Following in the footsteps of Apple, Inc., today Amazon announced DRM-free music including music from EMI and more than 12,000 minor labels.

Launching later this year, the DRM-free Amazon store will include music in the MP3 format. There was no mention of pricing or encoding bit-rate. Based on other Amazon services, the Amazon offering should be competitive and that's great news for all.

The cracks in the DRM dike are growing larger. We only hope that such a story would seem trite in three years.

Amazon Press Release