Jobs "wholeheartedly" shifts DRM blame

Have the Norwegians brainwashed Steve Jobs? Are they the ones who have forced him – possibly at gunpoint – to denounce the evils of digital rights management and pledge to open up iTunes to everyone? Not so fast.

Steve Jobs' latest treatise on the restrictions of the digital music market marks an important first step if the media industry is ever going to get over its fascination with locking down every piece of music or video with DRM. As Jobs says, the consumer would be better served in a DRM-free world. "In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat," says the benevolent Jobs.

This is incredible news! The world's most dominant digital music service is saying DRM is bad for music fans, and Apple wants it abolished. DRM doesn't work anyhow, he observes. But – and here it comes – Apple would do this only if the record labels agree to license their music to iTunes without DRM. Cue sound of needle scratching across record. Record companies will never agree to this.

For all the chatter that the Jobs letter is generating right now, it's doomed to blow over without any resolution. Jobs is not so much championing what's best for consumers. He's arguing that Apple is not the bad guy here. The music labels are. It's not a bad strategy when your company is staring at criminal sanctions in Norway, open consumer revolt across Europe and anti-trust attention in Brussels. But you, angry Europeans, can do something about it, he says.

"Much of the concern over DRM systems has arisen in European countries," the letter continues. "Perhaps those unhappy with the current situation should redirect their energies towards persuading the music companies to sell their music DRM-free. For Europeans, two and a half of the big four music companies are located right in their backyard."

In other words, Europeans: Think different.