Real Networks CEO: Most iPod Users Pirates
May 12th, 2006 | By James Lewin | Category: General, iPods & Portable Media Players 
Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser made some comments recently that are sure to generate controversy, suggesting that half the music on iPods is illegal and that the music industry made a mistake dealing with Apple.
“The music industry has made a mistake, not by agreeing to Apple’s fixed-price level, which is what gets all the attention, but by allowing Apple to create devices that are not interoperable,” according to Glaser.
“If you want interoperable music today, there is a very easy solution: it’s called stealing,” adds Glaser. “The average number of songs sold for the iPod is 25, and there are many more songs on iPods than 25. About half the music on iPods is music obtained illegitimately either from an illegal peer-to-peer networks or from ripping friends’ CDs, which is illegal. But it’s the only way to get non-copy protected, portable, interoperable music.”
Glaser does not say where he gets his figures from, but there are many ways to legally put non-copy protected MP3s on portable media players, including ripping personal CDs, purchasing tracks from companies like Magnatune and downloading free podcasts and music tracks from the Internet.
via Guardian
