SanDisk on Jobs

SanDisk chief Eli Harari has just released his own letter commenting on the state of digital music. Responding to Apple head Steve Jobs' own Thoughts on Music letter, Harari largely defended the music industry's insistence on copy protection by claiming that its Sansa music players already pleased both music labels and listeners, offering a choice of multiple stores as well as supporting unprotected music. He particularly accused Jobs of encouraging piracy by focusing only on music buyers.

"The answer is to protect the interests of everyone involved," Harari wrote, "not to chastise rights holders for trying to safeguard the entertainment they create and support."

The Sansa jukebox creator also absolved device manufacturers of responsibility for their choice of DRM, saying that only the labels themselves had the right to decide how their music is distributed. Harari further contended that a "walled garden" -- a thinly-veiled reference to Apple's iTunes approach -- was at best a short-term fix, ultimately pleasing no one. "It's time to tear down the walls," he said.

By Electronista Staff