Mobile linux news

2008 08 28

Open-Source Culture with Monome, iTunes Has Shackles & Censorship

Open source for the future. Art, music, and sustainablity at Monome

My name is Adrienne, and I’m a graphic designer at Red Hat—I create meaning using type and image. The other day I stumbled upon a story involving music, sustainability, and open source. Needless to say, I was intrigued.

http://s5h.net/u?z8fa5

http://s5h.net/u?z83f59
Apple's censorship (like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo): iTunes Store back online in China after Tibet song leaves front page

The iTunes Store was blocked in China two weeks after an album released by Tibet activists appeared, but after the Olympics Games concluded, it was available once again.

http://s5h.net/u?z2b671
So Apple cooperated with a suppressive regime. So did IBM in WW2. Tibet: "Beijing 10" return to USA; new Tibet docu "Leaving Fear Behind."

Image above: bloggers, artists, and pro-Tibet activists James Powderly, Tom Grant, Mike Liss, Jeremy Wells and John Watterberg arriving at LAX airport. They and others were held in jail in China for having participated in pro-Tibetan sovereignty demonstrations during the Olympics.

http://s5h.net/u?z83b0
Good video. Recent: What if Apple stopped issuing DRM keys?

It happened to Microsoft and Yahoo. Could it happen to Apple? [...] Microsoft's now defunct MSN Music service made a similar announcement last spring. Some CNET News readers have asked whether the same thing could happen at iTunes. The answer to that question is yes, it most certainly could.

http://s5h.net/u?z52fa
EFF: Microsoft betrayed MSN Music customers

The Electronic Frontier Foundation says that Microsoft has "betrayed" MSN Music customers and wants the company to make things right by issuing an apology, refunds, and eliminate digital rights management technology from the Zune music player.

http://s5h.net/u?z21ad
Ask Apple about the iPhone

Services like Amazon, eMusic, Napster, Rhapsody, Play.com and 7digital are all selling music without DRM. A typical response to this might be that Apple has no option to sell media without DRM, but this is simply untrue. Jobs is the largest individual shareholder at Disney, and he could insist that its films be DRM-free. Apple should be leading the way to promote DRM-free music, but instead is lagging behind. What is Apple doing to fix this? If it really is the RIAA's fault, can you tell me specifically what the RIAA said to Jobs when he asked for the ability to sell DRM-free music?

http://s5h.net/u?z6002
iTunes legal silences Hymn

Apple has fired a cease and desist order against the developers behind the open-source Hymn Project. Hymn develops software that strips Apple's FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) technology from user's iTunes purchases, allowing music fans to play their music on devices other than those from Apple.

http://s5h.net/u?zfb2a
Related: A Linux User's Perspective on the ITunes Store (and DRM in General)

What if tomorrow you went to Best Buy or Walmart or Sam Goody and purchased a CD? What if, before you left the store, the salesman told you that although the CD was in all other respects a standard CD, that you could only play it if you owned a Pioneer or Sony stereo? Would that make any sense? Would it make you a bit hesitant about buying music from that store again? Well, if you purchase music or videos from the iTunes Store, [...] With content from the iTunes Store, however, users may find themselves a bit stuck if they ever want to make the switch to a more open computing platform, such as Linux. Because none of the DRM-restricted content from the iTunes Store will play on Linux. And it's all because that's how Apple wants it, to be honest, and not because of any technical limitation.

http://s5h.net/u?z98b93
Apple's latest trick to enforce digital rights

[...] With this version of iTunes, users were finding that music subjected to the old download-burn-rip would no longer load onto their iPods.

http://s5h.net/u?zd812
Torvalds pleased that DRM music is dying

Linus Torvalds, coordinator of the Linux kernel, is pleased that music publishers have started selling more DRM-free music -- last year he said the technology was a lot of "hot air".

http://s5h.net/u?zf81d8
Microsoft: We Like DRM

Steve Jobs wants the music business to drop restrictions for digital tunes. But Microsoft, which began competing head to head with Apple in the digital music business last fall, is happy with the way things are, says media exec Robbie Bach.

http://s5h.net/u?z2a6b

http://s5h.net/u?z2ac6
Microsoft Tells Apple To Stop Complaining About DRM
http://s5h.net/u?z1954