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LUÍS BRUNO

Disaffected college student.
Articles Posted: 1  Links Seeded: 7
Member Since: 2/2006  Last Seen: 8/09/2006

Interoperability, Apple's Fairplay DRM and killing Zune

Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:11 PM EDT
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By Luís Bruno
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Brian Ford's recent open letter asks Apple to open up its Fairplay DRM. I'll summarize and comment on John Gruber's analysis of what "open up Fairplay" means, to push the discussion down into more technical details instead of staying "above the atmosphere", in the realm of "wouldn't it be nice if?".

When we're using an expression like "opening up Fairplay", we elicit from our readers a positive response; "opening up" is a positive thing. But what does that mean?

As Gruber analyzed, Apple might license its Fairplay DRM to other hardware makers, for a fee. The goal would be for the iTunes Music Store to sell music to owners of other players than iPod. As a consumer, I would still have only one source of Fairplay music; although, I'd no longer fear that my legally-possessed content would one day be no longer accessible, when iPods aren't manufactured any longer.

That's the major win the consumers get if Fairplay is licensed to other hardware manufacturers (or software music players, for that matter). Those manufacturers also win, by being able to participate in the iTMS ecosystem.

The other meaning of "opening up Fairplay" Gruber suggests is Apple itself licensing the Windows Media Audio DRM. There's no gain for me as a consumer: I can buy music as easily on iTMS as on Napster. The only gain in here is for Microsoft, which could decide to stop Apple's iPod from playing WMA at any time, by refusing to license its DRM.

Brian Ford's article isn't about consumer gains. The objective would be to "kill Zune". As laudable as that may be, the hidden assumption is that Zune is somehow alive. It is not: as Brian Ford pointed out, Zune does not play the most popular DRM-encumbered music format which people already bought.

How can an easily licensed Fairplay DRM help to "kill Zune"? Would Microsoft be able to license Fairplay as well? Since Apple's Fairplay has the leading market share, is Apple required to license its Fairplay DRM to everyone under the same conditions? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think antitrust laws would require Apple to license Fairplay to everyone under similar conditions.

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Brian Ford

How can an easily licensed Fairplay DRM help to "kill Zune"? Would Microsoft be able to license Fairplay as well? Since Apple's Fairplay has the leading market share, is Apple required to license its Fairplay DRM to everyone under the same conditions? Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think antitrust laws would require Apple to license Fairplay to everyone under similar conditions.

I almost put a section in my article about this concern.

Still, if -everyone- is licensing Fairplay -- Apple only has to give Microsoft the "option" of doing so. If Microsoft were to "take" that option while at the same time touting the superiority of their Digital Music Format -- that's a defeat in and of itself.

I suspect Microsoft wouldn't take the offer.

Opening up in my definition is not about dropping DRM: It's making the offer to license it to competing companies now that their biggest fear -ought- to be Microsoft. They shouldn't be competing for #1 right now, they should be competing for #2. Zune is likely to be their biggest competition in this bracket. An alliance with #1 is a smart move and Apple is finally in a position to dictate licensing terms -- but they should be smart and make their offers reasonable -- because everyone using AAC+ vs. Microsoft using WMA+ is a great thing for Apple -- and a bad thing for MS. (Even if MS has to resort to licensing AAC+.

Further if Apple "does" make a move to offer Fairplay licenses and other companies refuse -- all of this bitching and moaning will move away from Apple and onto the companies that refuse to license Apple's technology.

This is win/win/win for Apple under my plan. (In my opinion, of course.)

  • 2 votes
Reply#1 - Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:27 PM EDT
Luís Bruno

If Microsoft were to [license Fairplay] while at the same time touting the superiority of their Digital Music Format -- that's a defeat in and of itself.

As a consumer, if my hardware plays Fairplay music "for sure" and I don't get to pay through the nose for an iPod, I win. If Apple is leading store for legally downloaded music store, it wins.

Although I understand your point about Microsoft "being defeated" if it licenses Apple's DRM, I must ask why. Wouldn't Zune benefit from having that license as well? If Microsoft sells more Zune because it actually plays the music people already have, Microsoft also wins.

I guess everyone wins if Microsoft actually does license Fairplay.

I suspect Microsoft wouldn't take the offer.

I *think* I agree, but I'm still not sure.

I think Microsoft wants to win by distributing content (or by collecting WMA revenues), not by selling hardware. That's why I think it makes no sense for Microsoft to license Fairplay, even if Apple puts that option on the table.

Distributing content is Microsoft's existing game, may it be operating systems, applications or maybe music.

This is my opinion, of course (after all, this is my column!). Massive amounts of salt are recommended, but not included.

  • 1 vote
#1.1 - Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:06 PM EDT
Brian Ford

and I don't get to pay through the nose for an iPod, I win.

Just curious -- but who offers a device that beats Apple's pricing by any significant amount?

I'm under the impression that pricing is fairly stable across the board -- despite some companies offering a few filler options that I don't actually believe people care about anyway.

This is a market where Apple even offers a low end model that is competitively priced with other companies low end models. (I friggin "love" my iPod Shuffle. In fact, I recently decided I didn't need an iPod Nano because of my Shuffle.)

  • 1 vote
#1.2 - Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:15 PM EDT
Luís Bruno

If you want the full iPod experience, there's no other option on the market; even if you were willing to spend more on a similar product, you have no other product which gives you that interface, that clicky wheel, etc.

But a friend of mine has a 1Gb flash-based MP3 player (with WMA support, no less!) which costs about EUR 50. That does include a (4-color OLED) display, so I guess it's a slight hair width above the Shuffle. I do think you can find a somewhat similar player in the iPod Nano space. You just won't get the whole iTunes-managed enchilada (and the iPod experience).

I'm not sure if I've agreed with you or not, actually.

    #1.3 - Thu Aug 24, 2006 3:46 PM EDT
    msjgriffiths

    Apple will never license Fairplay DRM for the same reason it will never license OS X: Such would undercut hardware revenue.

    Sansa, for example, is now offering a 8 GB alternative to the iPod Nano for roughly the same price. Sansa also happens to be a high-quality alternative to the iPod, with the second highest market share in the USA.

    Sansa, Creative, and pretty much anyone and everyone else would be able to create iTunes-compatible hardware. Given the problems Microsoft has had with PlaysForSure, you can bet the implementation wouldn't always work "for sure." Second, those companies would support BOTH PlaysForSure AND Fairplay, meaning iTunes wouldn't have a monopoly on music purchases.

    You CAN use two different DRM formats on the same device. It simply lowers the margins - which is why Apple disables the built-in support for Microsoft DRM on the chips they buy. People who buy iPod MUST use iTunes, giving more revenue to Apple.

    It's why Zune WILL NOT work with PlaysForSure, or any non-Microsoft music store.

      #1.4 - Fri Aug 25, 2006 5:53 AM EDT
      Reply
      Brian Ford

      (I linked to your article from my comment thread -- that way you don't have to wonder whether doing so is acceptable.)

      • 1 vote
      Reply#2 - Thu Aug 24, 2006 2:35 PM EDT
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