Microsoft Introduces CD Copy-Protection 'Fix'

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: "the terminal of Geoff Goodfellow" <geoff () iconia com>
Date: Sun, 19 Jan 2003 03:40:41 +0100
To: "Dave E-mail Pamphleteer Farber" <farber () cis upenn edu>
Subject: Microsoft Introduces CD Copy-Protection 'Fix'

Microsoft Introduces CD Copy-Protection 'Fix'
Sat Jan 18, 9:29 AM ET

By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent

CANNES, France (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) announced
on Saturday the introduction of new digital rights software aimed at helping
music labels control unauthorized copying of CDs, one of the biggest thorns
in the ailing industry's side.

Stung by the common practice of consumers copying, or "burning," new
versions of a store-bought CD onto recordable CDs, music companies have
invested heavily in copy-protection technologies that have mainly backfired
or annoyed customers.

For example, most copy-proof CDs are designed so that they cannot be played
on a PC, but often this prevents playback on portable devices and car
stereos too.

Last year, some resourceful software enthusiasts cracked Sony Music's
(6758.T) proprietary technology simply by scribbling a magic marker pen
around the edges of the disc, thus enabling playback on any device.

Microsoft believes it may have come up with a solution. The new software is
called the Windows Media Data Session Toolkit.

It enables music labels to lay songs onto a copy-controlled CD in multiple
layers, one that would permit normal playback on a stereo and a PC.

$500 MILLION INVESTMENT

The PC layer, laid digitally on the same disc, can be modified by the
content provider, so that they could prevent, for example, burning songs
onto another CD, said David Fester, general manager, digital media
entertainment for Microsoft.

Universal Music (EAUG.PA) and EMI (EMI.L), two of the biggest record labels
in the world, "are very excited about this because it enables the industry
to build a CD with their own protections built in," he said, speaking at the
Midem music conference in southern France.

Microsoft has invested $500 million in digital rights management, or DRM,
for music, Fester said. The Toolkit was co-developed with technology
partners Phoenix-based SunnComm Technologies and France's MPO International
Group, he added.

Microsoft is making a concerted push into DRM, a hotly contested new field.

Technology and media companies, such as Microsoft, Sony, Philips (PHG.AS)
and Real Networks (NasdaqNM:RNWK - news), are looking to build a business
out of securing copyright protections across the Internet and other digital
media.

Microsoft has discussed plans for an upcoming operating system, code-named
"Palladium," that will seek to put user controls on all bits of information
they store on a computer document, from medical records to billing
information.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=581&u=/nm/20030118/tc_nm/te
ch_microsoft_cd_dc&printer=1

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geoff.goodfellow () iconia com * Prague - CZ * telephone +420 603 706 558
"success is getting what you want & happiness is wanting what you get"
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/99/01/biztech/articles/17drop.html
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