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Published Letters: 1
Seriously. iTunes isn't going away overnight, but Apple really doesn't need to be in the music distribution business - they just got in to (a) sell iPods, and (b) fill a void. If Amazon's store is a hit, that takes off the pressure from European lawyers and iPod haters. The big loser, in my mind, is Microsoft/Zune. Sounds like Amazon already has them beat in catalog, and if the music goes DRM-free, then why even support a new format?
It will be interesting to see if (a) Apple is able to get other music companies than EMI to sell DRM-free with them (although Universal seems a lost cause), and (b) how this will affect music piracy. What's to stop me from buying a song from Amazon and giving it to anyone who asks? I know I could do that easily enough now, but if a "second wave" of Napster-style piracy explosion blows up, will record companies pull the plug on DRM-free?
