DRM should be abolished because it has not
worked, said Jobs, and will probably never work. Consumers, he
said, should lobby record companies to convince them to abandon the
technology.
But the tech visionary's buck passing has been
criticised by one of the bodies taking Apple to task in Europe over
the lock-in that means that iTunes tracks can only be played on
Apple's iPod machines.
"It is iTunes Music Store that is providing a
service to the consumers and therefore has the responsibility to
offer up a consumer friendly product," said Torgeir Waterhouse,
senior advisor to the Norwegian Consumer Council, which is taking
action against Apple.
Jobs's surprising announcement came in an open
letter on Apple's website, and said that if record companies would
only agree, he would sell unrestricted tracks on iTunes. "This is
clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace
it in a heartbeat," he said.
DRM controls what customers can do with songs
they have bought, such as restricting the number of copies that can
be made. Record labels use it as their main guard against music
piracy.
But despite selling two billion DRM-protected
tracks last year, Jobs said that the technology does not stop
piracy. "DRMs haven’t worked, and may never work, to halt music
piracy," he said. "Though the big four music companies require that
all their music sold online be protected with DRMs, these same
music companies continue to sell billions of CDs a year which
contain completely unprotected music."
Jobs explained that the need to have a viable
DRM system meant that Apple had to build the iTunes music shop so
that only iPods could play its tracks. He said that the lock-in
meant that Apple could easily fix problems and patch security
breaches when they did happen.
But that lock-in is the subject of legal
action in Europe, where Norway, Sweden, France and Germany are all
taking or considering action against Apple for possible breaches of
consumer and competition law.
"We're happy to see Steve Jobs take on the
responsibility that follows from Apple's role as one of the leading
companies in the digital sphere and comment on the complaint issued
by the Norwegian Consumer Council," said Waterhouse. "It's really
encouraging to see him put forward statements that resemble his
previous statement from 2002 when he told the Wall Street Journal
'if you legally acquire music, you need to have the right to manage
it on all other devices that you own'."
In response to the Norwegian Consumer
Council's complaint, that country's Ombudsman declared in January
that it believed that Apple's DRM system, called Fairplay, breaks
Norway's consumer protection laws.
Jobs addressed the case and the others on the
same lines in Europe, and used his open letter to try to make those
campaigners turn their attention away from Apple. "Much of the
concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries," he
said. "Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should
redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to
sell their music DRM-free."
Waterhouse rejected the suggestion that
campaigners should divert their efforts away from Apple. "It's
quite clear that the record companies carry their share of the
responsibility for the situation that the consumer are stuck in,"
he said. "However no matter what agreements iTunes Music Store has
entered into, it's still the company that's selling music to the
consumers and is responsible for offering the consumer a fair deal
according to Norwegian law."
