With every major online digital music vendor slowly but surely abolishing digital rights management, you might wonder how much sense it makes to launch a music service that locks tracks to the devices they're downloaded to. Still, this is exactly what Microsoft has done with its recent launch of its UK Mobile Music store. To make matters worse, there's a whole boatload of other weird decisions regarding this new service that makes you wonder if Microsoft UK has been in contact with anyone outside of its own main office building for, say, the past 5 years.
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Member since:2005-12-15
Member since:2005-11-15
Member since:2008-12-06
What about the Windows 3.x platform? It was just a little before I actually was old enough to understand a bit about computers, so I never used that system (woah-- that was the time when I used to think that all the guts of the computer were in the monitor-- I blame the Macintosh Plus for that-- I was so young then). Did MS start getting it right then? I'm actually curious what those older than me who used it thought about it.
Member since:2008-05-26
Member since:2005-08-12
I'm willing to bet that if the movie companies were interested in dropping DRM, Apple would lose it the same day.
You must understand that unlike with the music companies, Apple hasn't been as successful about getting movies because those companies are wary of letting Apple do to the movie download business what they did to the music download business. More movies are already downloaded from iTunes than all the other movies sites put together. That was reported on a while ago. And Apple still has far fewer movies available than do some of those other sites.
Apple is just being diplomatic. They don't want to do anything to scare those companies away.
Member since:2008-07-15
Not quite. Apple isn't going to press them, given that they don't want to scare other movie studios away. Keep in mind that, compared to the number of movie studios around, Apple has very few of them on iTunes.
That aside, I think the CSS system on DVDs and encryption on other video media that has followed indicates the position of the movie studios quite well. They, clearly, are in favor of DRM regardless of Apple's opinion, or anyone elses for that matter. They want their control, and won't do business with anyone who tries to deny it to them. They're fighting a losing battle--the fact that CSS and other forms of video protection are always being cracked speaks to that--but it is one they seem determined to continue fighting.
Member since:
2008-07-15
Subject says it all, I guess. Obviously, someone wasn't thinking. Didn't the MSN music store teach them anything? Don't they remember what happened to the music people purchased when it went under?
DRM is ridiculous. There's not a scheme invented that doesn't inconvenience legitimate users and let the pirates get off scott free.
Earth to Microsoft: even Apple is dropping DRM on their iTunes music--too bad they can't do that for movies as well, but hey the movie studios are being stupid about it. Wake up.