Chinese Users Get Nokia Music Service Sans DRM 67
angry tapir writes "Nokia has launched a version of its Comes With Music download service without digital rights management (DRM) for the Chinese market. Currently, the service is available in about 30 countries, but in those countries the music, unlike in China, is copy-protected."
Re:While the Chinese get to enjoy it ... (Score:1, Insightful)
... we /. users still getting the 503 errors !
yeah...me (thomasdz) too. I like the Guru meditation thing (isn't that from old Amiga days)
But at least I'm looking into "Varnish" now..
Re:They don't have DRM, but what is there instead? (Score:5, Insightful)
Excuse me, but do you realize that copyright violation is a nationalized industry in China?
It's like drugs ... (Score:3, Insightful)
The US pharmaceutical companies overcharge the US market for their drugs because they know they can get away with it, with all their lobbying power with the government (both in the Whitehouse and in Congress). You think the music industry and movie industry is any different? They pay more than we can, so they get a government more to their liking. Then they can gouge us for the money to buy even more of our government.
Re:It doesn't make any sense (Score:3, Insightful)
[citation needed]
On the other hand, there are lots of "free, cheap books" today, too. Many, many more than there were in the 1800s. Why has literacy gone done, if all that was needed was free books?
Hypocrisy and showing their true colors... (Score:5, Insightful)
If DRM is supposed to combat piracy, then why no DRM in the country with one of the highest piracy rates in the world?
Perhaps because DRM has nothing to do with piracy, and everything to do with screwing every last cent out of law abiding customers. Seems the chinese are smarter than that and simply won't stand for being screwed like that, so they are forced to actually offer a better product at a competitive price.
So what the west needs to do, is follow china's example, pirate more and eventually the record labels will be forced to stop treating us with such utter contempt.
Re:./ != researchers! (Score:4, Insightful)
So what you are saying is, if we were to increase our level of music piracy in "Western" countries, then we, too, could end up without having to deal with all that DRM.
Ah, China... (Score:4, Insightful)
Land of the free and home of the brave!..
China represents the DRM-free future (Score:5, Insightful)
Piracy is readily accepted as a fact of life in China. Just about anything that is sold on CD or DVD media is available in pirate form. Small pirate vendors outnumber legitimate stores by a wide margin. It's actually harder to buy legitimate media than the pirated stuff.
Knowing this, Nokia anticipates total rejection of DRM by Chinese consumers. Using DRM to compete with pirates is business suicide. So they don't do it.
For whatever reason, Nokia thinks they can get away with DRM in other countries. Because consumers are stupid. If they don't need DRM in the world capital of piracy, why do they need it anywhere else?
How dumb are western consumers? Spam exists because a tiny percentage of morons are still opening the messages and buying herbal Viagra. DRM exists because a tiny percentage of morons is willing to by crippled products.
The copyright industry has made it clear: Only by adopting piracy on the scale of China will DRM will go away.
Re:They don't have DRM, but what is there instead? (Score:2, Insightful)
What he is saying is that the harshness and invasiveness of American copyright law is a political tool for the government.
Using "police investigation of copyright infringement" they get to spy where they previously didn't, and using "copyright infringement" as an excuse, they can throw dissidents in the can when it is convenient.
What he is saying is that, with dissent itself being a felony in China, the government doesn't have an incentive to impose a harsh copyright policy.
Re:Hypocrisy and showing their true colors... (Score:1, Insightful)
If DRM is supposed to combat piracy, then why no DRM in the country with one of the highest piracy rates in the world?
You just answered your own question.
It's because piracy is so high that they need to remove DRM.
If you can get the same product from any street vendor but without DRM, why would you put up with the restrictions of DRM and pay more for the privilege?