Con la polémica actual sobre el DRM, y en especial con la Xbox One y Microsoft, y las dudas sobre qué pasará si algún día se cierran los servidores de autentificación de la One, recuerdo esta noticia:
Microsoft puso en marcha la tienda de música MSN MUSIC, la cual cerró a finales de 2006 para dar paso a Zune. Las canciones vendidas llevaban DRM.
Microsoft comunicó que el 31 de agosto de 2008 cerraría los servidores que gestionaban las licencias DRM de las canciones adquiridas, con lo cual los clientes que compraron esas canciones en su día ya no podrían moverlas a otros sistemas, y si el aparato en donde estaban fallaba o necesitaba una reinstalación de sistema operativo, las perderían (a menos que las grabaran en CD de audio, perdiendo calidad).
El ejecutivo de Microsoft Rob Bennett dijo que el poner DRM a las canciones de dicho servicio fue imposición de las discográficas, y no idea de Microsoft (quien, según el ejecutivo, habló en su día con las discográficas sobre esto).
También dijo que Microsoft cree en la propiedad intelectual, pero la compañía también quiere que la gente disfrute del contenido sin restricciones poco razonables.
Rob Bennet afirmó que nadie previó la situación actual (de cerrar los servidores que gestionan las licencias DRM de las canciones), y que lo mejor para la gente que quiera comprar música a Microsoft es pasarse a Zune.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9926476-7.htmlDefunct MSN Music has a DRM controversy on its hands
One-time customers will be prevented from moving their songs to additional computers after August 31.
by Greg Sandoval
April 22, 2008 11:53 PM PDT
Editors Note: An interview with Microsoft executive Rob Bennett, who defended the company's decision to shut down DRM-licensing servers for MSN Music, can be found here.
Microsoft handed plenty of ammunition to the anti-DRM crowd on Tuesday by announcing it will no longer furnish authorization keys for songs purchased from the defunct MSN Music service.
For former customers of MSN Music--the service Microsoft operated before closing it in late 2006 and opening Zune Marketplace--August 31 will be the last day that they can move music to different computers. After that, Microsoft will no longer "support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased on MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers", the company said in an e-mail to former MSN Music customers.
It's important to note that the music won't disappear after the deadline. Songs will continue to play on authorized computers. What the announcement means is that former MSN Music customers will risk losing their music libraries if they try to transfer songs to unauthorized computers or swap operating systems after Aug. 31.
There are a couple of ways to safeguard the music but they aren't pretty. Before the deadline, those affected can move songs to computers they plan to own for a while (the songs can be authorized to play on five different PCs). Another alternative is to burn songs to CDs and rerip. This means the loss of sound quality but offers more peace of mind.
Bloggers pounced on the news, writing that the situation illustrated just how anti-consumer that digital rights management is. The point most of them made: whatever hardware the songs are stored on will malfunction eventually, and the owner's music (in a high quality form at least) will be gone forever.
"Ultimately, this serves as a reminder of what DRM really is," wrote Justin Mann at TechSpot.com. It's a "way for companies to control your use of their content. Rather than purchasing, you are renting."
Microsoft said in the e-mail that it is shutting down the servers that operated the music's DRM but didn't specify why. A call to a Microsoft representative was not returned Tuesday night.
This is only the latest sign that DRM is apparently on its way out. The music industry appears to be drifting away from copy-protection schemes and has enabled several retailers, including Amazon.com, to sell DRM-free music files.
MSN Music was a failed effort by Microsoft to compete against Apple's iTunes. In November 2006, two years after opening it's doors, the service stopped selling downloads. Microsoft began redirecting customers to Zune's Marketplace music store or RealNetworks' Rhapsody subscription service.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9926741-7.htmlInterview: Microsoft's Rob Bennett defends DRM decision
Microsoft exec says it was impractical to continue supporting MSN Music and that the company would have offered DRM-free songs had it been allowed to.
by Greg Sandoval
April 23, 2008 10:11 AM PDT
Rob Bennett knew people were going to be angry.
Bennett is the Microsoft executive who notified former customers of the now defunct MSN Music service on Tuesday that the company would no longer issue DRM keys for their songs after August 31. This means that, while former customers can listen to their music on authorized computers for as long as the hardware lasts, they won't be able to transfer songs to a new PC after that deadline.
In an interview with CNET News.com, Bennett said that continuing to support the DRM keys was impractical, that the issue only affects a "small number" of people and that focusing exclusively on Zune was the best way to go. He also noted that it wasn't Microsoft's decision to wrap music into digital rights management.
The reason for shutting down the DRM-licensing servers was "every time there is an OS upgrade, the DRM equation gets complex very quickly," said Bennett, general manager of entertainment, video, and sports for MSN. "Every time, you saw support issues. People would call in because they couldn't download licenses. We had to write new code, new configurations each time...We really believe that, going forward, the best thing to do is focus exclusively on Zune."
Microsoft shut down MSN Music in November 2006, following a failed effort to turn the site into a legitimate iTunes challenger. Redmond threw its resources behind the Zune digital music player and its music store, Marketplace.
For the past 18 months, Microsoft has continued to enable former customers of MSN Music to move their song libraries to new computers. Discontinuing that service has been widely criticized. Critics have long said that DRM was a means to control legally purchased music at the expense of consumers. To them, the current situation with MSN proves it.
Bennett defended Microsoft. He said the company never wanted DRM on its songs.
"Had we had the ability to deliver DRM-free tracks at the time, we absolutely would have done that," Bennett said. "We talked to the labels at the time about that. As a company, we have continued to push for this. Zune has a subset in their catalog of DRM-free MP3s. Now, the industry is making progress. The labels are understanding the downside of DRM when its used the way they wanted to use it, they end up punishing the users who bought music legally more than those who want to circumvent the system."
Bennett added that Microsoft believes in protecting intellectual property, but the company also wants people to enjoy their media without unreasonable restrictions.
"No one ever foresaw being in this situation," Bennett said. "It's not something we like to do. We want to make it easy and as painless for our customers as possible. We really feel, in the long term, what's best for people who want to buy music from Microsoft is to move to Zune."
Bennett said that former MSN Music customers can back up their songs by burning them to CDs. But what about the loss of sound quality should they decide to rerip the music?
"We (delivered) music at 160 kbps," Bennett said. "In my personal (experience), you're not going to lose that much fidelity."
