The rumors were launched during the weekend by very detailed reviews of the new hardware on the tech Web sites iLounge and Boing Boing Gadgets. The iLounge review was written by Editor in Chief Jeremy Horowitz, who complained bitterly about the limited controls on the shuffle and its impact on headphone use.

"Because of what Apple has done here -- something sneaky and arguably terrible for consumers, especially if it continues with other iPod and iPhone products in 2009," Horowitz said, "if you plug your old third-party headphones of any sort into the new shuffle, you'll find that you can't do anything with the device other than have it continuously play music without volume controls or interruption, unless, of course, if you turn it off."

Authentication Chip?

Horowitz's allegation that third-party manufacturers of headphones would have to license an authentication chip from Apple sent the techies at Boing Boing off on a hunt to see if they could find it. When they unearthed a small chip in the headphone module labeled 8A83E3, headlines popped up on Web sites around the globe that Apple was trying to dominate the headphone market.

As the Boing Boing site conceded, the techies actually weren't sure what they had found: "For all we know, it could be something the FCC made them put in so that it doesn't interfere with whale song," Joel Johnson and Rob Beschizza wrote.

But the discovery of the chip set off a scramble for comment from Apple and its vendors. Accessory manufacturers V-moda and Scosche confirmed that Apple is requiring the purchase and installation of a chip, currently only available from Apple, to control playback on the company's most recent devices.

"As part of the Made for iPod program," an Apple spokesperson said, "we make sure that third-party headphones work properly with the third-generation iPod shuffle."

Apple Tax?

Even if the chip in question is not an authentication chip, or controller chip as some have said, the fact remains that if Apple is the only authorized vendor of a part needed to control its devices, headphone manufacturers will have limited options apart from paying whatever licensing fees Apple demands.

Given the relatively limited circuitry involved, it's not hard to imagine that one or more enterprising companies may try to reverse-engineer the chip and produce equipment capable of controlling the shuffle and other control-less equipment. However, that raises the possibility of litigation with Apple, a company well-stocked with intellectual-property attorneys.

PC World blogger Ian Paul put it best when he described the idea of DRM hardware as "Apple suicide." "If the rumor is true," he said, "then this is a horrible path for Apple to tread. Forcing consumers to constantly buy something as commonplace as headphones every time a new feature is added will only serve to upset the public and distance Apple from its dedicated base of consumers."