France has taken a bold step to standardize Digital Rights Management (DRM) through legislation, despite the particular objections of Apple. Media software publisher, J. River, believes that Apple’s claim that the legislation would amount to “state-sponsored piracy” rings hollow, and that closed DRM systems are designed to protect market share.
J. River MEDIA CENTER™ software already delivers significant interoperability, managing and playing all popular media formats, and connecting devices. J. River agrees with consumers that proprietary DRM is a problem.
“Apple is understandably trying to protect their own turf, but it can be tough on customers,” said Jim Hillegass, J. River CEO. “We agree with the French position that if you buy a track from any service, you should be able to play it on any portable player.”
As users become increasingly savvy and begin to understand the limitations, and restrictions imposed on them by current DRM technology, they will understand why competing DRM solutions need to evolve into a more cooperative system.
J. River Media Center already plays protected content from Apple and Microsoft and can download these files to an Apple iPod or a Microsoft PlaysForSure™ device. Conversion from Microsoft’s DRM protection to Apple’s or vice versa could be done easily with the cooperation of Apple.
DRM itself is not the problem, as a unified solution is feasible, but it requires collaboration between the competing technologies. This collaboration may not happen without the help of the type of legislation that is being proposed in France.
About J. River
J. River, a software developer, builds digital delivery solutions for corporate partners. This includes streaming, downloading, subscriptions of audio and video content, handheld device support and Digital Rights Management. For more information about J. River’s media products, visit http://www.jrmediacenter.com. Contact e-mail music@jriver.com, or call 612.677.8200.
