Apple Refuses to Sing with Harmony
(Via TidBITS) Last week a public shouting match erupted between Apple Computer and RealNetworks over what material can be played using Apple's iPod portable music players. RealNetworks develops the RealPlayer digital media player software, which competes with both QuickTime and Microsoft's Windows Media technologies. RealNetworks also operates the RealPlayer Music Store (a competitor to Apple's iTunes Music Store) and the Rhapsody subscription music service.
RealNetworks did not create Harmony in conjunction with Apple. Instead, RealNetworks proceeded on its own, taking authorized material protected using non-Apple DRM schemes and wrapping it with Apple's FairPlay DRM for use on the iPod. Thus, when the iPod sees content a user purchased from RealNetworks, it plays transparently. This method works for material available via Rhapsody and RealPlayer Music Store because those services use the same AAC audio format as content from the iTunes Music Store ... iPods have built-in support for AAC; Harmony does not alter the iPod software or give it the capability to handle new media formats. ...
[I]f Apple remains set against Harmony, it's not yet clear whether Apple has any practical recourse but to try pulling the rug out from under it via software updates, since Apple's claim that RealNetworks potentially violated the DMCA seems tenuous. First, RealNetworks has been in enough tooth-and-nail fights with Microsoft over the years to be able to afford quality legal advice -- it's a safe bet a reasonable amount of homework was done before RealNetworks made a public statement. Second, RealNetworks' Harmony does not appear to be violating copyright of protected content, since it is not disabling DRM-protected content is still protected once it's transferred to the iPod. Third, Apple may have difficulty claiming its own copyrights were violated, since Harmony does not alter iTunes or the iPod's built -- in software, and the DMCA contains specific exemptions for reverse engineering solutions for the purpose of interoperability.
Posted by Tom on August 03, 2004
