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Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union recently testified (PDF) at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on “Digital Music Interoperability and Availability.”  The consumer groups praised the availability of digital music services like iTunes Music Store, Rhapsody and MSN Music, but expressed concern that these companies are not making it clear that the songs available for purchase on these stores will only play on certain mp3 players.

Consumers have certain expectations that they can pop a record onto any turntable or a compact disc into any CD player and music will come out.  If digital formats are not going to replicate that interoperability, then retailers of digital music and digital music players have a special obligation to inform consumers of limitations.  We are confident consumers will choose the interoperable systems over closed platforms, if given complete information, such as where and how music and equipment will work, and where it won’t.

The consumer groups were particularly concerned about the increase in music exclusively available on one platform, citing the fact that “(f)or the consumer who purchased any digital music player other than an iPod, there’s no simple recourse when R.E.M. releases a series of songs exclusively on iTunes Music Store.  Nor is there any recourse at all for a Mariah Carey fan with an iPod on a Macintosh when she releases an exclusive song on MSN Music – a platform that simply won’t work with Macintosh or iPods.”

“Consumers who experience these problems with music, movies or other digital content could increasingly turn to methods that potentially infringe copyrights to get the content they want, including searching the Internet for a copy of the content converted to an open format.  This is a less-than-adequate solution, and one that all parties should be wary of inadvertently promoting.”

Consumer Federation of America and Consumers Union testified that they were wary of regulating the content of Internet traffic (like songs, movies, e-mails, etc.), preferring to ensure that the network that the songs travel over – the Internet – is open, interoperable and standardized.

The Future of Music Coalition also testified that “whenever possible, artists must maintain control over copyright and career decisions.  Artists must be able to compete fairly in the marketplace, meaning they must be able to receive compensation for their work and have access to consumers.” And that, “(a)rtists must be seen by the policymaking community as valued stakeholders in policy debates.”

To tell movie and music companies that you want more control over the movies and music you buy, send a letter today.