Ever since we were teased with music downloading sites years ago like Napster, copy right protection was something, we thought, we never had to worry about. However, history shows that people like to get paid and thus lawsuits were drawn up and won by major music companies that resulted in them keeping their money and us never getting the joys of downloading non-copy righted protected music, until now.

 

Apple (News - Alert) recently announced that the company gave the record labels flexibility on pricing as it got them to agree to sell all songs free of "digital rights management," or DRM, technology that limits people's ability to copy songs or move them to multiple computers. Apple had been offering a limited selection of songs without DRM, but by the end of this quarter, the company said, all 10 million songs in its library will be available that way.

 

iTunes is the most popular digital music store but others have been faster in offering more songs without copy protection. Amazon.com (News - Alert) started selling DRM-free music downloads in 2007 and swayed all the major labels to sign on in less than a year, according to the AP.

 

Apple's final appearance at the Macworld trade show, Apple's marketing executive, Philip Schiller, said that iTunes song prices will come in three tiers: 69 cents, 99 cents and $1.29. Record companies will choose the prices, which marks a significant change, since Apple previously made all songs sell for 99 cents.

 

Schiller also announced that iPhone (News - Alert) 3G users will be able to buy songs from the iTunes store using the cellular data network. Previously, iPhone users could shop for tunes when connected to a Wi-Fi hot spot.

 

Schiller got a warm welcome from the attendees, "Phil did an exceptionally good job in representing Apple," said Tim Bajarin, president of technology analyst group Creative Strategies Inc.

 

Lower iTunes prices were Apple's only acknowledgment to the recession and rather than an inexpensive new Mac to lure budget-conscious buyers, Schiller unveiled a new $2,800 Macbook Pro laptop with a 17-inch screen and the sleek aluminum casing the company debuted with the super-thin Macbook Air.

 

There were also new versions of two software packages for Macs, including the iLife multimedia programs. The software works for instance, with iPhoto '09 it can recognize faces and sort photos based on who's in them. GarageBand '09 includes videotaped, interactive music lessons given by Sting and other musicians and Apple added more professional video editing features to iMovie '09, according to the Associated Press.

 

Microsoft’s (News - Alert) Office productivity suite, called iWork, was also revamped, including new ways to add animation between slides in the Keynote presentation software. Additionally, Apple revealed a "beta" test version of a Web site for sharing documents called iWork.com. Unlike Google’s (News - Alert) online documents program, Apple's version does not allow people to edit documents in a Web browser.

 

Jobs' decision not to attend Macworld ignited fears that the CEO, a survivor of pancreatic cancer, who’s celebrity like news updates have been stamped across tech sites, was in worsening health. To put the questions to rest, Jobs said Monday he is getting treatment for a hormone imbalance that caused him to lose weight, and urged Macworld attendees to relax and enjoy the show.