Just because you can do something doesn't make it right. On the one hand, Universal Music is dropping digital-rights management — what we used to call copy-protection software — from its online music library. On the other hand, it's suing online-video site Veoh for violating the same copyrights it's no longer protecting. A contradiction from Universal's earlier stance that iPods are full of "stolen music"? Not at all. The legitimate complaint people have had with DRM software is that it goes farther than U.S. copyright law does in restricting what people can do with music they've paid for. UMG is joining rival label EMI in selling music without the protection afforded by software code. But the rights enshrined in our legal code? They still remain in force. Copier beware.

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