p2pnet - rss feed: Bad news: Microsoft dumps DRM
p2pnet news | DRM:- If you’re one of the MS Faithful who’s bought music from Microsoft’s moribund MSN Music, tough excreta.
Because Bill and the Boyz are switching off the DRM.
That’s good news, though, surely?
Isn’t it?
Nope.
“You’ll have to make sure you have license files for all your songs on the computer and devices you want to play them on, because without the servers, you can’t authorize your content,” says CrunchGear, citing Ars Technica, and going on >>>
What really sucks is that you’re only allowed up to five of these devices, and the licenses can’t be transferred to different machines.
It’s good that MSN has decided to abandon dreaded DRM, but it sucks that its customers are going to be left in this lurch.
MSN Entertainment and Video Services general manager Rob Bennett is telling customers to make any and all authorizations or de-authorizations before August 31, says Ars Technica, quoting an MS email, which gstates >>>
As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers.
You will need to obtain a license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008.
If you attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August 31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play.
And, “This doesn’t just apply to the five different computers that PlaysForSure allows users to authorize, it also applies to operating systems on the same machine (users need to reauthorize a machine after they upgrade from Windows XP to Windows Vista, for example),” says Ars, adding:
“Once September rolls around, users are committed to whatever five machines they may have authorized —- along with whatever OS they are running.”
Now you know.
Slashdot it! . 
.
.Stumble It!
moribund MSN Music - Apple cores MS music store, November 3, 2006
CrunchGear - Microsoft to close MSN DRM servers at end of August; customers have choices to make, April 22, 2008
Ars Technica - DRM sucks redux: Microsoft to nuke MSN Music DRM keys, April 22, 2008
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April 24th, 2008 at 9:42 am
hmmm,
Are they actually doing away with DRM, or are they mearly removing your ability to listen to your legally purchased music? Sounds to me they are just turning of the DRM authorizing servers, so people stupid enough to ‘purchase’ music can no longer access it. However, I’m sure they will be happy to ’sell’ you a new copy of the same music in a ‘different’ format (same format, just encapsulated in a new DRM) !
db
April 24th, 2008 at 9:48 am
What all the content people have not wanted to get, is that DRM sucks and customers aren’t going to bite for the majority. The mentality is we’re charging money for it, must be valuable, so lets lock it up. Now if you are a wise one, you are saying crap on that. I can get it for free without any of this cumbersome junk in it.
The other thing content people haven’t quite grasped is that content can compete with free. There is just one little thing you gotta do. Make it worth the money. If it is harder to use than free, guess who loses? If the quality that is being sold is lower than free, you know the answer to that one as well. If free allows you to use it as you wish but you are punished if you buy it by being locked in, you already know to chorus line to that one.
People will pay for quality. They will pay for extras. They won’t pay for subpar, low quality, and jump through hoops to use it material. So get the prices down, the quality up, and return to the days of vinyl as far as lock down goes, or continue to lose ground.
April 24th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
This is a Customer Relations problem that is easy to avoid, Microsoft. Give the non-DRM versions of the purchases to your customers. You remember the customers, right?
April 24th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Do they sell music in flac or 5.1 dts ? no. Consequently, I download from tpb or mininova, and avoid lossy formats altogether. If I absolutely must use a lossy format, it’s not going to be the non-free mpeg-x, but rather the free and superior ogg.
Once you have listened to true hardware decoded 5.1 music there is no turning back.
April 24th, 2008 at 5:50 pm
“Do they sell music in flac or 5.1 dts ? no. Consequently, I download from tpb or mininova, and avoid lossy formats altogether.”
http://thepiratebay.org/browse/104
April 24th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
And people called me paranoid when I warned that something like this could happen with files that need to be authorized/activated online. I wonder how long it will be before they stop allowing Windows XP activations…
Gee, do people still think Valve’s “Steam Powered” games are such a great idea?
April 24th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Once a mistake,
Twice, I start to think it’s deliberate.
A link to a page that has torrents of RIAA material.
It’s not a good idea.
We know that links aren’t illegal, but no one has the financial might
to fight to prove it.
Please don’t post links like that.
No one here endorses copyright infringement.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Jon, you may want to write an article, clarifying the sites position on
links.
That way, if any slip through it is clear that they are not asked for
or endorsed.
April 24th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
^^I will.
For now, a link to a page with a load of links is OK. A direct link to a single download isn’t.
But thanks for the concern, Dredd.
Cheers!
April 24th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
“I wonder how long it will be before they stop allowing Windows XP activations…”
I guess you never heard of the xp activation tool? No stupid MS server needed!
As far as DRM’d music that people have paid for, this could land Microsoft in court. But if people were really stupid enough to RENT music, then they basically got what they deserve!
