By Bill Rosenblatt Rhapsody, the online music service that is now a joint venture of RealNetworks and MTV Networks, launched a DRM-free MP3 store into beta this week, along with the over-the-air download service through Verizon Wireless that the company had pre-announced almost a year ago. Its announcement on Monday lumped these and other features together under the heading "Music Without Limits." This is the final link in the major record companies' strategy of putting competitive pressure on Apple's iTunes by selling DRM-free MP3s through other retailers. iTunes is now the only major music service, at least in the US market, that still uses DRM for paid Internet downloads. Rhapsody is the last of the non-iTunes major music services to go DRM-free, joining Amazon, Napster, and Wal-mart. Thus Rhapsody now offers a combination...
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