Apple CEO suggests removing iTunes copy protection

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs thinks the music industry would be better off if it allowed his company to remove the digital-rights-management (DRM) software that limits the ways songs sold via the iTunes Music Store can be played and shared.

"Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats," Jobs wrote in a lengthy missive posted Tuesday (2/6) at Apple's website. "In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat."

Currently, music purchased from iTunes will play only on Apple's popular iPod.

"If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store."

In arguing against DRM's efficacy, Jobs said that, according to Apple's research, only about 3% of the music on the average iPod is purchased from the iTunes store, and that the remaining 97% is DRM-free.

"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. That's right! No DRM system was ever developed for the CD, so all the music distributed on CDs can be easily uploaded to the Internet, then (illegally) downloaded and played on any computer or player."

In actuality, DRM systems have been developed for the CD. One 2005 implementation turned into a PR and legal disaster for Sony BMG when consumers learned that the company was distributing CDs that surreptitiously installed on consumers' computers copy-restriction software; antivirus companies later discovered that the software was a security risk. Sony ultimately settled a resulting class-action lawsuit by agreeing to compensate customers who had purchased CDs containing the DRM software, and to provide utilities that would allow those customers to uninstall the DRM software from their computers.

"So if the music companies are selling over 90 percent of their music DRM-free, what benefits do they get from selling the remaining small percentage of their music encumbered with a DRM system? There appear to be none," Jobs concluded. "If anything, the technical expertise and overhead required to create, operate and update a DRM system has limited the number of participants selling DRM protected music. If such requirements were removed, the music industry might experience an influx of new companies willing to invest in innovative new stores and players. This can only be seen as a positive by the music companies."

Apple's iPod and iTunes Music Store are the dominant leaders in their respective markets. According to the company's 2006 year-end figures, it has sold a total of 90 million iPods and 2 billion songs.