One format for digital music?
p2pnet.net News:- “During a hearing to discuss mandating interoperability standards between competing music platforms such as Apple’s iTunes and RealNetworks’ Rhapsody, lawmakers sounded off on the lament of some hipsters frustrated by playback snafus when they try to transfer music files from other platforms to their iPods,” says internetnews.com.
The US congress is apparently thinking about mandating one standard for all online music platforms but, “Thanks but no thanks – the industry can figure it out, said music industry and consumer groups at a congressional hearing about the plan Wednesday,” says the story.
"This interoperability issue is of concern to me since consumers who bought legal copies of music from Real could not play them on an iPod," entertainment industry aficionado Lamar Smith is quoted as saying.
“The ideas floated by Smith and Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who once sponsored an infamous bill that would have allowed music companies to jam the personal computers of illegal downloaders, included a national interoperability standard and warning labels on portable devices about what formats can play on the machines,” internetnews.com goes on.
And that’s not all. They’re behind the equally infamous Piracy Deterrence and Education Act as well.
But Ray Gifford, president of the Progress and Freedom Foundation, urged congress not to give in to "platform envy and mandate some sort of interoperability."
Antitrust and intellectual property laws are well suited to handle the situation, he said, continuing:.
"For public policy makers, we can never forget the lessons of public choice theory, which predicts that firms and interest groups will seek government favor in promoting their standards solution and handicapping their rivals.
"Any call for the government to prefer one standard or model over another must be subject to most exacting skepticism."
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See:-
internetnews.com – A Law Mandating Music File Compatibility?, April 6, 2005
Piracy Deterrence and Education Act – Hollywood anti-p2p ‘FBI’ bill, p2pnet, September 9, 2004
April 7th, 2005 at 7:18 pm
Was “RAC Rat” Sheryl Crow at this hearing? LOL just wondering.
April 7th, 2005 at 8:50 pm
“…warning labels on portable devices about what formats can play on the machines.”
This little part is not such a bad idea, but the rest is about as dumb as it gets.
April 7th, 2005 at 10:21 pm
Simple,
Outlaw DRM wrapping of any kind.
That way, a VALUED CUSTOMER can choose ANY dowload
service, and easily convert for ANY player.
Duh
Dreddsnik
Member
Boycott-RIAA.com
April 8th, 2005 at 4:36 pm
The user’s manual for the devices should tell one what the damned thing plays. Informed consumers should not get caught by this.
Oh, you mean this new-fangled DVD player won’t play my VHS cassettes? Whaaaaaaaaa!
Multiple formats keeps the industry alive. Imagine if you could only ever use one font to write text. Variety breeds progess and inovation.
Also what if everything was the same format, would you have arrests for encoding music as a wav file, or raw sound, or whatever. How would that crime compare to assault, vandalism, or drug smuggling?