James Delahunty
14 Sep 2009 19:44
The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) is pushing for an agreement with music download sites and other entities in Japan that would see digital rights management (DRM) copy protection software being placed on mobile phones in the country. In Japan, handsets are branded, supplied and managed by the network operators themselves. Every year, about 330 million tracks are sold legally and delivered over-the-air in Japan.
It is estimated that as many as 400 million tracks are shared illegally each year. The Financial Times reported the story, citing anonymous participants in the talks. If the plan were to go ahead, when a user attempts to play a song on a mobile phone, the device would first consult online servers to check whether the file was legitimate.
If it wasn't legitimate, then the song simply wouldn't play. If the companies involved came to an agreement soon, then the technology could be rolled out in the country as early as 2011. Of course, there are some big questions that need to be asked about its practicality. What about legally "ripped" tracks from a purchased CD? How could they possibly be verified - or would they simply not be allowed to play on the phone either? What about free music?
Also, it is likely that for the plan to work, all companies offering legal downloads in the country would have to participate in it, for music to be "authorized" before being played - and so would all carriers. It is a sad fact that while online stores in other countries are increasingly stripping away restraining DRM content, Japan's record company trade group wants to push the country in the opposite direction.
Overall, it doesn't sound very plausible, but just the fact that it has been proposed and is being discussed seriously should be disturbing in itself.