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Good Answer to Good question A bunch of comments on Apple Adds Still More DRM to iPod Shuffle - The Value Chain Again


From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2009 20:57:00 -0400



Begin forwarded message:

From: Tracy Hall <tracy.hall () alum mit edu>
Date: March 15, 2009 7:47:05 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Good question A bunch of comments on Apple Adds Still More DRM to iPod Shuffle - The Value Chain Again


David;
If Apple follows Nintendo's lead, there *is* a precedence: copyright. The copy-protection that the original Nintendo games used was simply a device that contained a string, which Nintendo had the copyright to.

Regardless of *how* the device is reverse-engineered and implemented, it still needs to present the string to validate - which violates copyright. Another advantage is copyrights last for *much* longer than patents...

Tracy Hall
Lead Dreamer
Dreams and Logic
9018 Balboa Blvd, #235
Northridge, CA  91325
TEL/CELL: (408) 656-9226
FAX: (818) 301-2116



----- Original Message ----
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
To: ip <ip () v2 listbox com>
Sent: Sunday, March 15, 2009 4:29:46 PM
Subject: [IP] Good question A bunch of comments on Apple Adds Still More DRM to iPod Shuffle - The Value Chain Again



Begin forwarded message:

From: "David P. Reed"
Date: March 15, 2009 7:27:55 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Cc: ip
Subject: Re: [IP] A bunch of comments on Apple Adds Still More DRM to iPod
Shuffle - The Value Chain Again

Dave -

On what basis would Apple be able to extract a royalty? There is likely no patent, no copyright, no trade secret here. Reverse engineering should be quite simple - just take apart the earphones and measure the various electrical
properties.

There doesn't even seem to be a rationale for Apple to pursue DMCA remedies -
for that you need "copyright" rights on something, perhaps microcode.

I must be missing something here on this one. This is just a small barrier to entry of the sort that every company tries to erect wherever it can - like the non-standardized power plugs on nearly all non-Apple laptops, which are used to
extract extra profit, but are hardly illegal uses of monopoly power.

- David

David Farber wrote:
The real issue is will the earphone venders have to py a royalty to Apple for
usng their interface?
djf

Begin forwarded message:

From: Ari Ollikainen
Date: March 15, 2009 12:40:53 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Re: A bunch of comments on Apple Adds Still More DRM to
iPod Shuffle - The Value Chain Again

  Add to all that a touch of reality:




I happen to like my 3rd Gen shuffle ( I needed new earphones anyway...).


                                  - - -

"Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves
up and hurry off as if nothing ever happened."    --Winston Churchill





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