[A2k] Congress moots mandatory DRM scheme

[Michelle Childs]

Thanks Jeff. I know that the French consumer organisations are also
promoting a similar idea.
Michelle
> Michelle and all,
>
>   I and many of our members believe that this "pondering" of legislation
> is a very good step in the right direction for interpretability...  More
> of this attitude needs to be prevalent...
>
> Michelle Childs wrote:
>
>> Congress moots mandatory DRM scheme
>> By Tony Smith
>> Published Thursday 7th April 2005 13:05 GMT The Register.com
>> The US Congress is pondering laws to force digital music companies to
>> use
>> a single, unified DRM system, in order to allow songs purchased from any
>> download service to run on any hardware.
>>
>> The House of Representatives' intellectual property sub-committee met
>> yesterday to discuss such a move, proposed by Lamar Smith, a Texas
>> Republican, and Howard Berman, a Democrat from California.
>>
>> Their beef is the ongoing incompatibility between, say, Napster's
>> download
>> service and Apple's iPod. The shiny white music player will happily
>> handle
>> songs downloaded from Apple's iTunes Music Store and protected with
>> Apple's FairPlay DRM system, but not DRM'd Windows Media Audio files,
>> for
>> example.
>>
>> "This interoperability issue is of concern to me since consumers who
>> bought legal copies of music from Real could not play them on an iPod,"
>> Smith said at the hearing, Internet News reports.
>>
>> Apple apparently wasn't there to add its two cents to the debate - Smith
>> described its failure to appear as a "mistake" - but other industry
>> players, including Napster CTO William Pence, along with consumer groups
>> and public policy bodies, were present to tell the Congressmen to leave
>> the emerging digital music market alone.
>>
>> Essentially, opponents argue that it should be for the market to decide
>> which services - and thus which DRM systems - dominate.
>>
>> "Marketplace forces will continue to drive innovation in the DRM arena
>> with attendant consumer benefits - new ways to enjoy digital music at a
>> variety of different price points - while gradually solving the
>> interoperability problem," said Pence, for example.
>>
>> In short, when the business needs interoperability, we'll get it. And,
>> it
>> has to be said, right now consumers seem keener on lower prices than
>> compatibility between digital music services. Real Networks' attempt at
>> bridging its own Rhapsody download offering and FairPlay doesn't appear
>> to
>> have boosted the company's sales significantly. Indeed, its move last
>> summer to slash prices for a three-week period probably did more to
>> build
>> Rhapsody's customer base than the launch of the DRM translation tool,
>> Harmony. =AE
>>
>> --
>> Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
>> Consumer Project on Technology in London
>> 24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
>> Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
>> Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
>> http://www.cptech.org
>>
>> Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
>> PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036, USA
>> Tel.:  1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176
>>
>> Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
>> 1 Route des  Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
>> Tel: +41 22 791 6727
>>
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>
> Regards,
>
> --
> Jeffrey A. Williams
> Spokesman for INEGroup LLA. - (Over 134k members/stakeholders strong!)
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--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
http://www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
PO Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036, USA
Tel.:  1.202.387.8030, fax: 1.202.234.5176

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
1 Route des  Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727