Rumors Swirling Around Apple's Fairplay DRM

Tech.co.uk is reporting that Apple will announce this week that it is opening up it's Fairplay DRM so that it may be licensed by device manufacturers who are members of the "Made for iPod" group of manufacturers. Please don't let it all be a dirty lie; could Tech.co.uk piece: This will have the effect of enabling you to play songs bought from the iTunes Store through third party devices like hi-fis using digital connections. It may also mean that devices like iPod docks will be able to display more information - artwork and other track info, for example - which is stored alongside the protected audio. John Falcone over at Of course, all of this is merely speculation as Apple has neither confirmed nor denied the validity of this rumor. Some analysts see the move as a preemptive strike to appease Apple's "Made for iPod" partners, encouraging them to stay on board rather than migrate toward Microsoft's Zune media player. I'm not sure how much I buy into that logic, however, seeing that Zune isn't even close to challenging iPod for portable media supremacy. It would be the equivalent of the New England Patriots going out and acquiring free agents in order to prevent them from signing with the an Arena League team. Why would you fear that kind of inferior competition? More news on this as it develops; hopefully Apple will shed some light on the subject later this week. Add to Del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit | Furl Joe is a staff writer for latest ebusiness news