Rhonnin wrote:Ok, to me that is just wrong, if you are going to pay for something then they should put it in a format you can use on any device or at least provide a format conversion utility with itunes. To me that seems like fodder for a class action.
Eh, not really. Most of the politicians are in bed with the RIAA/MPAA and being allowed to move stuff around like that would mean having to share it with others.
It's clearly spelled out in the license agreement.
You see, iTunes makes no profit for Apple. "What?", you may ask. But iTunes costs a ton of money to run; Apple makes around 33 cents a song, which is enough to just cover costs.
However, iPods are cheap. It costs apple ~$90 to make an $250 iPod. So, you buy your music collection in iTunes, and now you're stuck with Apple. You buy iPods, because that is what will play your music.
That's why renting music doesn't seem to be a horrible idea- you're already stuck with music, and if the service you use is no longer likeable, subscribe and redownload your music without additional charge. But, people like "owning" things. And, in order to justify the cost, you have to download an album of music a month...
QTFairUse is the only way (MyFairTunes is no longer being developed) to decrypt your music, other than burning to a CD and reripping. That's a pain and wastes CDS.
Apple has, in Europe, gotten into hot water over it, and France was the first (I believe) to pass a law about interoperability. Apple threatened to abandon the French market, and I believe that was the end of it...