Jeremy’s Little Corner Of The Web…

Hmmm… I don't know what to say about the whole Apple-Real debacle that is going on right now. Since I'm such an Apple zealot, I'd probably inclined to say "Real shouldn't be able to get away with reverse-engineering Apple's FairPlay DRM… Apple should sue!" However, realistically, if it was someone reverse-engineering Microsoft's WMA DRM (too many TLAs :)), most people (including me) would probably applaud them…

Legally, Apple can probably sue Real under some crap bill like the DMCA (or is it the other way round?), but is that the right thing to do?

I think Apple needs to make an important decision… Does it want the iTMS or the iPod to succeed? You could say their fates are intertwined, but the iPod can easily exist without the iTMS. The iTMS can probably also exist without the iPod.

Right now the iPod is the market leader because everyone sees it as cool and THE fashion accessory. However, what happens when company XYZ comes out with a competitor, some journalist louds it as the 'next big thing' and fickle consumers flock to buy one? Sure, the iPod has some great features and I love mine, but I'm sure most users purchase it, not knowing they can't play songs from other online music stores on it. I would say most people like compatibility, so if Apple were to license FairPlay to other music stores, the songs could all be played on the iPod with no problems. Apple could promote the iPod as the portable music player most compatible with online stores and vice versa. However, the iTMS would probably take a bit of a hit, since people could flock to other online music stores, knowing they could play the files on their iPod.

On the other hand, Apple could lock down FairPlay, so Real's efforts are thwarted, and make the iTMS the dominant online music store [even more than it already is]. Apple would need to do some fairly aggressive marketing to do this, as well as introduce it to other countries (Australia already?!). But the question is, can Apple make this happen? I hope so, because from what I've seen, the iTMS + iPod combination works great. If this fails, the iTMS will shrink in market share and the iPod with it, since it can only play files from the iTMS and not any store (since Apple would've sued Real and scared any other online music store from trying to crack FairPlay).

I would tend to lean towards option 1: licensing FairPlay. Apple could also aggressively expand the iTMS and prepare to take a hit as other stores gain popularity, knowing that the iPod will increase market share and bring more money to the company.

However, it appears Apple will probably sue Real, according to Paul Thurrott. Paul also seems to agree with my conclusion, as well. Scoble also has a short post with a link to an old post with his views on the compatibility issues.