, but the again they haven'nt even made it super strict and its easy to get around it, i think apple just did the digital rights management implementation as a show of some effort for the record industry without REALLY implementing it. Because it is quite liberal.
 
I don't think it's going to be that easy to get around (there will be ways though, someone will crack it within 48 hours or the net just isn't what it used to be ;) - the CD Audio if re-ripped aparantly sounds ****e.
 
Originally posted by jaguarx
I don't think it's going to be that easy to get around (there will be ways though, someone will crack it within 48 hours or the net just isn't what it used to be ;) - the CD Audio if re-ripped aparantly sounds ****e.
Click to expand...

Thats what i was talking about, but your right, the aac will be cracked pretty soon.
 
Maybe not ACC itself (at least not first) but there will be a weak link in the chain somewhere, aparantly it allows unlimited ipods, maybe something do to with the way it handles that (considering all the apps to get music off the ipod are non-apple).
 
i dont know exactly how AAC works but i imagine that if you export from AAC to say mp3 or even a wav file, and then re-incode back to aac, wouldnt the copyritght get lost along the way? Im sure that aac to wav and then back to aac would rid you of any possible copyrighting. But who knows, you probably have to do this offline too. But good luck if you can figure out how it work, cheers
 
Originally posted by RectaAcies
i dont know exactly how AAC works but i imagine that if you export from AAC to say mp3 or even a wav file, and then re-incode back to aac, wouldnt the copyritght get lost along the way? Im sure that aac to wav and then back to aac would rid you of any possible copyrighting. But who knows, you probably have to do this offline too. But good luck if you can figure out how it work, cheers
Click to expand...

Theres a big problem with doing that. The quality lost in the song there will be quite big. From lossy format to lossy format is never going to be pretty.
 
Originally posted by jaguarx
Not just that but i doubt it will let you turn it into even wav (nonlossy) - DRM.
Click to expand...

And then again wav is a waste of space seeing thats its completely uncompressed.
 
It won't be the end of the music business even if DRM systems are cracked, as long as buying music legally is cheap enough and easy enough that many/most people will stay legit.

DRM can operate by restricting when/how you can play music, but there's another way it could all work. Suppose that when you buy a song, you get a fully enabled copy with no restrictions at all, but the file has a watermark that identifies the vendor (e.g., Apple) and customer number (e.g., you) from which it was purchased. You can use your music any way you want forever - play it on all 1000 of your home computers, put it on CDs, DVDs, etc. But if you give it or sell it to anyone else, it can be proven because that copy can identify you.

If we have to live with some kind of DRM, I wonder which the public would prefer: restriction or identification?
 
Hmmmm.....

Bought something from Apple. Burned it to CD, which turns it into AIFF. Reimported it (using Amadeus or any other program) and it sounds the same to me. Or does someone with a more sensitive ear (and more time) find a lot more degradation?
 
But if you give it or sell it to anyone else, it can be proven because that copy can identify you.
Click to expand...
Assuming someone doesn't find a way of removing the watermark.

It comes down to this: Anything can and will be cracked, there are people out there who's dedication and skills would amaze you but (and it's a big but) if you make it hard enough that it's not worth it for joe consumer you've still won because at the end of the day, most people will still buy. It's not black and white, it's shades of grey. If buying music is restriction-free enough, easy enough and cheap enough and P2P is unreliable enough people will buy, we're not at that point yet and maybe will never will be, from my position as someone who has to take a very keen interest in the direction of development of communication networks for my work I beleive systems will only become more distributed - not less.
 
its all good, you can keep downloading music. its just if you download from appe you got some rules you ahve to apply to. but the way i look at it, get 2 friends, and buy albums for 3 dollars, you each can have your own copy and your set. it will be great. i think apple has hit gold on this one, its so much fun to look through the music store.

iJon
 
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