FISTFULAYEN

Dear Steve,

I gotta hand it to you, man. You nailed it:

http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/

Easy enough for you to say now that no one has any chance of catching you in the market in terms of mind and market share, but I’ll take the support for the cause nonetheless.

I particularly love the jab at the Euros who are making your product illegal unless you open your DRM system. You’re right, they should redirect their energy at the labels for the silly requirement in the first place. Would have been nice if you’d have joined our “NO DRM” chorus a year ago instead of waiting for multiple European countries to make your damn player illegal to voice your opinion, but again, I’ll take it. Better late than never.

Sorry to say your explanation on option 2 doesn’t quite hold water, though. Of course part of the reason you don’t want to license your DRM is because it’s a pain in the ass to manage. Why take on something that’s a nightmare when it’s not at all strategic to your business (unless your device becomes illegal, that is). But security is not the issue. Security schemes get licensed every day. MSFT has had problems, but they’ve done a decent job keeping WMDRM secure, certainly secure enough that the same companies you’re talking about are comfortable with selling their content in it. If you did a deal with a limited number of companies (how about just one, Y! Music) you could easily control the secret. That you’ve never done such a deal with us or any of the other countless people who have asked is a strategic decision, not a security one.

Regardless, thank you for speaking up. Lets fix this bullshit. I’d be happy to promote iPods if our damn music was playable on them. I’m the one with the NeXT tattoo, remember?

Say wassup to my homies Steve Gedikian and Chris Bell,
ian, who is wondering how long it’ll take a faux Steve Jobs to comment on this post