Wednesday 1:48pm (24th June 2009)

Telecom Music: DRM and no copying to your iPod..
Today Telecom launched New Zealands largest mobile music store but according to the NBR it's unfortunately got Digital Rights/Restrictions Management (DRM) that prevents you backing up your music or copying to your iPod. A slight relief is that music you buy is tied to your phone number so it will survive changing handsets. This again raises the issue of what exactly you're buying when you buy digital music. Last year Vodafone abandoned DRM from their stores citing that people "will now have the freedom to download tracks from their favourite artists without any device restrictions allowing them to experience their music however they want it, wherever they are" and Apple iTunes have also gone DRM-free. Chris Keall at the NBR says he's sticking with his iPod, and at the CFF we think we will too.