Would Apple actually store individual copies of each song, or would they use compression at some level so that if two users uploaded an identical MP3 rip of a song, it would "compress" down to only one copy on their servers?<p>Would it even be legal to swap one MP3 rip of a song for another(e.g. "upgrade" everyone to the 320kbps iTunes rip), assuming the source material was the same?
This goes along with the fact that Apple has released a their own draft standard for a http-based streaming format:<p>HTTP Live Streaming:
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming-02" rel="nofollow">http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-pantos-http-live-streaming-...</a><p>HTTPLS is currently built into Mobile Safari and Sniw Leopard's Quicktime X.
Would the cloud version of my iTunes library mean that I was effectively downloaded data each time I played a song? That'll kill me data cap on my iPhone plan!