Apple Drops DRM From iTunes Music, But What We Need Are DRM Free Videos

Today, Apple announced at Macworld that by the end of the first quarter, all songs in their catalog will be DRM free. While that's nice, but not really that big of a deal, the real question is when DRM free videos will be made available?

Lets face it, most folks who buy music from iTunes only want to play it on an iPod anyway and are not moving the content around to many other devices. Music is not what's driving the growth of the Internet, new applications, or bandwidth consumption. It's all about video. If Apple really wants to push the market forward and help video consumption explode, it needs to convince content owners that offering DRM free videos would help jumpstart the industry. New business models would be created overnight and consumers would be happy, which means they would buy and consume more content. We'd see an amazing amount of growth in just a year's time.

For all we know, Apple is already doing this and trying to convince content owners of the need for DRM free videos. But until the day consumers can buy content once and move it to any device they want, the market for purchasing video content won't see the kind of growth that many of us in the industry have been waiting for.

Comments

[Jason Deadrich]

Very well said, completely in agreement. We have been selling DRM-free videos at http:/www.clickwrestle.com since 2002. We keep an eye on piracy sites and video-sharing sites and have not had a major issue with theft of content in the 7 years we have been in operation. Keep paid content easy to view and transfer and you will keep your users happy.

[Christopher Levy]

Dan,

How does going DRM-free kick start the market? You admit in your post that most people that buy movies from iTunes watch them on their iPod so what does dropping DRM do for the content owners in that case?

You seem to make some broad assumptions about DRM that are somewhat off here. Where would this proposed growth come from? What new business models will this enable?

Have you done any research on iPod users and how many other video devices they own beyond their iPod? We have and the results aren't suprising. iPod users watch video on their iPods. Very straighforward.

These types of posts need to be founded in facts. Look at the XBox video marketplace. How did DRM prevent them from becoming the #1 video portal on the web? How did iTunes sell so many videos with DRM ??

The answer is that DRM is and never has been an issue when it relates to selling physical media. You cannot look to the music industry or iTunes as the bellweathers for where this industry is headed.

Regards,

Christopher

[Dan Rayburn]

As a consumer, I would buy videos online if I had the ability to watch them on any device I wanted and could transfer them, burn them or copy them as I see fit. If I wanted to watch the same piece of video on my iPod, Vudu and XBOX 360 I now have to buy and pay for the same video three different times. You wants facts, that's a fact.

I've never once bought a single piece of online video content for that very reason and we've seen plenty of folks like Movielink and others go under which is a testament to the idea that they are not listening to consumers.

I would buy content if I could do with it as I wanted. I know I am alone in that and if many others like me all started spending money on content, you'd have new business models emerging almost overnight.

[Cheap Computers]

I think this news would be more appreciative that DRM is free from the iPod and the DRM would be available soon as mentioned above all the thing will be done accordingly but the patience is the main requirement..........

[annonymous_man]

I've personally tried Apple's iTunes Store for music and video content (half of my iTunes purchased music is now in iTunes Plus) -- most of the videos are in Standard Definition 640X480 resolution which works with video iPods (some videos on my iPod I've played on TV by connecting iPod to TV with video cables and then record the video playing from the iPod 2 TV on VHS and then dub to DVD to circumvent the DRM in iTunes video -- of course this can be a long and tiresome process but it works fine.

I've tried downloading a few HD episodes of my favorite TV Shows and don't think its worth it because of the file size and the increased length of time it takes to omplete the download. HD on iTunes is not even Full HD yet it takes longer to download than SD video on iTunes and the file sizes are bigger thus taking up more space on my hard drive -- on top of that the HD versions don't work with video iPods so Apple provides a second version of the same video in SD thus taking up even further space on the hard drive. The videos I bought in HD I already owned SD copies of those videos and having to redownload the SD version with the HD version is frustrating -- have to keep asking Apple to remove the SD version from my download queue when downloading the HD file which is compressed and at 720P if it were Full HD 1080P it would take even longer to download and take even more hard drive space.

