---
Title: "I don't mind FairPlay either"
Author: Sami Samhuri
Date: "3rd March, 2006"
Timestamp: 2006-03-03T21:56:00-08:00
Tags: apple, mac os x, life, drm, fairplay, ipod, itunes
---

I think that <a href="http://jim.roepcke.com/2006/03/02#item7471">Jim is right</a> about Apple's DRM not being all that evil.

I buy music from the iTunes Music Store *because* I bought an iPod. The fact I can't play them on another device doesn't matter to me. With my purchased songs I can:

 * listen to the songs I buy all I want
 * burn them to CD
 * stream them to my amplifier via AirPort Express

I don't buy a ton of music from the iTMS, but I can't tell the difference between any of those songs and the songs I ripped from CDs and they're all mixed in one collection. That's good enough for me.

I dislike DRM as much as the next guy, but like CSS encryption on DVDs, FairPlay is something I can live with.

It reminds me of how here in North America I have to live with the crappy cell phone companies that lock their phones to their networks. If it's something I need or want, sometimes I'll live with restrictions because there are no alternatives yet.

*__Update:__ It's almost settled. The pope <a href="http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0601282.htm">got an iPod</a> so all that's left is to see if he buys any music off of iTunes. If he does, then it can't be evil. heh...*

