Music DRM is dead … at least for now
January 05, 08 by Mr.Q
According to BusinessWeek, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet. With the last of the big labels on board, it looks like that DRMed music’s days are numbered. By partnering with online retailers such as Amazon and social networks such as Myspace and Facebook, the labels want to take a bite out of Apple’s monopolizing market shares.
The move by Sony BMG is especially noteworthy because back in 2005, in an effort to regulate the transfering of music, their CDs were came bundled with rootkits, which besides taking over your pc, also leave it vulnerable to virus attacks.
This is certainly good news, if it sticks. Besides the fact that those who bought DRMed music are now forced to buy them again, there is nothing that will stop the music industry from taking the second pass at the DRM scheme. Until then, enjoy the music the way it meant to be. Next stop … the movie industry.
[Source]