E-Dribble

Jonathan Lamy, chief spokesperson for the RIAA has chimed in to let us know that DRM is dead, kaput, no more and finally no longer endorsed or condoned by the RIAA.

Which reminded me of when the RIAA stated that lawsuits against the consumer were dead, kaput, no more and finally no longer endorsed or condoned by the RIAA.

You can probably use the same grain of salt for both statements.

New Hotness: Paying to not have any rights to the song at all.

Werner Music Group is in a pickle.  They want you to start buying their music again but they also think that DRM isn’t quite restrictive enough. Sure, they already tell you what players you can listen to your music on, they tell you how many times you can listen to it and on how many different devices.  They even have the ability to take away those rights at any time with a simple shutting down of a DRM server when they don’t feel like honoring the license agreement any more.

As I’m sure you’d agree, WMG feels that you have too much freedom with your purchased music.  To help curtail the rampant piracy allowed by previous draconian measures, they’ve come up with LaLa.  What is LaLa?  It’s simple. With LaLa, you can pay ten cents per song.  You then get absolutely nothing.

Seriously.  You pay them ten cents and they will allow you to listen to the song from a browser tab on their site.  Much like you listen to a song on M-TV or the radio, only that’s free.  This allows you to pay for that privilege.  You do feel privileged, don’t you?

While Michael Roberts is more diplomatic than I am about the whole affair, he doubts it will fly.

Imagine that.

Customers using the Microsoft Windows Media Center operating system found themselves unable to record certain shows on the NBC Network. No official response was initially given. The issue kept gaining steam until MS finally acknowledged that it was blocking the content.

They state that they were following the “regulations” set forth by the FCC. If that is the case, then why is DirecTV, Tivo and every other DVR system able to record the same shows that WMC can not?

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Some may think that I have it in for Microsoft.  Not true.  I use many of their products and I’m not trying to spearhead a lynchmob.

It’s just that they make it so easy, sometimes.

Take the latest news involving the Zune.  It’s likely that a future software update will install a copyright protection scheme that will block any unapproved media from being uploaded to it.  This means that Microsoft will determine whether you purchased it via approved channels.

That dvd you ripped at your house?  That’s almost guaranteed to be an “unapproved channel”.

The only thing that keeps me from being incensed is that we all get to choose which player we will use and if you get screwed by Microsoft, it’s because you wanted to.

During one of my light reading sessions in the bathroom yesterday(what, I know I’m not the only one.), I was reading this month’s WIRED magazine. During my reading, I actively try to ignore the ads in the page, just to spite the company that so shamelessly packs more ads than content into their magazine, but one ad slipped by. It was for the Microsoft Zune.

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You’ll probably remember Sony/BMG’s recent antics.  They’ve been busted on installing malware, rootkits and more all in attempts to keep their customers from making backups of the music they purchased. They knew that there are thieving bastages out there that will take something that is not theirs and use it, all the while refusing to compensate the company that provided it.

Well, hi there pot! it’s me, kettle!

That’s right folks.  Sony/BMG got busted for installing pirated software on their servers.  The same company that installed rootkits on user’s computers, not to stop pirating, but to stop legitimate copying of owned music are a bunch of thieves themselves.

I guess it takes one to know one.

DRM only hurts pirates.

Oh, and everyone that legally purchased music from the now defunct MSN Music, who has decided to shut down the DRM servers, thus locking you into the same 5 computers for the life of your music. Upgrade your OS or change computers, and kiss your music goodbye.

Don’t misunderstand me. I don’t feel an iota of pity for those that bought into this payment scheme for music they can never own.

I just like this story because any time DRM fails, an angel gets his wings.