PC World: "Microsoft's Copy Controls Go Mobile"

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,115961,pg,1,RSS,RSS,00.asp' target='_blank'>http://www.pcworld.com/news/article...,RSS,RSS,00.asp</a><br /><br /></div>"With an eye to capturing a larger share of the budding market for online music and movie distribution software, Microsoft is announcing a new version of its copyright protection software this week. The software will allow users to play rented content on portable devices, such as mobile phones, and networked devices within the home. The new version of Microsoft's Windows Media software contains DRM (Digital Rights Management) technology, which is designed to protect, deliver, and play subscription-based digital music and video content on a wide range portable devices, including those in homes connected via wireless networks, the company says in a statement."

[Zack Mahdavi]

I am glad Microsoft is planning on supporting all of the devices within its reach. This, in my opinion, has been a big weakness for Apple. Sure, the iTunes Music Store is a loss leader, but it would be nice if they would license out their FairPlay.

I find it insanely annoying that I can't play my 80 iTunes Music Store songs anywhere but on my iPod and computers.

[Philip Colmer]

The only thing is ... the article doesn't mention anything about including support for Pocket PCs, and I can't find anything on the MS site that connects to this announcement.

I don't want to pour cold water on this - I want to play DRM tracks on my PPC as much as the next person - but it would be nice to have a clarification on that point.

--Philip

[Zack Mahdavi]

The only thing is ... the article doesn't mention anything about including support for Pocket PCs

Oops... I read "Windows Media" support as "Windows Mobile" support... stupid me.....

[ale_ers]

The only thing is ... the article doesn't mention anything about including support for Pocket PCs, and I can't find anything on the MS site that connects to this announcement.
--Philip

They already work!

I know some others have had problems playing DRM stuff on thier PPC's, but I have never. You must transfer the files from WMP, which is much slower than a card reader, but it works every time...better than with my flash player. As a matter of fact I transfered about 15 songs today and just got back from listening to them in my car.

[Felix Torres]

The only thing is ... the article doesn't mention anything about including support for Pocket PCs, and I can't find anything on the MS site that connects to this announcement.
--Philip

They already work!

I know some others have had problems playing DRM stuff on thier PPC's, but I have never. You must transfer the files from WMP, which is much slower than a card reader, but it works every time...better than with my flash player. As a matter of fact I transfered about 15 songs today and just got back from listening to them in my car.

Yes and no.

The straight-buy files will work fine, but time-limited files probably *won't* as they require a realtime clock that is not user reset-able.
Subscription content will only be copyable to new players, not existing ones, which is why the immediate impact is expected to be muted.
Longer term, though, this will likely be very significant.

[Philip Colmer]

The only thing is ... the article doesn't mention anything about including support for Pocket PCs, and I can't find anything on the MS site that connects to this announcement.
--Philip

They already work!
Yes, I'm sorry about that - curious ... I just couldn't get WMP on my PC to recognise my device, but maybe I wasn't using WMP properly. Anyway, I have just tranferred a DRM track onto the Axim and I'm playing it now.

--Philip