Apple announced earlier this month that iTunes music sales were dropping the DRM, and now almost entirely in AAC format. It was a significant announcement and made the DRM-loathing camp (myself included very happy). One of the few bones we had left to pick was that to upgrade existing DRMed purchases to the new higher-bitrate DRM-free files you basically were held to ransom: upgrade your entire library ("show us the money") or go away. In my case, that would mean forking out another $100 which, given a big Christmas (and international travels) pushed it to the back of my mind.

Thankfully, Apple has now made it possible to upgrade songs à la carte to iTunes Plus. You pay the same fees (30¢ a song, 20% of an album's price etc) and simply pick and choose which iTunes purchases you want to upgrade. You'll need (at least for now) to be using the 1-Click iTunes purchasing as the Shopping Cart isn't working for upgrades, however if you've been yearning for DRM-free upgrades but can't stomach the large library-wide upgrade fee your prayers have been answered.

[via TUAW]

It's been a long time coming, but Apple has finally secured the deals to sell the entire iTunes music catalogue without DRM and the entire music library is finally available in the 256kbps AAC format that has been known as iTunes Plus until now.

Starting in April, iTunes will also be introducing variable pricing for songs - 69¢, 99¢ and $1.29 depending on the prices set by the record labels. Despite the momentum that the likes of Amazon and other DRM-free vendors such as 7Digital have been gaining in the last few months, the iTunes store remains the largest (and most popular) online music store.

If you're already sunk a fair amount of money in the iTunes store, Apple will allow you to upgrade your entire library to the DRM-free format - for 30¢ per song or 25% of the album price.

RealNetworks executivies may have thought that the company was releasing a lawsuit-proof DVD ripper when it decided to add mandatory DRM to its RealDVD application launched last month. After all, while the software lets you rip DVD movies and save the video on your hard drive, it makes it extraordinarily difficult to share the media with other users, or even to watch it on a portable device or another computer you own.

The movie studios apparently saw things differently because they filed a lawsuit last week and received a temporary injuction against RealNetworks that prevents the company from selling the software. During a hearing on Tuesday, a US district court judge made that injunction indefinite. The next hearing won't be scheduled until November 17th or later, which means that RealDVD will be unavailable for at least a month.

Honestly, I'm still not sure why anyone would pay $30 for a DVD ripper when there are so many free, (and DRM-free) options available. But the case is interesting, because RealNetworks is insisiting that by leaving the CSS encryption intact it is not violating anyone's copyrights.

If this argument is upheld in court, it could be seen as both a win and a loss for supporters of DRM. On the one hand, it would help bolster the argument that DRM prevents piracy and that utilizing DRM is a valid option for studios that want to abide by the law. On the other hand, it would mean that companies like RealNetworks can create software that uses DRM to get around exactly what the movie studios wanted to use it for in the first place - to keep people from making copies of DVDs.

Either way, it would be yet another instance of companies and courts telling users how they can and can't enjoy the media they've legally purchased. But it's not at all clear how the courts will rule on this case yet.

[via NewTeeVee]

RealNetworks, makers of RealPlayer and the company that brought you the Rhapsody subscription music service are expected to announced a new product called RealDVD today. What's RealDVD? It's a DVD ripper. But unlike most DVD rippers available today, RealDVD makes a complete copy of a disc right down to the menus, alternate audio tracks, and special features. Oh yeah, and the software only lets you play that copy on a single computer thanks to some heavy-handed DRM.

There is a way around this restriction. You can transfer the file to up to 5 additional Windows PCs by purchasing up to 5 additional software licenses at $20 a pop. The first license will cost you around $30.

Of course, there are plenty of other applications that let you rip movies for free. And they don't add DRM. A few of my favorites are:

• Fair Use Wizard
• RatDVD
• Handbrake
• DVD Catalyst Free

Technically it's illegal to use the aforementioned apps to rip commercial DVDs. But if you plan to make a backup of your movie collection for viewing on your PC and don't plan to distribute those movies on the internet, odds are nobody will come banging down your door. And you don't need to pay $20 if you buy a new computer and want to move your collection from one PC to the next.

RealNetworks has launched a DRM-free MP3 music store. The Rhapsody MP3 store has music from all four major labels, with over 5 million tracks available for download. Most songs are priced at 99 cents, and most albums cost $9.99. That's about the same price that Apple charges for DRM-free AAC audio files, but a bit more than Amazon MP3 charges for many songs and albums.

All songs will be encoded at 256kbps, and will be playable on any device that can handle MP3 audio. RealNetworks isn't killing off its DRM-restricted music service, but rather, plans to have the two services peacefully coexist. You can pay $12.99 a month to stream unlimited music to your computer, or you can pay per download to save songs that you can play forever.

