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The EU Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Meglena Kuneva, has lambasted Apple's Fairplay DRM, as The Register reports. Kuneva compared CDs, which play on all CD players, with iTMS tracks which play only on iTunes. "Do you think it's fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod? I don't. Something has to change," she said to a German weekly. Kuneva's argument, the EU Commission was at pains to point out, does not represent official EU policy, but her own opinions only. As Andrew Orlowski points out in his Register article, the solution is as simple as clicking 'Burn CD' in iTunes. Then it'll definitely play in every CD player. Make multiple copies of the CD, if you like. The music is no longer protected. Analysis: We used to be able to argue that Windows doesn't run on Mac, but that isn't true anymore. But Windows software doesn't run on OS X – is that 'something that has to change'? Do .wma tracks play on iPod? Do Real audio files run on iPods or most MP3 players? It's only Apple's high-visibility that gives rise to this uninformed, arrant nonsense from unelected functionaries (note that EU Commissioners are appointed, not elected, usually as political payback for previous services rendered. Which is mostly why failed, third-rate ex-politicians clog up the corridors of the Berlaymont building in Brussels. Here's a piece of free advice for the Commish: Don't buy an iPod. Don't buy iTunes tracks. No one's holding a gun to your head. There are any amount of music services that will sell you (well, rent you) .wma tracks to your heart's content. It's called choice.
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