"Excuse me. Getting out"

I took Muni to get to my internship the other day. I stood — cramped — with little space to move even when people were getting on and off. I listened to my iPod and kept to myself while other job-bound travelers listened to their portable players, fiddled with their Blackberrys, or read their newspaper. Up goes my City meter. It was another successful SF morning as I shuffled in and out of my main source of transportation. Sure I may have scuffed some shoes and rubbed against some of the business casual folks in an attempt to exit the Metro before the doors closed, but that’s the price you pay to look legit.

But who are these yuppies I ride with? Where are they headed? What do they do? Which nearby, trendy restaurant are they going to today? More importantly—for the sake of an awkward transition to my writing class topic—what are they listening to? I could start by sharing my music with them, but that might make the record labels mad. That is, essentially, their case for Digital Rights Management (DRM).

In general, DRM technologies are designed to limit copying, accessing, or converting media to other formats than the one originally intended. It’s an attempt to stop illegal distribution and protect intellectual property. In the case of the music on my iPod, which I purchased from iTunes, there are numerous restrictions that prevent seamless sharing [Note: This applies only to the files that are DRM-protected. There are some files on the service that are, supposedly, DRM-free]. It can prohibit what computers can play a track I purchased, how many times I can copy it to a CD, and prevent me from converting it to another file format.



This is San Francisco—a place known for the sharing of resources, ideas, automobiles, and body parts. So when a company like Apple, which I’m fond of, places restrictions on the music I purchase, it puts me in quite the predicament. It might be awhile before these copyright issues sort itself out. In the meantime, I’ll continue on my San Francisco journey and buy reasonably priced tracks from Amazon to satisfy my digital download needs.

[Update: All those people on the Metro were listening to In Rainbows.]