Microsoft Office's DRM

[Archived in Entry]

[Darknet] No one has yet to explain to me how society is better off when we can prevent users from printing a document.

Some slightly related from Technorati and Google.

[ | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com] Microsoft’s Portable Media Centers: a strong monoculture headstart: Earlier this year, in an interview that took place during PC Forum in Scottsdale, Ariz., Sun president and COO Jonathan Schwartz said the threat of another Microsoft monoculture was not only very real (no pun intended), but that his company may be working on something Liberty Alliance-like to head it off at the pass. Sun has a lot to lose should Microsoft’s media player technologies take a commanding lead in the portable arena.  Not only could Java be relegated to an also-ran on the portable multimedia front; any rise in popularity of Microsoft’s portable multimedia technologies could result in increased demand for Microsoft’s mobile operating systems and the mobile version of .NET (the chief competitor to the mobile version of Java).

[The Holowach Blog] Boycott: The first episode is a free download, and the second will be $.99, but both are using Microsoft DRM 10 technology. Do not download or buy any episodes from them, and then (I urge you to do this) go to the messageboard and explain (nicely) why you are not going to purchase their DRM technology.

[Copyfight] I Can't Believe It's Not Cory (Donna Wentworth): It's the ultimate marketing challenge to explain to the world that turning over more control to Microsoft is an improvement that computer users should desire and pay money for. Microsoft has floated a series of hyper-technical sounding initiatives like Palladium and Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB), each time explaining why it's a good thing for Microsoft to decide what software users should use. Earlier this week, Bill Gates talked about how it was like a "black box flight recorder," a not-so-subtle reference to 9/11 designed to tug on emotions. I leave it to others to comment on whether Microsoft has the security track record to decide what software is secure enough for me to be running.

[Psychotic Ramblings Of A Mad Man....] How Come We Don't Even Talk No More: Mom thinks that computers are a "necessary evil". My moms computing skills include creating and viewing documents in Microsoft Word, viewing Excel Spreadsheets and sending email using Microsoft Outlook Express (provided the client is pre-configured). Her web browsing skills are very limited, till now there is only one website that she can "open" - www.yahoo.com. According to mom, the internet is a place for wasting time (which is actually true), dating imaginary women (my past activities are responsible for this notion of hers) and viewing obscene content (the credit goes to my brother for this one).

[A blog doesn't need a clever name] A blog doesn't need a clever name: It's the ultimate marketing challenge to explain to the world that turning over more control to Microsoft is an improvement that computer users should desire and pay money for. Microsoft has floated a series of hyper-technical sounding initiatives like Palladium and Next-Generation Secure Computing Base (NGSCB), each time explaining why it's a good thing for Microsoft to decide what software users should use. Earlier this week, Bill Gates talked about how it was like a "black box flight recorder," a not-so-subtle reference to 9/11 designed to tug on emotions. I leave it to others to comment on whether Microsoft has the security track record to decide what software is secure enough for me to be running.

renaissance chambara: But the reality is that piracy remains high in terms of illegal downloads of music, and while online music services are getting better and better and winning more customers, piracy is still a major problem both on the PC and on devices. Microsoft Windows Media digital rights management (DRM) is a great way to limit piracy, and the main point Steve was trying to convey was that it requires a coordinated effort among many industry partners to do it right. More information on this platform is found on this page: http://www dot microsoft dot com/windows/windowsmedia/drm/faq.aspx If you have other suggestions or comments, please feel free to send us another e-mail.

Windows Media DRM10 Cracked?: While this may seem like it's great for fair-use and all, many content owners are upset with the matter. Microsoft has not commented on the issue publicly yet.  It should also be noted that because of the architecture of WMRM this potential break does not mean that the tools will be valid to use in the future.

Omar Shahine's WebLog : Yahoo Music: If Windows Media and its drm is to be the universal platform for delivering music online, then it should have been more permisive regarding the platform it can run on. To achieve this I think that Microsoft should have put Windows Media DRM up for standardization. This would not have prevented Microsoft from collecting licensing fees from its use. However, it would not have forced software customers and music consumers to use Windows, something that it indirectly and even directly requires today.

Omar Shahine's WebLog :: I trust that when I get back to work I have a system that allows me to process all the stuff and get back in the game w/o increasing my stress level and ruining my vacation. Microsoft gives me 15 days a year where they pay me to do nothing... doing email on vacation is essentially losing out on time my mind needs to not do anything work related. I can tell you that I started Monday with a lot more energy and excitement specifically because I avoided thinking or doing work while relaxing.

So sue me: Jon Lech Johansen's blog: They have failed to understand that by buying into DRM they have given the seller complete control over the product after it's been sold. The RIAA can at any time change the DRM rules, and considering their history it's likely that they will when the majority of consumers have embraced DRM and non-DRM products have been phased out. Some DVDs today include commercials which can't be skipped using "sanctioned" players. If the RIAA forces Apple to include commercials, what excuses will the Mac zealots come up with?

Reflected tags on Technorati: Blog, DRM, MP3 Player News

Posted at May 23, 2005 11:20 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)