Comments on: iTunes out of Norway?

By: Mats

Mats — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:22:40 +0000

In that case you’ve sold a faulty product (in this case, the customer will no longer have access to his rightfully purchased music) and the customer will be entitled to a refund.

This would never be a problem with DRM-free music, and we can’t sidestep the issue by attempting to change the case into “keeping the DRM is good for the customer”.

By: Trmika

Trmika — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:07:43 +0000

The problem will appear , I think, the day when I have to reinstall and after that want to play music that has DRM. It´s at that point the Mac (Yes even Macs needs to be re-installed now and then :) ) or pc needs to be re-validated. Since then ITunes has been withdrawn from Norway and my music was bought on a Norwegian account. It is at that point my concern appears. Will I be able to play the music again?

By: Mats

Mats — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 14:50:59 +0000

I think you answered a bit about the case in the last paragraph of your comment; if iTunes suddenly decides to withdraw from Norway — although people could probably still play their purchased music on Approved Devices — and people are unable to play their music, they’ve been blatantly ripped off.

The record companies are living in the past, and yes, while they want DRM, there are certain measures in place to control the behaviour of companies in the market. Apple has gotten several warnings that their iTunes < -> iPod lock-in may be illegal according to these terms, and action should be taken to make everyone happy. While this case only regards Norway, France and Germany are also getting involved, as they have much the same regulations (iPhone in a non-locked version was first sold in france because of their laws). Amazon sells DRM-free content, and I actually think that if iTunes decided to only sell DRM-free music (they sell certain DRM-free tracks already, for a premium price), the record companies would be too scared to do anything else. A few might say no, but the rest would enjoy more focus, an even larger market.. and the ones who refused, would come back.

In 10-20 years we’ll probably look back on the whole DRM thing and wonder what the hell we were thinking about.

By: Trmika

Trmika — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 11:23:59 +0000

I on the other hand dont understand the case. I have bought music for over 3500 kr ( aoround 500 USD ) and I am quite happy with ITunes. When I buy from ITunes I accept the terms of the buy, even though it measn I can only use their DRM-music on my mac or an Ipod. People shou start reading the terms , before signing an agreement.
If you dont like the terms, then dont use ITunes to buy songs. I dont like DRM either, but to force a company to change their policy, wich their deals with the record-companies are based upon, will not change anything. With a marked as small as Norway I think Apple rather will withdraw Itunes from Norway, than start a “war” with the record-companies.
If ITunes is withdrawn from Norway many people will have a lot of songs that cant be played anymore. Itunes use servers to check that the unit you play a bought song on is validated. Doesnt all the people that have bought these songs have rights as well?

By: Steven Finch

Steven Finch — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 17:34:35 +0000

This is very interesting news. routenote.com has teamed with iTunes, so might need to make some changes.