The ‘tropolis is abuzz over Jobs’ DRM manifesto (gist – Jobs to Labels: let my music go), though as usual the chatter is almost all mere repetition, with little added thought. One exception is Read/WriteWeb’s take on it (gist: it’s propaganda), which I agree with. I can’t help but think, largely because of its timing, that as admirable as its sentiments are, the manifesto is simply a PR exercise designed to deflect the growing criticism of Apple’s DRM and increasing demands that Apple allow cross-platform interoperability. Update: Nick Carr has the same idea.
Jobs’ DRM Sermon From the Mount
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[...] I think (as my friend Rob and Nick Carr do) that the real point of Steve’s letter comes near the end, when he mentions that Europe should step in and lean on the record labels, since two and a half of them are based in Europe (Vivendi owns Universal, EMI is British and Sony BMG is half German). Apple has been coming under fire for restricting iTunes to a proprietary song format, and Steve is clearly trying to shift the blame to the record companies. [...]