Wal-Mart shutting down DRM server

Did you purchase any music online from Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart is the latest company to ditch the DRM in an attempt to crack the coveted iPod market, which for years has been out of reach. Following in the footsteps of Yahoo a few months ago, and in the spirit of Steve Jobs'...

Sony-BMG May Launch DRM-Free Subscription Music Service

In a lengthy NY Times magazine feature last fall, Rick Rubin hailed a monthly, subscription-based service model as the potential saving grace for the music biz. Rubin is also the head of Columbia Records, so it's interesting to note that it's Columbi'as parent company,...

Richard Stallman, Yale, Ninjas and Our Freedom

Yale welcomed Richard Stallman (rms) to a debate on "Digital Restrictions Managment Should be Illegal" where it was resolved that DRM should be illegal. Defying RL protocol, rms wore a tee-shirt, jeans, and bare feet instead of the mandated suit and tie and presumably some...

Defective by Design Protest at the BBC in London

A group of protestors, dressed in yellow suits (from head to toe) protested outside the BBC today.The  "anti-DRM HazMat suits" were part of an action against the BBC and the "iPlayer" TV system, for taking programmes from the past week and viewing them on a PC (currently...

Spinning Into Oblivion

"The sad thing is that CDs and downloads could have coexisted peacefully and profitably. The current state of affairs is largely the result of shortsightedness and boneheadedness by the major record labels and the Recording Industry Association of America, who managed to...