Like 1913 Europe (or a 1970s key party) technology companies are constantly coupling and decoupling into grand alliances designed to dominate the market for copy protection and transaction management.
I can't make up my mind if the opportunity is real. Has Apple's iTunes Music Store shown that consumers are universally willing to accept some DRM (amounting to a minor inconvenience), or is DRM inevitably doomed to defeat in an ever-escalating technological arms race? Either way, the single essential requirement is elegantly stated by Leonardo Chiariglione, one of the creators of the MP3 format and former chair of the failed Secure Digital Music Initiative:
"Content should be as transparent as it is today with MP3," Mr. Chiariglione said. "It should be movable anywhere and still be protected. If we stay with digital islands people have a legitimate excuse to piracy.''
