One of the most convincing critiques of Steve Jobs’s February letter on DRM was that Apple had refused to sell DRM-free music from smaller labels even when those labels requested it. It’s not clear why Apple refused to sell DRM-free music to smaller labels—whether it was a matter of administrative convenience, or whether Apple liked the lock-in effect of DRM. But regardless, Apple appears to have addressed that criticism with an announcement to smaller music partners that starting next month they’ll have the option to sell their music DRM-free if they want to. Good for Apple. Now we’ll just have to wait and see how much longer the other major labels persist in shooting themselves in the foot.
The Technology Liberation Front is the tech policy blog dedicated to keeping politicians' hands off the 'net and everything else related to technology.
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