Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ...
by cacozen on Tuesday October 25, 2016 @07:42AM
(#12787041)
Actually it was legal - there was a piece of legislation on the time that called "fair use" make local copies for you own usage. So if you owned a CD, it was fair use to copy to your own iPod.
Re:Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable ...
by FabHK on Wednesday October 26, 2016 @11:54AM
(#12797502)
Depends on the jurisdiction, obviously.
But Apple was actually marketing iTunes with the slogan "Rip. Mix. Burn." and put out this awesome ad featuring De La Soul, Iggy Pop, Barry White, and others. Check it out:
Technically, this wasn't any more legal than recording a CD to a cassette tape. It's still an infringing copy. It's just that nobody was ever sued for it, as far as I'm aware, and it's since been legalized in some places.
There were a few CDs with anti-rip technology (including the famous Sony rootkit CDs), but the industry largely gave up on that after losing the DRM war.
If workable DRM had been deployed fast enough, neither Napster nor the iPod would have existed. That's part of why the fight against DRM is important.