Say goodbye to your music: Microsoft to kill DRM servers
Mikey 6 comments
If you haven't yet been afflicted with the evil uncertainty that is DRM, your time may have come. Customers who purchased music through Microsoft's now discontinued music store will be faced with an inconvenient decision. By August 31 2008 Microsoft will be pulling the plug on it's music license servers.
This means you can actually happily play your music forever, but only on the same computer you originally purchased it on. But you can transfer the music to a new computer before August 31 - if you can afford to do that. The problem here is not everyone can afford to get a new computer before the deadline just to transfer their legitimately purchased music, and after that time it will be too late. Thanks DRM!
It's a sad reminder of the evils of DRM and just how little control honest users actually have over stuff they have legally purchased.
Jonno
Wednesday 23rd April 2008 | 05:31 PM...in response to this comment by Lauri. haha yeah MS are sadists but people who buy DRM are just asking for it :-)
Lauri
Wednesday 23rd April 2008 | 05:41 PM...in response to this comment by Jonno. Well, I mostly meant his views on honesty and human nature, but I guess MS = sadists is close to correct also. ^^
Am I the only one that thinks this will go beyond music purchased over the internet? Perhaps my rant below reveals just how stupid I am. But is I was afraid of looking stupid, I sure would not comment on, or write for Rustylime.
It's interesting how this sort of shifting of ownership of the internet more or less follows the way of our nation. As our other most basic rights and freedoms are systematically taken away, so it goes with the internet.
It took a few years for the politicians, and the big corporations to catch on, they were so busy raking in huge profits. But, now that big brother sees that the internet is indeed the last bastion of free speech, one of the only things that is truly free and open. It's going to have to be regulated.
It will follow the same pattern as the removal of our other basic freedoms, i.e. Take away some of the neatest stuff, in the name of copyright infringement, and the like. Thats just the start.
Having a free internet is kind of like being pregnant. Either it is, or it isn't. Once the foot is in the door, the onward march of loss of privileges just pushes on through. Pretty soon, you'll have to pay for your emails-each one-and then if you want anybody to actually get what you send, you'll have to send it through the U.S.I.E.S.T.M.S. short for the United States Internet Email Security and Terrorism Monitoring System. This new government agency will, Provide Jobs, Make email faster, make email available to more people, better national security with suspicious content monitoring. Of course, your inbox will only except Stamped email from known senders duly registered with the USIESTMS. No more worries about opening some Trojan horse or the like.
After this new email system goes into place, the development of the B.S.E.S.-Blog Security Enforcement Squat will get under way. Subversive Blogs will disappear, along with what your Presidential appointed Department head and his unpartisan staff may feel is inappropriate for the citizens of our country, or the world.
The music is not a big deal for me personally, but I know it won't end there. There are too many rights being violated, too much intellectual property being pirated, too much un-patriotic commentary, and all that open communication with terrorists.
Microsoft is just another huge corporation making tons of money, and though Bill Gates may still give millions to charity that does good work. The corporation will have thousands of reasons you need to be "protected" and thats just like the rest of your liberty here in the states, you're going to have to let go of some to remain free.
I dont know about you, but I dont know how I lived before the internet, and it must stay free and unregulated or you will no longer be able to even express your own point of view.
Rodney
Wednesday 23rd April 2008 | 07:00 PMThis isn't the only issue. There are competing DRM formats as well and a format-war is brewing. Imagine it like Blue-Ray vs HD-DVD only when your vendor loses, all your purchases stop working, instantly.
Jake
Thursday 24th April 2008 | 07:24 AMMike, surely you can convert the music to another format and sever the tie to the lisence?
Lauri
Wednesday 23rd April 2008 | 05:19 PMMarquis de Sade was right after all.