Microsoft to Micro-Manage your computer (1 Viewer)

[Joseph S]

Are you denying that some perhaps small but certainly not insignificant number of people do in fact steal music? Some of them might even use Apples.

As long as there is a headphone jack this will remain a problem. I'm glad Apple is choosing subtle reminders over restrictive measures that don't eliminate theft in the long run and serve only to annoy and frustrate legal owners of the music. I have no control over the actions of others and they are responsible for whatever consequences they may face for stealing.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Apple's position is interesting given that they have just threatened legal action against Other World Computing for coming up with an enabler that allowed their iDVD software to burn DVDs on third party drives (OWC has since withdrawn the patch). This is to ensure that anyone wishing to burn DVDs on a Mac had to buy new Apple hardware equipped with the Superdrive, only available on their high end machines. So while Apple and all the other computer companies flog their new hardware which makes replicating other people's IP easier, they aren't too keen on having it done to their own. Funny, that.

I would also say that several million people distributing and downloading unlicensed music is hardly a "small" number.

 

[Henry Carmona]

But how do you know that they are doing it illegally and not sharing legally?

 

[Joseph S]

"Although we had received strong support from our customers for the DVD Enabler software and our iDVD support, we value our long-standing relationship with Apple Computer," said Larry O'Connor, president of OWC. "We have, therefore, agreed to honor Apple's request and have halted all sales and marketing of DVD Enabler and all support of Apple's iDVD."

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Apple sells DVD Studio Pro for those people who purchase external drives. They do not allow you to use the free iDVD program with third party externals, however you can use an internal drive without a problem without a legal license for iDVD. The "Superdrive" is also not part of the high end anymore. It's standard on all mid levels and can even be purchased with the lowest end eMac product.
Apple has not threatened Formac and Roxio who developed their own burning software. I don't see why they don't have a right to stop others from abusing their licensing of iDVD in that it is only included with and for sale to run on machines purchased with a "Superdrive."
They have placed a measure to prevent some theft of their IP, but not the fair use of it. They have not stopped legal owners and users of iDVD from duplicating their product for a fair use backup or other similar means. OWC did not purchase iDVD for sale with their units and Apple does not offer iDVD or iMovie licensed product for sale. Users can purchase the newer updates for the usual $20 fee on DVD.
Roxio sells Toast Titanium and Apple sells DVD Studio Pro for those that choose not to purchase a machine equipped with a Superdrive but want to create DVD content.
Apple recently released OS X.2 with Family licenses available for $199 to allow use on up to 5 computers in a household. There is also no serial scheme to prevent them from putting it on 12 or even using a single license on all computers. They have decided that they trust that people will do the right thing, rather than make them prove otherwise. They also seem more than willing to make products that their customers desire and suggest input on. The iPod is now available with many more features and for both Mac and Windows. They also provided firmware upgrades for original iPod owners to take advantage of this. They added spring loaded folders and many other user requested features to their OS. If enough people want iDVD for externals, I don't see why they won't release a product for these people in the future. As of now they have chosen to exclusively package iDVD for use with "Superdrive" equipped machines.
This doesn't equate to converting my music to mp3 or aiff so I can hear them on road or at my leisure. I bought the CD and I think fair use dictates that I should be able to listen to it when I want to. If they don't me to do that then they should choose to only rent their music and thus restrict my ownership. It's about time the music industry wakes up and learns to treat me as a customer or potential customer instead of a criminal. Selling people CDs that don't play in their CD player was the day they lost any form of sympathy from me. I'm not buying that product whether it is rereleased properly or not. I don't need their music, but they need people like me to stay in business. If they want a divx structure, go ahead. I'm not going to buy it and will find other artists or older music releases that are produced in a manner I find reasonable.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

But how do you know that they are doing it illegally and not sharing legally?

Unless they are the copyright holders, they can't be sharing legally.