[mythtv-users] Microsoft and DRM

[Brian Wood]

OT I know, but I thought folks here would be interested:

There was a discussion of MS and DRM the other day. From Small Dog  
Electronic's "Tech Tails" newsletter, regarding their new "Zune":

"You can move songs from one Zune to another, but the songs magically  
disappear after three days or three plays (leaving a link to buy the  
song for yourself at Microsoft's store),

The copy protection on the Zune is so strict that it applies to all  
audio files, regardless of copyright status.  Say you make a song in  
GarageBand, save it as an MP3, email it to a friend who uses Windows,  
and the friend puts the song on their Zune.  Your buddy thinks the  
song is so great, he zaps it to other friends with a Zune, but those  
people to whom he zaps the song using Wi-Fi get three plays or three  
days.  Ironically, if some media is covered by a Creative Commons  
license, the Zune violates it as it hinders free distribution."

Of course they don't tell you about this until after you have spent  
your money :-(

I don't think I'll count on MS for a solution to encrypted Cable TV  
programs.

Brian Wood
beww at beww.org