Dvorak: "Jobs is no idiot" on DRM

Apple CEO Steve Jobs is both right and quietly acting in his best interests by making complaints about DRM, John Dvorak said today in a comment for MarketWatch. Referring to Jobs' recent open letter on the limits imposed by DRM on music, the technology pundit notes that the copy protection controls effectively kill the social element crucial to music enjoyment by preventing sharing between friends.

"In the 1960s if you bought a 45 R.P.M. top 40 hit you could play it on any record player. You could take it to parties and play it. You could play it at the school dance. You could copy it to your tape recorder even," he says.

There may be more behind Jobs' letter than just altruism or deflecting criticism from its EU troubles, Dvorak observes. Since younger listeners are actively switching to independent labels -- many of whom offer online music unprotected or even freely shared -- Jobs must recognize that his company could be left out of the equation, "languishing" with an undesirable deal with stubborn major labels.

"Jobs is no idiot," Dvorak writes. "You'd think the big labels would pay some attention to him when he tells them to get off this DRM nonsense."