DRM

Any thoughts on the future of digital rights management and the French National Assembly's move to create an open standard? Normally I am all for standards, even though it often means compromise compromise compromise and the loss of great technological feats to achieve that. The convenience of portability and flexible use is too important. However, I'm heavily weighted with my emotional ties to Apple on this one, and feel that the other products on the market are just far too inferior. I don't know if the bill would go both ways, opening up the iPod to non-iTunes stores AND opening up non iPods to iTunes, or just opening up the iPod. Either way, in this particular case, I've been pretty firmly sold on the 1 to 1 link of iPod+iTunes all under the control of Apple. I really don't notice the limitation of my personal choices in any but the most insignificant ways at the moment, as the company is forced to stay ahead of the market by always offering more. It's an elegant solution that loses much of its grace, beauty, charm, and cachet if its exposed to less worthy and thought-out products.