That Recording Industry Association Of America issued a somewhat confusing response to Apple boss Steve Jobs' previously reported proposals that the major record companies should start making digital music available without restrictive DRM.
As reported yesterday, in an essay published on Apple's website on Tuesday, Jobs said that the solution to interoperability issues in the digital music sector, something that is increasingly concerning consumer rights groups, especially in mainland Europe, isn't for companies like his to share their proprietary DRMs but rather for major record companies to stop using DRM altogether. Some reckon (well, me really, but someone else I was talking to yesterday agreed, which surely equals 'some') Jobs made those comments in a bid to focus the attention of concerned consumer rights bodies away from technology firms like his and onto the major music companies.
Speaking for those companies, in the US at least, a statement credited to the RIAA that circulated yesterday seemed to misunderstand Jobs' point. It said that "Apple's offer to license [its proprietary DRM technology] Fairplay to other technology companies is a welcome breakthrough and would be a real victory for fans, artists and labels". Which is a bit of an odd response, because as far as I'm aware, Jobs wasn't really making that kind of offer at all.
However, what did seem to be clear from the RIAA's response is that, despite growing opposition to DRM from within the record industry, the official line remains that the record companies should be able to use the restrictive technologies if they so wish, and that the problems of interoperability in the digital music space are caused primarily by the technology sector. On the case of Apple's Fairplay software, they continued: "There have been many services seeking a license to the Apple DRM. This would enable the interoperability that we have been urging for a very long time".