Hence, I came to the conclusion High Definition Video downloads especially when they are copy protected aren't worth paying for or downloading for that matter.

I also have an Apple TV at home -- the way I see it online Video On Demand (VOD) systems like Apple iTunes Store with Apple TV, iPod, iPhone etc or VUDU, Microsoft XBox 360 with XBox Live Video Marketplace or the video download component of the PS3 are put simply online video on demand alternatives to digital cable/satellite TV provider based video on demand services. I don't see and don't want downloads to ever completely replace physical media -- there in a different category altogether. iTunes Movie Rentals are complementary to digital cable/satellite TV pay per view -- physical media has always been more compelling also that they come with special features not available when you download a movie or episodes of a show -- but Apple is trying to change that by introducing iTunes Extras to the iTunes Store with the release of iTunes 9 as well as iTunes LP.

I see download services as video on demand systems providing alternative -- additional interactive content to go along with DVD or Blu Ray Disc content -- I like that some DVDs now have a special Digital Copy feature that when you buy a movie on DVD or Blu Ray you get a special electronic copy of the file to work with iTunes or similar media playback software on the computer.

For me downloads are not a replacement for physical media its an added bonus. I like the concept of Blu Ray Disc Live with Blu Ray Disc for interactive downloadable content. So far because of the high prices of Blu Ray players and Blu Ray media, and the draconian DRM restrictions (despite Apple having some DRM in iTunes they have been liberal with the fair uses consumers have in using copy protected content) I've avoided Blu Ray.

In any case I have a TV Tuner on my main desktop system a Windows XP PC running XP Professional SP3 and the VirtualDub program which I record and edit my video with. I also maintain a VCR DVD Recorder to record VHS, play VHS, dub VHS 2 DVD and play DVD.

Despite having bought some video content, I find recording more convenient; of course then I have to convert for iTunes (which is somewhat inconvenient but its free to record and add to iTunes) and copy the video from my PC to my Mac Mini or MacBook Pro which I use to manage my iTunes purchased content (sure my PC also has iTunes but use iTunes for Mac more than iTunes on Windows)or copy my DVDs and convert them into an iTunes compatible format for iPod and Apple TV.

Best thing is I can bypass DRM by recording myself when I record and DVD copying (sure there's DRM but its easy to circumvent and copy the DVD) I do this only as a personal fair use.

I guess I just prefer high quality DRM free video -- that's why I was bootlegging movies online via peer 2 peer file sharing networks before iTunes and other legal video download services emerged and sometimes still prefer returning to the days of DRM free high quality video. I don't mind paying if I can get DRM free.

[Jeeves]

I'm completely in agreement with this article. Even 9 months after the writing of this post, I'm still unable to watch legally purchased video content on my TV...unless I want to pay an additional $229 for the AppleTV product. Which, of course I don't. I can stream music and photos w/ my Xbox360 from iPhoto and iTunes, so why not video. See my full reply here.

[Brooke]

What frustrates me the most is that video that I take with my iPod nano is somehow also protected. I love my iPod but am still a PC person and I have windows movie maker. I have to jump through hoops to get videos from my nano to be editable in windows movie maker.

[dvd to itunes]

Most dvd got drm protect.So you need to remove its drm.
Then convert its format to fit itunes.
This kind of software are called dvd to itunes transfer.
You may need this.

[copy ipod]

If you move Apple's stuff,you need software.
iPod transfer has another name,ipod copy or copy ipod,same meaning:
Get your ipod stuff out.

[BMD]

I thinks that this is a nice move to maintain the industry standard and I really likes the quality of the iTunes Music service.

[best drm remover]

Apple still has much drm protection media in itunes.i think we need a drm remover to help us.

[Tom]

DRM free videos from major studios will NEVER occur.

Movies have not been distributed without DRM of some kind. There is no established basis for this like with music.

Further, why should the movie industry want to go downhill like the music industry clearly has? Yeah right.

[drm removal]

I'm completely in agreement with this article. Even 9 months after the writing of this post, I'm still unable to watch legally purchased video content on my TV...unless I want to pay an additional $229 for the AppleTV product. Which, of course I don't.