James Delahunty
18 Feb 2007 15:54
Macrovision has responded to an open letter published on Apple.com by Steve Jobs about digital rights management (DRM). In the open letter, Jobs recommended that record companies drop DRM completely and sell unprotected downloads, as downloads from stores like iTunes are not a source for piracy. He also highlighted the problems that DRM bring to consumers.
Many industry experts and consumers alike believe that DRM is a sad chapter in the history of the music industry, but Macrovision disagrees. The company that thrives off of content protection technology now contests that "DRM increases not decreases consumer value". The comment was made by Fred Amoroso, CEO and President of Macrovision.
He also thanked Steve Jobs for "offering his provocative perspective on the role of Digital Rights Management (DRM) in the electronic content marketplace and for bringing to the forefront an issue of great importance to both the industry and consumers." The company acknowledged that there are many problems with maintaining an interoperable DRM system, but says that the industry should still pursue it.
The company recommends that the industry make "a commitment to transparent, interoperable and reasonable DRM" to "effectively bridge the gap between consumers and content owners, eliminate confusion and make it possible for new releases and premium content to enter the digital environment and kick off a new era of entertainment."
Macrovision has offered to lead an industry-wide effort on DRM and address problems raised by Jobs and others. There is also an offer for Apple: "Should you desire, we would also assume responsibility for FairPlay as a part of our evolving DRM offering and enable it to interoperate across other DRMs, thus increasing consumer choice and driving commonality across devices."
Source:
Pocket-Lint