Apple may licence FairPlay DRM

Third party manufacturers to be able to get more information from tracks while streaming music

18 January 2007 12:06 GMT / By Amber Maitland

Apple may be on the brink of finally unlocking its DRM – but only to approved Made For iPod manufacturers.

FairPlay copy-protection has long been the subject of complaint by both governments - in Scandinavia and France in particular - and third-party accessory manufacturers.

If the report is true, Apple will be announcing this week that it will allow streaming of AAC content via USB, and will also allow Made for iPod partners to have the code so that Hi-Fis and other devices will be able to stream protected music.