There’s been a ton of posts already on Steve Job’s open letter about DRM. At the risk of adding one more, I wanted to echo a significant point that seems to be getting lost in the celebration: what’s holding back Apple from acting on their beliefs?
It’s great to see Jobs, and Apple, coming out against DRM, which has long been the reason I never buy music from iTunes.
But as Lawrence Lessing points out, why does Apple have to wait for the majors to come around?
So bravo to Apple and Steve Jobs. About this I am happy to be proven wrong. But then here’s a simple next step: There are artists on iTunes whose creative work is Creative Commons licensed. Colin Mutchler is one. When his stuff first went into iTunes, he requested the DRM be turned off. The request was refused. But if no-DRM is Apple’s preferred policy, then let them begin here.
Getting DRM selectively enabled or disabled on iTunes would go along way toward showing the major labels that it can be done.
