July 1, 2004
Berkman Center Releases New iTunes Europe Analysis
Building off of its (recently updated) iTunes Case Study white paper and taking into account iTunes’ recent arrival in Europe, the Berkman Center’s Digital Media Project has produced iTunes Europe: A Preliminary Analysis.
“In its first week of operation in Britain, France, and Germany, iTunes Europe sold an impressive 800,000 songs –- outpacing its nearest competitor by a margin of 16:1. While this initial success attracted attention from the recording industry, lawmakers, and business executives, a number of questions remain about the future of iTunes in Europe and its ability to adapt a business model based on U.S. law to the laws and cultural norms of different countries in Europe.
The following report, iTunes Europe: A Preliminary Analysis (June 2004), by students of the Berkman Center’s Digitial Media Project, considers the legal foundation of iTunes Europe and the interplay of the service with European law. The report examines the implications of the expansion of iTunes on the future of digital media, technology, business strategies, and international law.”
Filed by Derek Slater at 10:25 pm under General news
1 Comment
The anti-DRM argument in this paper is incorrect.
Such constrainst on behavior might include: … file incompatibility that makes it impossible for users to transfer their iTMS songs to any portable device except the iPod…
Burn a CD with a playlist. Even burn an MP3 CD. Regular CDs can play it. CD Players that support MP3 CD can play the MP3 CDs. You can even rip the CD into the app that ships with whatever other player you want to use. Resulting sound quality is still better than one typically gets downloading MP3s off the file sharing networks.
Is it the most convenient way to move music? No. But it’s not pernicious anti-competitive lock-in. The overall model makes for a nice place for the iPod and licensed knock-offs (HP), but does not exclude other devices. That subtlety seems to be lost on Ernie and other anti-DRM crusaders.
Just picking a nit…