MidemNet 2008: Orange wants to ditch DRM from mobile music downloads : Tech Digest

As you'll know if you've been keeping tabs on the digital music world, pretty much every online retailer has or is looking to sell more DRM-free songs. However, mobile operators have been less quick to clamber onto the DRM-free bandwagon. Until now. Orange has come out and said it plans to ditch copy protection as soon as it can.

Our intention definitely in 2008 is to drop DRM, so we can have a truly interoperable service linked with network access”, says Orange's music product development director Brenda O'Connell, in an interview with MocoNews. "The DRM ecosystem on the mobile and on the PC is fundamentally different; getting them to talk together to create a seamless experience was a huge amount of work."

In other words, Orange thinks DRM is harming its chances of selling you music on your phone AND your PC. "We're very concerned about the fact that customers are really rejecting DRM," she went on. "We want to launch not only a la carte services but subscription-based services, rental models. DRM is what’s holding us back at this point."

(via MocoNews)