Apple puts hit on DRM

I enjoyed reading Jobs' open letter regarding music, DRM, and most importantly, the best thing since sliced bread, the iPod.  Of course what I enjoyed the most is hearing him say the same thing I (and a bunch of other folks) have been saying for years.  I (not important) have always referred to it as a cat-and-mouse game, and I'm glad to see that Jobs (someone important) has addressed the 1,200lb pink elephantrilla in the room.

The problem, of course, is that there are many smart people in the world, some with a lot of time on their hands, who love to discover such secrets and publish a way for everyone to get free (and stolen) music. They are often successful in doing just that, so any company trying to protect content using a DRM must frequently update it with new and harder to discover secrets. It is a cat-and-mouse game. Apple’s DRM system is called FairPlay. While we have had a few breaches in FairPlay, we have been able to successfully repair them through updating the iTunes store software, the iTunes jukebox software and software in the iPods themselves. So far we have met our commitments to the music companies to protect their music, and we have given users the most liberal usage rights available in the industry for legally downloaded music.

If you are into this, read TechCrunch's Apple Openly Supports Death of DRM, then read Jobs' letter.