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iPod Apple Criticized for Watermarking Music Files
- Thread starter clevin
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Some people are never satisfied. I for one have no problem having my info on my own music. To each their own I guess.
For once, I wholeheartedly disagree with the EFF. I think it's a very irresponsible move on their part to criticize Apple for simply including this info in DRM-free songs sold through the iTMS. Name and AppleID are by no means "secure info" that would pose a security risk to users. This new way of giving consumers DRM-free music but making some attempt to keep that same music out of the hands of pirates is the direction that I think DRM needs to go in. Less restriction of fair use rights and more protection against pirating, like what DRM ideally was supposed to do in the first place.
I followed the link. What the are writing is blatantly untrue: There is no evidence whatsoever that any user data is encrypted in any files without DRM downloaded from iTunes. None whatsoever.
The source for all this nonsense is a web-log by a Ms. Sadun, who by her own statement gives up any pretence of journalistic integrity when she writes "First, this is not journalism. It's an informal web log."
I don't have a problem with this.
1. They've been doing it since 2003.
2. It's not hidden, it's clearly shown in the Get Info window.
3. It's easily removable.
4. If you get into legal trouble, you can use it as a stop-gap to prove that you bought the music legally while you dig out the receipts.
1. They've been doing it since 2003.
2. It's not hidden, it's clearly shown in the Get Info window.
3. It's easily removable.
4. If you get into legal trouble, you can use it as a stop-gap to prove that you bought the music legally while you dig out the receipts.
I really doubt this has anything to do with piracy. From what I've read, these tags are easily changed. You could blank yours out or even put somebody else's name in there.
As for the comment that losing an ipod full of music puts your name and e-mail at risk...are your name and e-mail supposed to be confidential? If that's the case, your entire address book is 10x more private. And I hope you didn't engrave your name and phone number on the back. Geeeeezzz. I like the EFF some times but they're turning into PETA -- a good cause taken way way too far.
I can't imagine anybody who's paying $1.30 per song and then putting their music on a p2p. If you're the kind of person who pays for music, you're probably not the kind of person who trades music illegally.
Where do you think all of the music on p2p networks comes from, then?
Some evil interweb pirate plunders a music shop at night, rips his loot on his pirate ship, shares it with his evil pirate friends and ends the day with a bottle of rum?
Most of the music on the p2p is ripped from legally bought CDs. Some people just don't mind sharing their legally bought music.
I'm not too concerned about the whole thing. As long as they make sure that the people who are going to get their accounts banned (and maybe a lawsuit) thanks to this are 100% quilty. We don't need another RIAA-style "quilty until proven innocent" lawsuit-frenzy.