Go, Steve, go! Quote: (emphasis mine)

The third alternative is to abolish DRMs entirely. Imagine a world where every online store sells DRM-free music encoded in open licensable formats. In such a world, any player can play music purchased from any store, and any store can sell music which is playable on all players. This is clearly the best alternative for consumers, and Apple would embrace it in a heartbeat. If the big four music companies would license Apple their music without the requirement that it be protected with a DRM, we would switch to selling only DRM-free music on our iTunes store. Every iPod ever made will play this DRM-free music.

I’m sure this letter will cause controversy. I already heard on NPR this morning that the RIAA is enthusiastic about the second, and stupidest, of the three scenarios Jobs mentioned, that of Apple releasing its Fairplay DRM to competitors such as Microsoft and Sony. (The first was to continue as is, with each company using its own proprietary DRM).

I get so sick of how anti-technological, backwards-looking, and generally brain-dead the major labels have been on this whole subject. It’s nice to hear someone admit there is an elephant in the room.