James Delahunty
9 Jun 2007 5:34
Universal Music Group, the world's largest record company, has denied rumors that the company is about to offer music downloads without digital rights management (DRM) restrictions. The rumors, which surfaced yesterday, indicated that the company would follow EMI Group by selling DRM-free tracks via Apple Inc.'s popular iTunes download service.
"The rumor is completely untrue," Peter LoFrumento, Senior Vice President at Universal Music Group told Pocket-lint.co.uk. Many in the market for music downloads hope that the record industry will eventually scrap Digital Rights Management. Steve Jobs pointed out in an open letter earlier this year that DRM on downloads of tracks that are available on unprotected CDs is unnecessary.
EMI is currently selling its catalog, DRM-free, through iTunes at a premium rate. However, Apple has been criticized for quietly embedded personal information (users name and account email details) into each DRM-free track sold. The move was made to discourage file-sharing of DRM-free downloads, as the downloads aim to remove restrictions on personal use, not to permit unlimited sharing.
Source:
Pocket-Lint.co.uk