Yahoo endorses end to copy protection
Most songs on music service likely to lack restrictions

BLOOMBERG NEWS

Software that prevents people from copying digital music may be gone from more than half of the songs offered by Yahoo Inc.'s music service by the end of the year, Vice President Dave Goldberg said this week.

Yahoo is talking with record labels about removing restrictions on downloaded songs, said Goldberg, who is general manager of the Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company's music products. When one music company decides to eliminate copy protection, the rest may follow, he said.

"We're making good progress with the labels," Goldberg said Wednesday in an interview. "It's a good chance that it happens this year, but there's no guarantee."

Goldberg is part of a growing chorus of executives calling for an end to copy-protection software. Last week, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Steve Jobs posted an open letter on the company's Web site asking music companies to license songs for online sale without restrictions.

RealNetworks Inc. Chief Executive Rob Glaser said Wednesday that the four largest music companies are "receptive" to selling music online without copy protection, a position RealNetworks has been advocating since the beginning of the year.

Yahoo runs a music Web site and subscription service that lets consumers listen to songs for a monthly fee and download individual tracks for 79 or 99 cents. The company has done tests with Sony BMG Music Entertainment and EMI Group Plc to offer tracks from Jessica Simpson and Norah Jones without copy protection, Goldberg said.

EMI is demanding online music retailers make an advance payment to remove copyright protection from songs, according to executives briefed on the offer.

The company wants the fee to compensate for the risk of releasing unprotected digital music, which can be copied on different devices, according to officials with knowledge of the plan.

EMI spokeswoman Jeanne Meyer declined to confirm or deny the company's discussions.