This week Steve Jobs came out with a letter to the world expressing the concept that he thinks that Digital Rights Management DRM is essentially a waste of time inspired by a reactionary Music Industry. He published his letter on his website and laid out the case against DRM and as a side point against the record industry that requires DRM.

Just a couple months ago Bill Gates invited a number of bloggers for a one on one personal dialogue. He intimated his distaste for DRM then as well. Recommending that music shoppers should burn music from CD’s as opposed to buying music with DRM, like the music offered at his Zune online music store. He essentially said the same thing that Steve Jobs is saying now, but a little eloquently.

With all this talk from the head of two of the companies that are so much at the heart of DRM through their media player software and now also through their physical media players, it seems as if they are starting to publicly state their opinion and acknowledge their agreement.

In private if they were to sit down and choose a course to act together or against individually the music industry, even when consumers benefit this would be considered collusion. However, free speech is still allowed in many forms throughout the US, and so both leaders are allowed to express their opinion publicly, even though it allows them to confirm with each other that they are publicly on the same sheet of music. The end result is the same as they can choose their direction knowing the move of the other, but the record industry also benefits from seeing the telegraphed signal as well.

This might be the beginning of the end of DRM as we know it and that can definitely be a good thing for consumers wallets, what it will do to and for the record industry and the TV and movie industry remains to be seen.

Technorati tags: apple, steve jobs, bill gates, DRM, digital rights management, collusion

Depending on your perspective you may be chagrined to learn that the latest version of Apple iTunes 7.02 does not function with Microsoft’s new Vista OS.  Apple is recommending that iTune users should not upgrade to Vista yet.

The first question is just who is incompatible with whom?

Is the new iTunes incompatible with Vista?

or

Is the new Vista incompatible with iTunes?

The answer to that question probably depends on your perspective and priorities in life.  If iTunes is more important then the second and if not then the first.

The second question though could be more interesting.  Is this some type of anti-trust move by Microsoft to block out iTunes from its market dominating Operating System base.  This would then allow Vista to potentially make way for more Microsoft OS users and fewer Mac users, while simultaneously opening the door a crack for Zune?

or

Is this some type of anti-trust move by Apple to block out Vista from its market dominating iPod user base?  Could they be opening the door to convert more people away from Microsoft’s Operating system and over to Apple’s OS and machines.  Will Apple make iTunes compatible with Vista prior to the release of Apple’s new Operating System expected this summer?

Prediction

Both companies are playing a game of chess against each other and the answers to all of the questions above would be the same, Yes!

Technorati tags: Microsoft v Apple, Microsoft, Apple, iTunes, Vista, Zune, Antitrust

A teenager whose mother and sister have been separately targeted by the RIAA in lawsuits is fighting back against their lawsuit against himself.  The boy is sixteen years old and accused of acts of music piracy when he was 11.  He is counter suing the record industry for collusion.

The RIAA had previously sued the boys mother, who refused to settle becoming somewhat famous in her own right until the suit against her was dropped in December.

Unfortunately for the family the sister of the brother and daughter of the mother did not file paperwork fast enough and is ordered to pay over $30k in a default judgement against her.

Little brother however is fighting back and fighting hard in a counter suit that could set precedents and have an impact around the world. His suit accuses the recording industry acting through the RIAA of violating antitrust laws, conspiring to defraud the courts and making extortionate threats.

The boy also claims that he never pirated music and that the record companies can not prove that he did pirate music.  He and his attorney also claim that the statute of limitations has passed and that all of the alleged music downloaded was actually owned by his sister on store bought CDs, which would insinuate that the recording industry sued one of its few paying customers and won a judgement against a paying customer for $30+k.  That’s sure to win them some customer loyalty!

The boys lawyer Robert Santangelo claims that the record companies have filed more than 18,000 piracy lawsuits in federal courts in a ‘conspiracy to defraud the courts of the United States.’  If he were to win against the record industry that victory might make for one of the most ironic class action lawsuit formations in history.

Technorati tags: boy sues record industry, record industry collusion allegations, antitrust, piracy lawsuits, RIAA sues paying customers and wins

You can’t see it yet, but Vista will be before us very soon.  Microsoft starts their long anticipated release in three days.  It is likely to become a dominant operating system all around the world, but Microsoft does appear to be loosing some ground.

Plus, there are new claims from Microsoft competitors claiming that Vista breaks Anti Trust laws in Europe.  So it is likely that we can expect another long decade of Anti-Trust fights against Microsoft.  At the end of the day, Vista may be a bit of a knock off of Apple’s OS X, and Apple has Leopard launching this spring and summer.  However, there is one thing that Microsoft does very well.

They can get the rest of the world to upgrade and move forward.  It may not be the best or safest or many other things, but people do pick it up move forward with the herd and the herd improves.  Maybe more slowly than those cool Mac kids, but it is an improvement.

Technorati tags: Microsoft Vista, Vista Antitrust claims, three days till vista