RealNetworks is also rolling out a service that will let Verizon Wireless customers download music for their handsets. For $15 a month, users will be able to download an unlimited number of songs (with DRM) on a Windows PC and sync those songs with their cellphone. Currently seven handsets are supported, with several more coming soon.

The Rhapsody MP3 store is offering a $10 credit to the first 100,000 customers who purchase an album by July 4th. You need to sign up for an account and fork over your credit card information to qualify. But hey, free music, right?

[via CNet]

Amazon offers one of the most compelling iTunes competitors around right now. The online retailer offers music downloads from all four major labels. And unlike Apple's iTunes, Microsoft's Zune Marketplace and other digital music stores, Amazon MP3 offers DRM-free music at reasonable prices. There's just one problem -- the service doesn't work outside of the US. Yet.

For months, Amazon has been saying that it plans to go international. Now it looks like the company is taking the first steps. The Telegraph reports that Amazon MP3 officials visited London last week to meet with record label execs. It's possible that Amazon could launch a UK version of its MP3 music store by the end of the year.

[via Engadget]

Back in 2006, Microsoft decided to kill its MSN Music store. But MSN Music customers didn't have anything to worry about, because the songs they'd already legally purchased would be theirs to play forever. Sort of. In April of this year, Microsoft announced that it would be pulling the plug on its DRM servers for MSN Music. That meant that once you authorized your purchased music you'd be able to play it to your hearts content on your existing computer. But if you want to buy a new computer and transfer your music collection to the new PC, you're out of luck.

Needless to say, this was not a popular decision. And now it looks like Microsoft has reconsidered. Rather than shutting down the DRM servers in August, the company plans to keep them up and running... through at the end of 2011. Microsoft may decide to keep offering the service after 2011, but nobody's making any promises at this point.

We can understand why Microsoft would want to shut down the DRM servers. The company isn't making money by selling music through the MSN Music store anymore. So why waste the money on keeping the servers up and running? But that's the problem with DRM -- it doesn't go away. So if you're going to commit to selling music that comes with a set of heavy restrictions, you'd better be prepared to offer long term support.

Want to download popular music without paying and without breaking the law? Qtrax is a new advertising-supported service that lets you download music from two of the four major labels, Universal and EMI as well as several smaller labels. The service uses a modified version of the Songbird Media player to let you search or browse for music and download tracks. Some music willbe available through P2P connections while music from Universal and EMI will be hosted on Qtrax servers.

The files use Windows Media digital rights management and are designed to be played with the Qtrax media player. But once you play a song using the Qtrax software and acquire a valid license key, you shold be able to play it using the media player of your choice. The one thing you cannot do is transfer songs to a portable media device like an iPod. That makes sense, since Qtrax makes money by showing ads while you search for and listen to music. There's no particularly good way to do that on a mobile device.

The music selection is somewhat limited at the moment. Not only are Sony and Warner Music Group tracks missing, but there are plenty of albums that show up in the Qtrax interface even though the songs are not yet available for download. But since the service just launched in beta, we're willing to cut Qtrax some slack.

The Qtrax client is Windows only for now, but a Mac version is in the works.

[via Silicon Alley Insider]

Napster has launched its anticipated MP3 music store, bringing the service a bit closer to its roots. But you know, without the piracy.

Now Napster customers have two options. You can sign up for a subscription based service that lets you listen to any of 6 million songs for a monthly fee. But if you stop paying, your music disappears. Thanks DRM. Or you can individually purchase any of those 6 million songs in the DRM-free MP3 format.

Napster's content partners include all four major music labels and a huge library of tracks from independent artists and labels. Each song carries a 99 cent price tag, comes with album art, and a relatively high bitrate. Most songs are encoded at 256kbps or higher.

[via Crave]

After successfully releasing the last Nine Inch Nails album in 100% digital format with a variety of pricing levels ranging from free to $300, Trent Reznor has decided to go all out and give away the band's new album, "The Slip" for free. You can download all ten tracks in a variety of DRM-free formats, including MP3, FLAC, M4A lossless, and even 24/96 WAV.

This latest move proves one of two things:

1. It's possible to give away your music for free and make money by touring, and asking fans to pay for premium content.
2. Trent Reznor has made so much money from music that he can affort to give away his songs for free.

While we'd really like to think that numbe one is true, there's no doubt that the second option is absolutely true. In other words, this is hardly a business model that's going to work for most struggling musicians. But it's encouraging to see the direction that some popular artists are taking when they're freed from the shackles of the major record labels.

