Rumor: iTunes Store Going DRM-Free Today

[Vincent Ferrari]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/08/12/08/rumor_apples_itunes_going_drm_free_starting_tuesday.html' target='_blank'>http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ng_tuesday.html</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Apple is believed to be on the verge of an end-of-year push that would start by finally offering unprotected iTunes Store music from all major labels and would switch a special post-holiday campaign giving away music and videos to Europeans. A report from last week brought to AppleInsider's attention by French technology site ElectronLibre asserts that it's now "clear" Apple will spark new interest in its music store by removing DRM from tracks published by Sony, Universal and Warner on December 9th. The site doesn't point to specific sources but is careful to note that Apple is moving cautiously on the matter following difficult negotiations that allegedly had the labels hoping to negotiate what EMI had done for the launch of iTunes Plus in 2007, when it successfully negotiated prices higher before ultimately agreeing to reduce the price to Apple's standard 99 cents. Labels had also been hoping to switch from a monthly reporting of iTunes sales stats to live data, the earlier story suggests."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1228826808.usr18053.jpg" border="1" /></p><p>I'm not believing this one at all, but it won't take long for us to find out if it's true or not; after all, it's supposed to happen today!&nbsp; It would be huge if it did, but I'm not holding my breath.&nbsp; Anyone else want to weigh in?</p>

[crimsonsky]

I'm not holding my breath that it would happen today either, especially as I think Apple would make a lot of noise about doing this in advance. However, I do believe it's only a matter of time before it does happen.

My big question is will you be able to redownload already purchased DRM music in non-DRM format at no extra cost. When iTunes Plus first came out with EMI, there was a cost to "upgrade", although they could probably justify this because the bitrate doubled from 128 to 256.

I've been buying more of my music from Amazon because all their music is DRM-free, but iTunes has the edge in convenience and ease of use. I'd prefer to buy from ITS but Amazon for now is the better choice. Now I'm using ITS basically just for movies and Amazon for music.

[ucfgrad93]

I doubt that this is a true story. Seems like Apple would be really pushing this change not just quietly announcing it.

[Pony99CA]

A DRM-free iTunes is probably the only way I'd consider using it. It would also likely allow them to end any further litigation over keeping the DRM system proprietary.

Steve

[Darius Wey]

I'm not believing this one at all, but it won't take long for us to find out if it's true or not; after all, it's supposed to happen today!

Yep, debunked. ;)