It took the apple industry some time to repair their image after the infamous 60 Minutes broadcast in 1989 suggesting that the widespread use of Alar posed a significant health risk to U.S. consumers.
Saturday concerned citizens of the world once again took to the streets to express their discontent with the apple, only this time the target happened to be the beloved brand (Apple) rather than the humble fruit itself. Members of the collective Defective by Design were out in visible force—replete with their characteristic yellow hazmat suits—protesting Apple’s use of DRM hidden inside their iTunes. Protestors gathered outside Apple stores in Chicago, Seattle, Cambridge, New York, San Francisco and Dallas to generate greater awareness of Apple’s DRM software.
For the uninitiated, DRM refers to digital rights management, the belief in a proprietary encryption system built into downloadable music which prevents the consumer from using the purchased music as s/he sees fit. The most serious flaw with Apple’s DRM is that it restricts the playback of music only to Apple products, meaning that should you choose to replace your iPod with a competing digital music player, you’ll need to repurchase your music again—at significant cost.
As part of their strategy, Defective by Design members unearthed a fitting Steve Jobs quote from a 2002 Wall Street Journal interview and made it the theme of their protests:
“If you legally acquire music, you need to have the right to manage it on all other devices that you own.”—Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
While it remains unclear how concerned consumers are at the moment regarding this issue, one can’t help but to speculate as to the long term effects on the overall brand experience—especially when someone decides to migrate to a different player and discovers their $2,500 iTunes collection is unplayable.
As is often the case in intellectual property and digital rights matters, John Perry Barlow offers choice insight:
“These are aging industries run by aging men, and they're up against 17-year-olds who have turned themselves into electronic Hezbollah because they resent the content industry for its proprietary practices. And I don't have a question about who's going to win that one eventually.”
“But you know the problem is - the bad news is that you're up against a dedicated foe that is younger and smarter that you are and will be alive when you're dead. You're 55 years old and these kids are 17 and they're just smarter than you. So you're gonna lose that one.”
I doubt that the DRM isue matters to most consumers. The marketplace is the best indicator of consumer interest and at the moment Apple is leading the pack for downloadable music. When those sales begin to shrink then it would be time to question there drm strategy. Philosophically I disagree with their strategy but at the moment it appears to be successful. DBD seems to be more about street theater than a serious discussion of drm.
Posted by: william papke | Tuesday, June 13, 2006 at 08:21 AM