iTMS Travails
Published March 26, 2004
Most people aren't Cory Doctorow, but he is probably not the only person in the world to hit the 3-computer limit in Apple's "FairPlay." In the context of mentioning that VLC (a fantastic program) will now play songs purchased from Apple's iTunes Music Store, Cory rants just a little about his inability to access his expensive library of downloaded songs. Obviously, this is a frustrating situation.
Cory lists what he considers his three mistakes to be. In Apple's defense, I'll offer an alternate list:
1. Cory should have deactivated the new Powerbook before sending it in to be repaired. While this oversight might be understandable if this was the first time something like this had happened, Cory had already lost one of this three "FairPlay" machines, so he probably should have known better.
2. This sounds like a very temporary problem. Once the screen on his new PowerBook is repaired, he should get it back, complete with a license for his music. He mentions "buying a new Powerbook at full retail every 10 months," but in fact within a ten-month period, he has apparently bought two, both of which he still has, or will have once it gets back from the shop. Paying for two computers to end up with two computers doesn't sound like much of a problem to me, though the screen repair obviously sucks.
3. Most importantly, Cory is claiming to be a "pretty honest user," but he has actually quite illegally given a copy of his songs to his mother. This is a clear violation of copyright law, and certainly violates both the spirit and the letter of the "FairPlay" rules. If he had not illegally given a copy of his music to his mother, Cory would still have "FairPlay" licenses available to cover both of his current Powerbooks, as well as the one that broke.
Of course, the details of Cory's situation are just details. The point is that FairPlay isn't perfect. In a perfect world, there would not be such draconian restrictions on downloaded music. And then Cory would be free to give a copy of his music library to the rest of his relatives as well.
Oh, wait. I forgot. That's illegal.
- iTMS Travails
- Published: March 26, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Sci/Tech
- Filed Under: Sci/Tech: Internet, Sci/Tech: Software
- Writer: Phillip Winn
- Phillip Winn's BC Writer page
- Phillip Winn's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
Phillip, I found the screen repair on a relatively young PowerBook interesting. As I mentioned here at Blogcritics, I had mine repaired around Christmas. The publicity has focused on some iBooks having a screen problem. But, I wonder if some PowerBooks have the same fault.
I read Cory sparingly precisely because he complains about things with what is called in the law "unclean hands." I believe Fairplay is as fair as any limitation currently being offered on transferability of music files.
Meanwhile, the Apple situation that has me smiling was blogged yesterday. Having a new 40 GB iPod, I can't rationalize getting a mini, but it appears Apple has done it again.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/14093)
I should have mentioned that I'm very sympathetic to the idea that what Cory did should not be illegal, but it is, and it is inconceivable to think that Cory doesn't know that.