[Am-info] Apple stands firm against entertainment cartel

[Mitch Stone]

Dan Gillmor: Apple stands firm against entertainment cartel
By Dan Gillmor
Mercury News Technology Columnist, Oct. 01, 2002


Intel's doing it. Advanced Micro Devices is doing it. Microsoft is doing=20=

it.

Apple Computer isn't.

What's Apple not doing? It's not -- at least so far -- moving toward an=20=

anti-customer embrace with Hollywood's movie studios and the other =
members=20
of the powerful entertainment cartel.

Unlike Intel and AMD, the big chip makers for Windows-based computers,=20=

Apple hasn't announced plans to put technology into hardware that could=20=

end up restricting what customers do with the products they buy. Unlike=20=

Microsoft, Apple hasn't asserted the right to remote control over users'=20=

operating systems.

The era of Digital Rights Management, commonly called DRM, is swiftly=20
moving closer, thanks to the Intels and AMDs and Microsofts. They're =
busy=20
selling and creating the tools that give copyright holders the ability =
to=20
tell users of copyrighted material -- customers, scholars, libraries, =
etc.
  -- precisely how they may use it. DRM, in the most typical use of the=20=

expression, is about owners' rights. It would be more accurate to call =
DRM,
  in that context, "Digital Restrictions Management."

But Apple has taken a different tack in its rhetoric and its technology.=20=

As I said in an introduction to a panel I moderated Tuesday at a=20
conference in Santa Clara, Mac OS X, Apple's modern operating system, is=20=

becoming, whether by design or by accident, a Digital Rights Management=20=

operating system where the rights in question are the user's rights -- =
and=20
they are expansive.

Now, the music and movie industries have been attacking Silicon Valley =
and=20
the technology companies for some time. But they've reserved particular=20=

venom for Apple among the major computing-platform organizations, and =
have=20
been witheringly contemptuous of Apple's "Rip, Mix, Burn" advertising =
that=20
describes the process of converting music CDs to MP3 files, which can be=20=

loaded on CD-ROM disks and, of course, Apple's own iPod MP3 player.

The company's "Digital Hub" concept has been one of its major selling=20
points. The Mac is becoming the hub of a digital lifestyle, in which you=20=

move data between a Mac and various devices around the home, such as=20
digital cameras, MP3 players and the like.

Apple does admonish users not to infringe the copyrights of others, as =
it=20
should. And the company built a small speed bump into the iPod, which=20
basically lets users share MP3s between one computer and the handheld=20
player. But it took little time for a third-party programmer to come up=20=

with software that let users move MP3s to other machines, too, and as =
far=20
as I can tell Apple hasn't said a word.

I recently discovered that Apple's DVD Player software, which came with =
my=20
Powerbook G4 laptop, gives me flexibility in a way I hadn't expected.=20
Sometimes I like to watch a movie while I'm on a plane, but the DVD =
drive=20
in my machine drains my battery too quickly. So before I leave home, I=20=

copy a movie -- note to Hollywood: I do not do this with rental DVDs, =
only=20
ones I own -- to my hard disk. The DVD Player software reads it from the=20=

disk, which uses less power than the DVD drive.

I wonder, now that I've published this, whether an upcoming version of =
the=20
DVD Player will remove this user-friendly feature. Which leads me into=20=

some other questions:

Can Apple's distinctly pro-customer approach continue in the face of=20
Hollywood's ire and the entertainment industry's clout in Congress?

Will the manufacturers of the chips that Apple uses for the central =
brains=20
of its computers build in what Intel and AMD are now promising? They've=20=

embraced an idea known as "trusted computing," which sounds better than =
it=20
may turn out to be. Trusted computing could give us more faith that an=20=

e-mail we send to someone else will get there intact and in privacy, but=20=

it's also the perfect tool for the copyright cartel, not to mention =
future=20
governments that care even less for liberty than the current one, to =
lock=20
down PCs from officially unauthorized uses.

An Intel senior executive vehemently disputes my characterization of his=20=

company as a toolmaker for the control freaks. He wants me to see =
trusted=20
computing as an innovation.

Sure, it's an innovation -- and could have some positive uses. But it=20
inevitably will be used against us by the people who crave control.

Meanwhile, Apple is holding fairly fast to the real compromise position.=20=

It's encouraging honor, but not locking us down in ways that prevent=20
innovative uses of the gear it sells.

Maybe Apple will cave, too. If it does, it will betray customers and=20
principle. So far, however, so good.



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Dan Gillmor's column appears each Sunday, Wednesday and Saturday. Visit=20=

Dan's online column, eJournal (www.dangillmor.com). E-mail=20
dgillmor@sjmercury.com; phone (408) 920-5016; fax (408) 920-5917.
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=A9 2001 siliconvalley and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.