GSM TERMS UPSET PHONE NETWORKS

The Register reports that the GSM Association, which represents more than a billion mobile phone users worldwide, is unhappy at the Digital Rights Management terms proposed by the MPEG LA in January, which require carriers to pay one per cent of transactions and US$1 per handset back to the DRM patent holders, which include ContentGuard, Intertrust, Matsushita, Philips and Sony. The proposals are described as "unworkable" and the fear is that users will move away from the DRM standard, adopting cheaper but incompatible music download schemes.

The IPKat doubts that the proposed terms are unworkable: the real issue is whether they are desirable. If market forces drive mobile operators away from the proposed terms, it is up to the patent holders to drive them back again by offering something better.

Music and telephones: from cords to chords ...

Music downloads here and here

GSM TERMS UPSET PHONE NETWORKS GSM TERMS UPSET PHONE NETWORKS Reviewed by Jeremy on Monday, April 04, 2005 Rating: 5

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