The Day The Music Died: Windows Media and DRM

SampleMinded writes "The Guardian reports on an early glimpse of what a DRM controlled future looks like. Imagine backing up your files, reformatting your hard drive, then copying the files back over only to find your music no longer works. It happened to this guy. Now That's what I call Xperience!"

Happened to me too...

[LordYUK]

I formatted, transferred everything over my LAN, opened up winamp, tried to play something, and nothing happened!!! I was dismayed!!!

Then I installed the sound card drivers, and Poof! it worked!!

And yes, that WAS a joke. :)

Windows Media Player...?

[krinsh]

Thank goodness I only use it to play porn clips from the internet, and use WinAMP and RealPlayer for anything important.

The real problem

[smead]

The real problem is not that windows is controlling her, that she's trying to control windows. Anyone with any common sence knows that windows xp provides a superior user experience and that it's rock solid reliability eliminates the need for tenous reinstalls. Not only is it never neccessary, but only hackers, pirats, and the dark forces of the universe would try to get control over windows for their own selfish gain. In my opinion, she got what she deserved. That filthy evildoer

Windows? What about Linux?

[Jacek Poplawski]

DRM has been included in Linux Kernel a long time ago. Aren't you scared?

Re:Ah That's nothing

[reezle]

Just imaging the fun when the library of Congress does the same thing....
(Well, maby they have a smarter boyfriend who anticipates these things...)

-On a Mr. fixit note, NEVER destory your source. Copy info to new media, and verify functionality on that new media, THEN format the source...)

Re:Windows Media Player??

[Jonboy X]

Actually, the first mistake was "upgrading" to XP in the first place.

Re:They Say Recovery is Easy...Yeah Right

[Your_Mom]

Would it be possible to come up with a more intimidating bit of tech-speak for a product's name?

What would you suggest?

• LicenseXP?
• ActiveLicensing?
• License.Net?
• DRM featuring IamMSFT'sBitch Technology?

Consistancy vs. Paranoia

[Oculus Habent]

There is one solution to this (that could be used dozens od other ways, too) that many people won't like: Universal IDs. If everyone was issued a unique personal sequence (Long enough to be virtually impossible to remember) these issues would never occur.

The UID should include personal space as well - so I could have several different accounts (home, job1, job2, hobby, oss project1, etc) without losing the access to my media/data.

Log on at work with your work UID. Your work UID server authorizes your log on and file access. It also knows you have access to your HOME UID systems, and sets up a VPN connection, allowing you access to your home computer & MP3s.

Log on at another company's office with your work UID. The local UID server doesn't know you. The UID Root Servers are queried for your UID's ownership. It returns your work UID server and your home UID server. The company's server recognizes that you work for a "trusted" company and allows you acces to certain portions of their network, as well as setting up VPN to your work and your home.

The UID could be attached to a fingerprint identification database, to a magnetic stripe card, to a SD card for login identification. The UID would make easy permissions tracking. Use any cellphone on your account, as long as you insert your UID chip. It could be great.

Alternately, it could be used to track your movements, your whereabouts, everything that you do and have electronically. This is why the Root UID servers should be set up on floating installations with Satellite connectivity in International Waters...

--
Or maybe I'm insane.

Re:me like

[topham]

I saw so many of those 'my kid is an honor student...' when I was in the U.S.

I mean, the way I figure if, if all those people had kids which were honor students then Americans must be either very smart, or have very easy Honor requirements.

If you had actually remembered the quote

[xant]

...it would have been funnier. How bout:

"The more you tighten your grip, the more Dell Systems slip through your fingers."

Re:Windows Media Player??

[Sloppy]

Actually, his first mistake was not disabling the 'Personal Protection' feature ... this would have solved his problem just as well as using another product.

To paraphrase: "If it hurts when you hit yourself in the head with a steel hammer, try using a lead hammer instead. Lead is softer."

Re:In all fairness

[asavage]

(Sen. Holling's office has still not received one positive phone call from citizens over that bill).

actually Hilary called to congradulate him and tell him where to pick up the briefcase full of cash

Hah!

