tobias_platen's blog

I do not use iTunes because it is non-free software. While iTunes music is DRM-Free, other media distributed through iTunes contain DRM. iTunes also has long EULAs which further restrict what you can do with the music. If you buy a CD in a store there is no such EULA and you can pay anonymously with cash. iTunes does not accept cash, they only accept credit cards which tell Big Brother about your purchases and gift card which are known to be insecure. Therefore I do not use iTunes, instead I buy CDs in a store or directly from artists who self publish their music.

As an anime fan I often go to conventions where you can easily buy CDs with Japanese music (including VOCALOID music). Many VOCALOID producers sell their music online using iTunes, while others offer gratis copies for download after you have liked them on Facebook which is a Monstrous Surveillance Engine. Because I don’t like surveillance, I never used Facebook. The only way to support these artists is buying a CD. I also started writing my own music using only free software, and I plan to sell physical copies of my music at anime conventions.

I don’t use VOCALOID because it is non-free software with DRM and a surveillance feature. I also think that there is need for a free iTunes replacement, where one can pay anonymously with GNU Taler and download copies of the music in patent free formats such as FLAC and Ogg Vorbis.