Missing iPhones

Some 800,000 to 1 million iPhones had been unlocked by the end of 2007, the sources say. The high end of that range far outpaces most analysts’ assumptions of 750,000 unlocked phones. The vast majority of those phones are trickling into nations around the world where Apple has yet to sign up a local carrier—especially China, say industry sources (BusinessWeek.com, 12/4/07). “In my travels around the world, two out of three iPhones I’ve seen outside of the U.S. have been unlocked,” says Richard Doherty, director at consultant Envisioneering Group. “In China, nine out of 10 phones are hacked.”

More at Businessweek

DRM: Where is it headed

DRM encompasses multiple technologies that control the use of software, music, movies or any other piece of digital content. A year ago, Apple CEO Steve Jobs wrote an open letter urging the music industry to drop DRM. Although Apple’s iTunes still sells a lot of content protected with Apple’s “FairPlay” DRM software, songs from EMI Music’s entire catalog are now available DRM-free through iTunes. Amid declining sales, the major music labels are experimenting with new business models, including dropping their previous requirement to protect their music through DRM software.

More at Knowledge@Wharton