(2) On religious principle I will not buy DRM-encumbered music period. Because of the RIAA and its racketeering I will not and I will not allow my family to buy CDs anymore.

(3) Fairplay lets us listen to our ITMS music on up to five computers and burn it to CD legally so I see no real restrictions. THAT is why ITMS is number one. And ITMS music plays on the most popular music player in the word – iPod.

(4) Some bands make their music available for free. See here:

http://www.legaltorrents.com/index.htm

Rock on!

As for buying music:
Fairplay is awesome, I can play it on ANY computer I own, put it on my non-apple music player, burn as many cds as I want with the same song/playlist.
And the quality of the songs is stellar…….(/sarcasm)

I’ll stick with downloading my VBR MP3s made by bands that don’t have their music on iTunes…..

http://www.wiredatom.com/jobs_stanford_speech/

It’s a far more inspiring address than anything either the droll BillGatusOfBorg or his embarrassing best friend SteveBallmerOfBorg might deliver.

Suck it up, iTunes rocks. So does Apple. So Does Stanford.

PS Are you a Folder?

http://folding.stanford.edu/

What sort of protection is who getting though? If you can’t follow the money trail then you can certainly follow the doors opened that would normal not open. Many times when deals are made but the agreement is kept from public ear, ESPECIALLY A UNIVERSITY, you can look at the results and see where it went.

Stanford has made a deal that offers too download services legal access to its student body. Something that in the past would have been frowned on. The two corporations that are offering these services would give their eyeteeth to be right where they are now.

Apple has long known this association at an early age leads to life long customers. A large portion of the high schools have always recieved some sort of deal that involved their computers being in the school for student use, with that very idea in mind. It is also why students are seeing vending machines that sell sodas in school also.

In return a percentage of these students will be life long customers, provided they are trained and hooked at an early age. The corporations have penatrated the schools where young minds are trained and shaped. As such they will become the future that keeps the corporation afloat and guarentees future business.

Honestly this sort of consumer training reeks to high heaven of manipulation without regard to a child/young adults mental growth. Military services do this also but with a greater degree of results. While the military isn’t training good consumers, they are training minds. Get those minds early enough, make them conform, make them believe you have their interests at heart, and obey them to take unquestioned orders. How else would you get someone to tote a gun and fight a war for you? Idealism and commitment, that’s how.

Corporations have no business being in schools. If they can’t make a profit from legal competition, they really don’t need to be in business. Doesn’t matter if we are talking cigarettes, booze, songs, or copyright issues. None of them should have access to the student body with any sort of commercialism involved.