Universal Thumbs Nose at Apple

Universal Music will ditch the anti-piracy software on music it sells through most outlets, making it easy—but still illegal—to copy its tunes. In what one analyst calls “a bold-faced move to blunt Apple’s influence,” the plan conspicuously excludes iTunes. The company says Apple is a “control group” in its study of piracy, the LA Times reports.

Universal will monitor downloads through January, testing suspicions that digital rights management software curbs sales more than illegal file sharing. The label of artists ranging from Amy Winehouse to Fifty Cent to Johnny Cash is the second major after EMI to offer protection-free music. If results are good, the other top players are likely to follow suit. (More Universal Music Group stories.)