Maybe the next time those same people that paid for rented music will do something with their brain other than take it out and play with it!
April 25th, 2008 at 6:16 am
” As far as DRM’d music that people have paid for, this could land Microsoft in court. But if people were really stupid enough to RENT music, then they basically got what they deserve! ”
Like Dbann in threads past, extolling the virtues of renting music ..
because it’s the right thing to do.
This will happen with every single rental service when they fail.
They won’t fail because of P2P.
They will fail because of stupid pricing, obnoxious DRM, and gross
privacy invasion.
P2P sill still be blamed though.
April 25th, 2008 at 4:44 pm
DRM is bad in every form. BOYCOTT Apple Itunes or any other DRM provider until they either stop selling MP3’s with DRM or go bankrupt. When they won’t sell it without they are saying you are a thief who can’t be trusted, makes sense to them since they are thieves to think everyone else is too. Well when ever you do buy DRM tracks just know your throwing that money away as for a multitude of reasons you one day won’t have access to that file. Everyone should do all they can to not support DRM technology in any way they can. Tell your mom, grandma, friends and whoever else you know not to use Itunes or Ipods for that matter.
The IPOD is a sad joke of a device fueled by catchy advertising and product placement in shows. It is not the best MP3 player as its the only one I know of that requires you to use its software to load content on the device, all other MP3 players just plug into a PC (whether Mac , Windows or Linux ) and let you drag and drop songs into them. Other players don’t corrupt and need connecting to the manufacturers servers to FIX them, They just play music which is supposed to be why you got it in the first place. Now I know you can hack your Ipod and do crazy stuff ( my buddy has 10,000 songs on one ) but when you do that thinking your screwing Apple or getting over on them, your not as you are just a walking AD for their crappy DRM player. So when a non geek sees how sweet your Ipod is they go buy one and get hosed, Just buy a MP3 player from anyone but apple and you can play all MP3’s you find or rip from your CD collection and you can hose apple for real.
April 25th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
People will have to download them for free as MP3s like they should’ve done in the first place. No big deal, unless they’re unavailable, or you have a large collection. In that case you’ll probably be required to pay for them all again in another format.
I have some of these stinking files on disk which I backed up from my own CDs, not knowing any better at first. They played ok on my old PC and didn’t require activation, but after getting the new PC they wouldn’t play anymore without activation and of course I couldn’t activate them not having a license key. What’s worse is that I also had others which had no playable backups and couldn’t play them anymore because of not having license keys. Too bad if I didn’t have my original CDs anymore. Like they were sold, given away, lost, stolen or damaged. I deleted everything on the PC relating to DRM and copy protection. Unfortunately I went too far, but was able to re-install what I needed, except for a couple of game codes which I didn’t care about
April 26th, 2008 at 2:06 am
“I guess you never heard of the xp activation tool? No stupid MS server needed!”
Yes, I have. The point is that they’ll be screwing the people who want to do the honest thing and legally activate their copy of XP.
April 26th, 2008 at 8:41 am
” Yes, I have. The point is that they’ll be screwing the people who want to do the honest thing and legally activate their copy of XP. ”
Yup, the most glaring effect of DRM, and the most ignored/hidden.
It ONLY HARMS THE HONEST CONSUMER.
It has no effect whatsoever on copyright infringement.
This incident proves this fact to more customers than ever before.
worse, it proved it to customers that really believed in doing the ‘right’ thing.
What do you think they’ll be doing now ?
April 27th, 2008 at 11:45 am
@Rekrul
That’s why I’m very strict about running open-source apps and non-DRMed media. The only exemptions are Opera (used only for testing my sites), Flash (though I use Swfdec and Gnash whenever possible), and games. (mainly Super Nintendo ROMs and DOS CD/Diskette images made from games I legally purchased)
Given my principled nature, it’s a shame for the gaming industry that Portal is the only game I’ve liked since Conker’s Bad Fur Day… and it was short enough that I beat it at a friend’s house without having to buy a copy. (Since I have no interest in the rest of the orange box, I’ll buy it from the bargain bin if I buy it at all)
Oh well. At least they don’t have to undergo my “Would a clean install function on a LAN in a fallout shelter if the rest of the world was nuked?” test. (No “phone home required for activation/install” allowed and there must be a way I can stash a zip file or installer without having to fight with registry patches)
May 9th, 2008 at 4:43 am
Steam powered games are a good idea because when they stop supporting the DRM, most of the manufacturers release a update that totally REMOVES the DRM from the games in question.
That is what Microsoft should do here: release a tool that STRIPS the files that MSN Music sold of their DRM, and turns them into normal WMA or MP3 files.