[BJH]

The day this happens is the day I move to a small hut just outside Ulan Baator, surrounded by three walls of electrified barbed wire, with a very large Doberman leashed to the doorknob. I'll use only software that takes no input and produces no output and do my networking via encrypted smoke signal - and my packets will walk uphill both ways! On their knees! Backwards!

I'm glad I don't use Windows

[Jim Norton]

Sure am glad that I run Linux now... this whole DRM thing is going to get out of hand within the next 2-5 years.

Of course, when TCPA/Palladium hits it'll be integrated into hardware and will probably kill off any solution that ISN'T Microsoft-based. I sure hope some other hardware manufacturer will make non-TCPA-compliant hardware during the fallout.

Welcome to hell. Here's your copy of Windows. :)

Re:Who Else thought Story #2 was more intersting?

[WeedMonkey]

Is there a Dumbass Tag for HTML?

Given the state of most web pages, it appears to be <body> ... </body>.

Re:Oh No!!!

[Dr. Awktagon]

Oh, so you're a food pirate! Stealing your recipes instead of supporting the chefs that give you those recipes, by eating at their restaurants.

I bet you even have a "burner" in your kitchen, you THIEF!

signed,

President, Chefs Association of America

Re:Windows Media Player...?

[BJH]

You do realize that WMP could possibly keep track of anything that you play with it?

"Windows Media Player has detected a license problem. Please update the media license for this pr0n movie...oh, by the way, that chick is really hot!"

Re:It's already happening

[Jaysyn]

Even after she lost all of her tunes?!? Not the brightest crayon in the box, is she?

Jaysyn

Get crushed by the other shoe

[gelfling]

Because when it drops it will look something like this:

The Software players themselves will clock out and have to be relicenced. This licenced code will recognize that all of the media files are 'old' and they have to be relicenced as well. And Oh did I mention that the licence to the objects will use a 3 way handshake that couples a corresponding key in the OS itself and will embed a keyed licence in the objects themselves so they will only play on a machine that already has a licenced OS with a licenced player playing licenced media files.

And if you had three legs the third shoe will look like this.

All media files will be 'owned' by someone else, probably the DMCA licence owner and they will have the ability, through your licenced OS to revoke the licence of a media file at any time for any reason. You will receive a bill in the mail, like your phone bill, that charges you for listening to or watching those media files and it will be 100% usage based.

And if you had a fourth leg the last shoe dropping will look like this.

All Libraries will be privatised and they will charge you to borrow books which will be slowly phased out anyhow in lieu of digital media. They will charge you for each viewing of each page on a per view per page basis.

And if you are a starfish it will loko like this.

Eventually there will be a literate class and an illiterate class distinguished my wealth just like in Medieval times. Long live the revolution!

Send moderation reinforcements cracksmoke detected

[NoMoreNicksLeft]

No, M$ was buying time and free PR, so that they could decide on the best way to profit from DRM.

No corporations are against it, those that say they are simply haven't figured out how to use it to their own advantage.

Duh.

Re:that's no excuse

[Overzeetop]

What manual? I bought a retail copy of Windows XP, and there wasn't a manual anywhere in the box for any of these snazzy programs. I didn't notice a readme.txt file either. Fact is, they just snuck this one in.

You'd love the way the IS guy at my office installs new software on our machines (he has to do it himself, 'cause nobody else has local admin rights). He runs the installer, then hits enter as quickly as possible until the install completes. Never reads a single word. I'll give him this, though - it's the fastest install I've seen!

A Translation

[serutan]

I actually used to be a big fan of Microsoft. Evil Empire, shady business tactics, yeah yeah, whatever. I admired their goal of transforming the then-chaotic software world into a coherent, integrated whole that would do really cool things. Ask almost anybody at Microsoft ten years ago and they would have sincerely told you that was their mission.

But back then MS was still truly a geek-run company, headed by one particular geek who had figured out how to hack the business world. Today lawyers and bean counters are running the show, and making tremendous amounts of money is the only goal. Today we get root authorization snuck into security patches, and circle jerking with the entertainment industry.

Reading through all the MS instructions ... Personal License Migration Service blah blah... Personal License Update Utility yada yada... I translate these 4 or 5 paragraphs into one sentence:

Do not use Microsoft software.