>However, I think it's simply that the Mac doesn't have the Digital
 >Rights Management (or 'letting someone else take control of your
 >computer')

The second part is true in a way - the reason the Mac can copy the  
cds is because the protection code is only written for Windows,  
bigger impact because of the large user base, as it is very expensive  
(and useless) technology to develop.  There's a big post from  
Switchfoot on Sony's own site explaining all the ways to circumvent  
the on-cd protection like the one on the new McCartney.  Their fans  
were complaining about portability.

The Switchfoot post:

http://forums1.sonymusic.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/716102313/m/ 
5201067064


 > afaik iTunes only offers MP3s (which can be freely copied on P2P  
systems).
 > Assuming preventing unauthorised filesharing is your primary goal,
 > then selling tracks on iTunes is a very bad idea.

iTunes songs are encoded with AAC - a different standard than mp3.   
They have equivalent quality at a smaller filesize.  The files are  
DRM'd to only play on a limited number of computer's registered in  
the purchaser's name - I think 5 but I might be wrong.  But if you  
change computer's - you can de-register one and add another in it's  
place.  iTunes DRM is as good a protection as anyone's - but it can  
be defeated with a little effort, the easiest being to burn a cd with  
the tracks then re-rip to your computer (but you loses a generation  
of quality, like taping a tape).

Remember that the 'great' thing about P2P is you only need one person  
to put the file up once, then it spreads and cannot be stopped.  To  
punish people who still actually pay for their music by installing  
unwanted software on your computer to cripple functionality is kinda  
silly.  There is no way to keep people from trading music.


Lee Elliott