CNET notes that a web site setup to complain about Apple’s iTunes service has backfired somewhat with people using the site to flame Real.
Well, duh. Real has treated its customers like crap for years, so it’s hardly surprising that few people exactly want to rally around it. Real’s major complaint against Apple is that Apple doesn’t license its FairPlay DRM scheme to other companies. This means that only Apple can sell DRMed songs that are playable on the iPod.
I don’t see anything wrong with that at all (although I personally hate DRM schemes and wouldn’t buy any iTunes music). It’s certainly not anywhere as evil as fooling your customers into buying software they don’t want, which Real did for far too long.
Real went ahead and cracked FairPlay and is, at least for now, selling songs that work on the iPod — as long as you’re using a Windows machine.
Presumably, Real won’t mind if some enterprising person hacks their songs to allow them to be stripped of DRM entirely — it clearly limits competition, after all, if I can’t play the songs on my non-DRM MP3 player.
Source:
Real gets flamed over iPod campaign. Jo Best, CNet.Com, August 18, 2004.