Michael Robertson, the man who founded one of the original download platforms, MP3.com, has announced that he plans to re-enter the now crowded digital music marketplace with a new service providing music in simple MP3 format - ie not encoded with any
DRM like tracks sold by most rival download services.
Robertson told reporters this week: "When I started MP3.com, the term 'MP3' was an obscure acronym recognizable only by geeks.
Today, certain market forces are trying to drive consumers away from MP3 towards proprietary systems, which lock out some consumers and force everyone to buy a particular company's player or software program. I wanted consumers to have more options, so I felt compelled to re-enter the music space to bring the limelight back to MP3."