Decius wrote:
] ... locks you in deeper. Want to buy a different portable music
] player next time you buy one? I hope you don't mind throwing
] away 5 years of songs you bought on iTunes, because they
] aren't going to work with anything else.

The record companies must have known this going in. It's all part of the deal. Think of it as built-in obsolescence ... the wholly digital follow-on to the migrations from vinyl to CD and from VHS to DVD.

Pure, unobstructed digital content is supremely dangerous to their long-standing business model because, among many reasons, it stands to eliminate the critical revenue stream generated by the periodic remonetization of the back catalog.

They advertise DRM as a near-term protector of retail sales levels, but it's equally important as a long-term protector of the business model. This part of the equation is not mentioned as often.

RE: Every Song you buy on iTunes...