Anti-DRM protestors plan to flashmob Apple stores across the US, and possibly in other countries too, just before lunchtime today.
Protest plans are circulating on various mailing lists and forums, with links to Defective by Design, the group organizing the event.
Are you planning to attend? If you do and you take any pictures, it would be great to see them on Flickr tagged with “defectivebydesign” so the rest of us can get an idea of what happens.
The protests are set to take place between 10am and 12 noon local time - which means that the London one should be well under way as I type this, if it’s happening at all.
[rant]
I'm tired of this DRM protest shit. Music is never going to be released for free by companies who spend millions on the business.
Get over it already.
And then look at other DRMs and you'll realise Fairplay is the least restrictive DRM you'll likely come across.
And if you don't like DRM, go buy the flippin CD, and STFU.
[/rant]
There, i feel better now....
Oh, and I'm sure that DefectiveByDesign has no ulterior motive/agenda, and is definitely not sponsored by iPod/iTunes competition to label Apple as "the largest purveyor of DRM infected technology" on their front page.
Nope, no bias there...
They are not tools. Unlike every one who buys into it, and i'm sure there are a few...
Erm... shouldn't these guys be protesting outside Sony Music, Warner etc etc?
SK has summmed up very nicely.
No DRM = No iTMS = No legit online music.
Anyone who protests at the Apple Stores today is a moron. Protest to the record companies, not to Apple (one of the few organisations that fight the record companies for you).
I believe they hope to get more attention when protesting at an AppleStore.
So I don't like DRM and low quality compression, go buy the flippin' CD, realize it's copy protected, connect the digital output of my CD player to my Mac, record the flippin' CD, brake the whole audo file into the individual tracks, compress the resulting files and tag them.
You see there is not much time left to "STFU".
I am not a big fan of DRM but I understand its purpose and that it is necessary to have legal online distribution of music. However Apple's DRM is very generous. Unlimited iPods and CDs and five computers. How many of you honestly need more rights with your music then that? If you do, Apple's DRM is pathetically easy to break. It's only purpose is to keep the average consumer from throwing an iTMS song on a P2P network. That sort of file sharing is unlawful and immoral and I do not begrude companies for preventing it.
or you could buy the cd, put it in your cd player, and (*gasp() listen to it
I know about this because I got spammed by the FSF about it.
I expected better from them. :-(
I think they should be protesting paying for Windows and M$ only allowing them to install a copy on ONE PICKIN' COMPUTER! Talk about your restrictions vs. music!
Seriously, these people are complete boneheads. There are a million other proprietary, restricted solutions out there, among the least is how one can get and listen to music.
More Jr High kids with nothing to do - and no critical thinking skills. Thanks MTV - uh, and lame parents, but I digress...
I think Apple should press charges on anyone that illegally does this in their stores and sues them in civil court for the potential loss of sales in that store plus the costs (electricity, wages, etc). Let's see how many other people tries to pull this crap then.
I have NEVER ran into any limitations of Apple's DRM. I never had a need to make 5 or 10 copies of the same cd, and I don't need the same music on 5 computers. For crying out loud, if you have 5 or more computers in your house (I do), it only needs to be on ONE computer and you can share it with the others without loading it onto the HD.
For whatever reason IF I needed to exceed the limits of the DRM, it's easy enough to do, and any of you that are complaining have already done it, so what's the big deal? ...just a bunch of losers with nothing better to do.
And we should insist on Polaroid film fitting into a Nikon cameras - after all, they both take pictures. And shouldn't all Gillette blades fit in Shick razors, and shouldn't all vacuum bags fit into any make or model of vacuum cleaner? I think the only thing defective here is this (probably Microsoft finanaced) website. If you can't beat'em, cheat'em.
It's physically impossible to put one's hands and elbow back in that fashion. Not only is this organization "defective", but so is their poster.
Here is the idiot behind DefectiveByDesign.org
He has no idea how the world works. If you don't have DRM, you don't have "legal" music, nor films, nor any "commerce of content" on the Internet. Why he hates computing development is worrisome. Probably just another thief that want's everything to be stolen on the internet.
