Comments on: Listeners Test New 256kbps iTunes Plus Tracks — Can You Taste Test the Difference?

By: anon

anon — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 15:13:15 +0000

“I still like CDs. ;)

And iTunes Plus does not have the rich selection a lot of the indie stores do. ”

Amen dude :)

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 13:35:37 +0000

It’s not clear whether it’s legal to resell here, no. It’s certainly not if Apple removes that from the license agreement. But that’s licensing, not DRM … and if you sell it to a person, they already know your *name*, presumably, hence, no DRM for now — so far, the name embedded isn’t getting used to determine whether or not a song can be played.

I still like CDs. ;)

And iTunes Plus does not have the rich selection a lot of the indie stores do.

By: anon

anon — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 08:07:23 +0000

Insert tumbleweeds here while everyone realises they were wrong ;)

By: anon

anon — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 08:38:36 +0000

Did you guys miss the part about selling the music? Maybe it’s not legal where you are, but here, you can sell music you’ve bought if you don’t keep a copy.

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 19:20:13 +0000

@James: I agree. I mean, it’d be another story if Apple used your social security number, or your credit card, or something like that. :)

By: James Katt

James Katt — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 17:42:53 +0000

Inserting user data into the music file is not DRM, and is not restricting privacy.

The user has no right to share the music in the first place.

One cannot lose their personal information unless they do something illegal with the music file - such as giving the file to a file sharing service.

The personal information is also very limited - name and email address. Thus even if the music fle was stolen, the information has limited value.

Buying DRM-free music from Apple is like buying a book with one’s name engraved on the inside cover. There is no restriction on its use except for illegal uses.

By: anon

anon — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 17:42:48 +0000

As for double-blind testing… How many of you can hear those teen ringtones? I’m 29, I was played one and I even told them what frequency it was at. Not all ears are made the same…. My Mum can’t tell the difference between tape and 24/192 WAV.

Never mind if people can hear the difference, just worry about whether there is one.

By: anon

anon — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 17:37:59 +0000

What about selling the music?

By: Peter Kirn

Peter Kirn — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 16:09:01 +0000

Well, wait a minute, anon … inserting user-specific data into a file is not DRM. It could be a privacy concern, but if that data isn’t getting used, it’s not DRM. (The use of the file isn’t restricted.) And you have private user data in all sorts of other things, like Word files. I don’t see that data being of any risk unless you’re uploading those files to file sharing services, etc., unless there’s something I don’t know about it.

Bandwidth is a cost issue, so 256kbps AAC, 320kbps MP3 as is being offered may be just fine. I could see a lossless store in the future, though, and it’d be interesting to do a *real* double-blind test.

By: anon

anon — Sun, 03 Jun 2007 12:02:01 +0000

At the risk of starting a new flamewar I feel the need to comment here again…

DRM = Digital Restrictions Management.

Inserting user-specific data into music means restricting privacy.

These are NOT DRM FREE!!

And seriously when are we going to get our tunes in the original recorded format (perhaps losslessly compressed)? It’s not like bandwidth is an issue in the days of ADSL2+.