It's been a busy week for anyone obsessed with operating system upgrades. Microsoft released Windows XP SP3 to manufacturers, Canonical launched Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron, and OpenSUSE 11 came one step closer to release. But this week's software news wasn't all operating systems, all the time. Here are a few of our favorite stories from the week that was:

DRM strikes again: MSN Music customers left in the dust

In case you haven't heard, DRM kind of stinks. Sure, copyright holders want to be able to profit from their music by making sure you don't make copies for all of your friends. But when companies like Microsoft come out and tell you they won't support your licenses after August, it just means you can't listen to music you've already paid for on multiple devices anymore.

AVG Free 8 adds anti-spyware protection

Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch? Well, lots of people. But anyone who's tried AVG Free knows there is such a thing as a good anti-virus application. The latest version adds a bunch of new features like anti-spyware, anti-rootkit, and linkscanning protection.

Oh the promise of Digital Rights Management. Ever since the dawn of technology, DRM of some form has existed with the promise being that if large companies supported it, the removal of basic (and somewhat fundamental) consumer fair use and rights would be made irrelevant. The likes of Apple and Microsoft aren't exactly going to kill their own music services and DRM servers, in turn locking you out of music you've actually paid money for. Are they?

Sadly, that's not entirely the case. Whilst Apple understands the PR nosedive that would follow any attempt to 'disable' DRMed purchases, Microsoft perhaps does not. Today they've announced that, effective August 31st 2008 "[Microsoft] will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs ... purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers" which basically means this: once you've activated your allocated number of computers for the music you've paid your hard-earned cash for, you can kiss you music goodbye if you ever change your computer or operating system. Yes, you can still burn your tunes to a CD and re-import them in another (DRM-free) format. But the questions remains, why should this even be necessary?

Time and time again, DRM has proven not only totally ineffective in preventing piracy but also a method by which legitimate paying customers get treated as criminals for doing the right thing. If there's one thing consumers are repeatedly learning the hard way is that ultimately DRM only shafts paying customers. There is but one question now: how long will it take the labels to realize that DRM is about as welcome at the digital party as Lynne Spears at the Parent of the Year awards....

[Via Ars Technica]

Here at Download Squad HQ, we're (sadly) all-too-often reminded of the archaic buffoonery found in the world of big-business digital music and video. Whether it's the notion that DRM prevents piracy (hint: it doesn't) or the fact that by being blood-relatives of mafia bigshots label executives you are likely to escape a kneecapping lawsuit, the music industry has never been short of controversy as it struggles with piracy.

Since the dawn of Napster, the music industry has been crying, nay screaming, out for a digital music czar. Someone who 'gets' the digital arena. Someone who's been around the block, and never missed a beat (if you'll excuse the terrible pun) when it comes to the digital domain. So of course when Warner Music yelled from the rooftop 'We've got a Digital Music Guru!!', we believed that all equilibrium in the world had been restored. And then we read about this digital guru's next big plan, and our jubilation promptly turned sour.

In an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Sony BMG CEO Rolf Schmid-Holtz explained that the music studio is considering launching an all-you-can-eat style subscription music service. There aren't a ton of details at this point, and it's not even clear if this subscription plan will ever materialize, but here are a few highlights from the interview:

• The service would probably cost between 6 and 8 Euros per month (or $9 to $12).
• This isn't just idle talk. Sony BMG has conducted at least enough market research to set what theybelieve is a fair price.
• Sony will continue to sell music through Apple's iTunes Store.

Now for the confusing part. Tracks would play on all MP3 players, including the iPod. We assume this means the music would have to be DRM-free, but Schmid-Holtz also explains that most of the music would no longer play if you stop paying your monthly subscription bill. Huh?
[via Engadget]

BBC, DRM, and the iPhone: it doesn't sound very steamy. But things are definitely heating up in regards to the BBC and DRM.

The release of BBC's new iPlayer brought with it the typical suffocating DRM restrictions, with the typical amount of outrage in the blogosphere.

However, when the BBC released the new beta iPlayer software that allowed users to view BBC streams on their iPhone, the streams made for the iPhone didn't didn't include any DRM.

Certain intrepid programmers and users were quick to jump on the fact that the iPhone streams were unencrypted. One user was able to use a PC to watch the unencrypted streams by using the Firefox plugin Fast Agent Switcher to convince the iPlayer that it was an iPhone. Developer Paul Battley released a Ruby script to download the iPhone formatted files to your PC.

In response, the BBC iPlayer took countermeasures to block the streams from non-iPhone devices. Just yesterday, in fact.