Amazon to sell music without DRM

Another nail in the coffin for DRM on digital music downloads. Amazon officially announced this week that it will sell digital music without DRM in the MP3 format (which still is proprietary and covered by software patents).

From the NYT:

The move could be another step toward the demise of the copy-protection systems that have frustrated some online music buyers and created confusion about compatibility between digital players and downloaded songs. Critics charge that the software has slowed the public embrace of legal digital downloads while failing to stop illicit copying, at a time when the music industry is desperate for ways to make up for declining CD sales.

As we announced yesterday, the FSF launched the PlayOGG campaign to encourage people to use the open OGG file format and encourage digital music retailers to offer songs in this format which, unlike MP3, is free of software patents.