The Future of DRM, MP3 and JPG

Steve Jobs' recent letter about DRM has caused quite a stir, although people are still reading the tea leaves to determine exactly what Jobs thinks and why he's thinking it now. The RIAA's own tea leaf reader came away from the document with a bizarre interpretation: Apple wants to license FairPlay.

Infinite Loop: RIAA to Jobs: Thanks for the offer to license FairPlay

If you've been following this saga, then you might be as confused as I am. Seems there are powers that be, including governments who want any kind o restrictions on music bought from Apple, lifted. Apple says if it was up to them they'd do it, but the record labels want these controls in place.

The whole debate makes me feel conflicted. On one hand who doesn't enjoy having music free of any restrictions, allowing you to use it in any way possible. But on the other hand, as a creative professional who makes his living on a digital medium, the idea that some sort of mechanism in place to assure compensation is assuring.

Photography doesn't have any kind of technical restriction. We have no DRM in our files. I have to negotiate rates based on the likelihood of someone abusing the freedom that comes with my images. This attempt to be compensated flies in the face of the now ever increasing normal attitude that once some has a file they can do whatever they want with it.

So I am watching this debate closely. The attitudes toward MP3 can easly apply to JPG

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