----
Registrant Name Free Software Foundation
Registrant Organization Peter Brown
Registrant Street1 51 Franklin Street, 5th Floor
Registrant City Boston
Registrant State/Province Massachusetts
Registrant Postal Code 02110
Registrant Country US
Registrant Phone +1.6175425942
Registrant Email hostmaster@gnu.org
Yes, Peter T. Brown is behind this... an English guy that has confused "Free Software" for "Free Music". oops! Can someone please tell him they aren't the same thing? Such a bloke.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Foundation
MY COMMENT TO DEFECTIV E BY DESIGN
Sorry dude, but you are just a thief in freedom fighter flourescent green. No one forces you to use an iPod or Apple iTunes. If you don't like the DRM, use any of the other services.
All you will achieve is the loss of music legally downloaded and the artists getting their just due and contribute to the intellectual piracy.
The French bill should have given you an idea how Apple must react to this boycott you have inspired.
Personally, if I were Apple, I'd sue you for all your worth and then get an injunction not to get antwhere near an Apple Store or see your sorry ass in jail.
This is really lame.
Seriously though, mobbing a store is a shoplifting tactic, and not a wise move. Most malls have security that would love to give such people a 'bum rush'.
SK says: "Oh, and I'm sure that DefectiveByDesign has no ulterior motive/agenda..."
I wouldn't be surprised if in some people's minds, Apple's success is unconstitutional.
The Linux community is clueless about how to get to the next level of marketing. They've depended exclusively on contributed work, but these have been in areas which only nurds have been interested. They lack the social skills necessary to communicate with the media companies and mistakenly attack Apple instead.
People get real, why target Apple, what about MS? I believe these clowns, just because they are using PCs and not Macs, will stop targeting Apple when all the tracks in iTunes are encoded in WMA and not AAC.
The "Clowns" in this case, are not MS supporters. This is the "Open Software Foundation" that clearly doesn't understand a "wave form" (as in Music file) is not "software", so needs to be protected to guard against theft.
Apple is a hardware company. The iTMS exists to sell iPods. Apple makes its money on the hardware not the music.
Apple's FairPlay DRM is one of the least draconian. It seems to have been designed with the consumer in mind and does the minimum necessary to appease the record industry.
For the end user DRM is not a feature. Currently legal online music is not available without DRM. That's part of the price if you want to get your music online. But by restricting how the music can be used, DRM takes value away.
Wouldn't it better if legal online music were available without any DRM? What if customers had a choice? What if customers started avoiding DRM'd product? What if DRM became bad for business?
There are many aspects of the defective by design campaign that are bad and even stupid. However the idea that consumers shouldn't just accept DRM is neither bad nor stupid.
Of all the players in the online music business, Apple may have the least to lose by going DRM free.
Flashmobbing? Yawn.
http://www.harpers.org/MyCrowd.html
Flashmobbing?
Who's the shepherd in charge of these flocks?
Tell them to protest to the WORST exponent of DRM, not the best.
And the only FREE music is the stuff you STEAL - learn to live with THAT.
This is just so foolish.
Any of you support the FSF with money? Well this is how its being spent.
Stupid hippies.
And the only FREE music is the stuff you STEAL - learn to live with THAT.
That's not true. There are plenty of artists putting their music up for free download. You're not going to find music from the over-promoted record company darlings, but chances are you'll find stuff you like anyway.
Back to the original topic, I'm surprised the FSF is behind this. Stallman himself, in a recent interview, said that Apple's FairPlay was "more DIM (Digital Inconvenience Management) than DRM." He didn't recommend that anyone buy FairPlay-protected music, but at least he suggested it was less evil than other DRM schemes.
This whole DRM thing is bullsh*t. I have a sony phone that uses a SD Card to store mp3's. I can't convert DRM protected files to mp3's so I can listen to my songs while I ride my bike or anywhere I take my phone. I buy the songs, I should be allowed to listen to them however I want. I'll never buy anything from the ITunes Store again or anywhere that's this sh*t. CD's it is.
Can you give me any details on how to get to know of events in the future and also any other contacts coss I love dancing