One of the biggest controversies with apple and itunes bringin about several big lawsuits by actual nations is how songs from itunes are only compatible with ipods (which goes against those certain nations policies). Well now currently for $1.99 you can buy a non-DRM song from yahoo (right now I believe the new Jessica Simpson song is the only one available, bad song choice, but hey its personalized). Also they have been giving surveys on wether or not people would pay $1.09 for these songs.
From Yahoo's perspective this seems like a good idea. It will ultimately not take much away from itune's market share but it is a step. You know that if Yahoo starts to take little chips away from apple they will fold and offer the same services (or at least they should). No one would be buying ipods or songs from itunes if there was an ad plastered on every trainstation and bus stop or running every five minutes on your TV.
This is also good news for anyone who doesnt have an ipod (I do but I feel bad for the chinese person who got 5 cents to make it). I generally feel like this is a small step in the right direction for some of the countries anti-piracy laws (meaning all of them). I think Yahoo would profit more if they released a good song (no offense to jessica simpson, but she is better looked at then listened to) for the debut, and if they could match apple's prices for their DRM'd songs.