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About this siteFor six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul Monday, August 02, 2004Apple's music operation hits a sour noteBoston Globe: "Apple designed the iPod to work with its own FairPlay antipiracy technology, but nobody else's. And Apple hasn't shared FairPlay with its competitors. So rival music sellers were frozen out.Until last week ... RealNetworks ... has found a way to make its antipiracy software compatible with Apple's. That means a RealPlayer customer can play his music on an Apple iPod. The technology is also compatible with Windows Media antipiracy software from Microsoft Corp. Microsoft hasn't complained; neither have the many makers of Windows-compatible music players. Apparently they understand that RealNetworks has done them a favor. RealAudio customers now have an incentive to purchase these newly compatible music players. You might expect Apple to take the same attitude. You'd be wrong. Apple has responded by threatening to sue RealNetworks under the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act, an ill-conceived law intended to stop illegal hacking of computer systems ... Apple's legal threat is probably hollow; the copyright law allows companies to hack a rival's software to make a compatible product, so RealNetworks is probably in the clear ... Since his amazing comeback as Apple chief executive in 1997, Jobs hasn't made a single major mistake -- until now." [ Posted at 1:00 PM | Permalink ]
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