Contents |
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e6/05ipod_fam.jpg
iPod is a brand of portable digital audio players designed and marketed by Apple computer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod, accessed September 29 2005). The iPod was conceived by Tony Fadell who was hired to develop the unit after pitching the idea to the Apple company (http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,64286,00.html, accessed September 29. 2005).
The first incarnation of the iPod was originally released in October 2001 and has since dominated digital music player sales, achieving sales of over twenty million units in four years and controlling 70% of the market for all types of players in the US (http://www.apple.com/ipod/, accessed October 18 2005).
The iPod unit can play a variety of music files including MP3, WAV and Audible audiobooks and is designed to work with the iTunes media library software, allowing users to manage music libraries on their computers and on their iPods (http://www.apple.com/ipod/, accessed October 18 2005). The iTunes program automatically synchronize a user's iPod with specific playlists or with the entire contents of a music library each time the unit is connected to the host computer. In addition to playing music and storing the iPod unit is capable of storing documents files, contact and schedule details and be used to play games (http://www.apple.com/itunes/overview/, accessed September 29, 2005).
There are currently six models of iPods on the market. Models vary due to different storage capacities or design. The current range of iPods available are;
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipod, accessed September 29, 2005).
The latest iPod model launched in October 2005 is the new video iPod. This incarntation is able to play up to 150 hours of videos on its 6.3cm screen, as well as storing up to 5000 songs (Papps & French, 2005).
Under a new deal with Hollywood's Disney studio, US iPod owners will be able to download the latest episodes of popular shows such as Desperate Housewives and Lost the day after they air for just $US1.99 an episode as well as downloading video content through Apple's online store iTunes (http://www.apple.com/ipod/, accessed October 18, 2005).
The popularity of the iPod has created an unprecedented dilemma for the Australian music industry as there is no legal method available for Australian owners to fill their player with music (Houlihan, 2005).
By ‘ripping’ songs from cd collections onto iPod units, users may be breaching copyright (see copyright) and while no one in Australia has yet been sued for transferring tunes Music Industry Piracy Investigations say that may not always be the case (Houlihan, 2005).
The main issue in Australia is none of the existing legal download Internet sites are compatible with the Apple iPod music players.
The issue of copyright was first raised in 2002 when Apple Corps, the holders of the Beatles copyrights, sued Apple for infringement on previous agreements with the launch of the iTunes Music Store. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court (http://osviews.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=4259&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0, accessed September 29, 2005).
There are many legal issues facing Apple and iPod, one of the most pressing is the proposed Induce Act. The US legislation, being pushed by the record industry, aims to create liability for any company whose product could be used to copy music without permission from the record industry (http://www.savetheipod.com/index1.php, accessed September 29, 2005).
Gavin Mathieson 13:42, 18 Oct 2005 (EST)
