iTunes to End DRM

Apple’s announcement on January 6 (see the New York Times story) that it will discontinue adding digital rights management software to downloadable music on its iTunes site, in exchange for introducing variable pricing (including, perhaps, price discrimination), is an interesting development in the control of copyrighted digital information.  DRM and the legal regime that enforces it have been criticized by some scholars and information professionals as hindering free speech and creativity and foreclosing fair use rights.  The new iTunes arrangement, apparently the result of arm’s-length bargaining between Apple and the record companies, suggests that copyright owners are at this point willing in certain circumstances to sacrifice technological controls for efficient pricing.  It will be interesting to see how this plays out in other markets, especially the market for electronic texts. [Robert Richards]