Apple privacy concerns?
This story is a little old, but for those that haven’t heard about it:
According to some bloggers, Apple violating your right to privacy!!!
How, you ask? Well, if you purchase a DRM-free song on iTunes (the ones that do not have copy protections and cost a little more than the regular song rate), Apple will embed your full name and email address in the song. What this basically means is that if you throw the non-copyrighted-protected file onto a “file sharing” system, Apple or music labels might be able to track you down. If you keep your song library private (like you’re legally obligated to), it won’t affect you.
When this was discovered, there was a lot of complaints that embedding this information in a file violated customer’s privacy rights, but that is not true. The only thing that customers have a right to is what they purchase.
If I purchase a chair that I know to be broken, I cannot claim that the seller violated my right to a non-broken chair.
If I purchase a computer that states that it does not have an operating system, I cannot claim that the seller violated my right to a working computer.
If I purchase a song that says “DRM-protected, only works on iPod,” I cannot claim that the seller is violating my right to play the song on my Zen.
In other words, you only have a right to own what you purchase. Except for cases of fraud, you are responsible for what your purchase, and for what you do with that purchase.
So it does not matter if Apple sells its music in DRM-free, unencrytpted music that works on all players, or whether it sells the music in reams of paper containing the 0’s and 1’s of the song, your only choice is to accept what they offer or not accept it.
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