How much DRM is too much?
Myth: Windows Vista is loaded with new forms of digital rights management (DRM) that will make the Vista experience more frustrating than ever.
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12.10.2006 Zune DRM cracked
A program has surfaced that strips DRM off of tracks purchased from the Zune Marketplace, or traded via Wi-Fi.
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16.7.2007 Windows 7s draconian DRM?
Once again, we see fanciful claims about ludicrous DRM schemes in the new Windows operating system, but a closer look suggests that Windows isn't to blame after all. Most users, in fact, won't even notice Windows 7's DRM.
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18.2.2009 Microsoft announces investment in DRM for mobiles
Today at CTIA WIRELESS 2006, Microsoft announced it will make significant investments in its digital rights management (DRM) technologies for wireless devices.
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5.4.2006 Bill Gates Takes a Jab at DRM
Microsoft recently held a get together for a small group of high-profile bloggers ahead of the Mix Conference.
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17.12.2006 Xbox DRM Transfer Tool Is Released
If there's one thing Microsoft can do right most of the time is protecting its intellectual property. The software giant has always been at the forefront of creating ways to stop other people from stealing the company's work.
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30.6.2008 DRM is "too complicated" - just rip CDs, says Bill Gates
Even Microsoft founder Bill Gates finds it easier to "just buy a CD and rip it" than grapple with the copyright protection used by online music stores.
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18.12.2006 Windows Vista Doesn't Add DRM To Unprotected Content
Robert McLaw: Of all the FUD that's out there about Vista, the false information about Vista's DRM is the FUD that frustrates me the most.
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28.2.2007 Windows DRM Not Up To Snuff, Claims BitTorrent Founder
"We are using Windows DRM because it is the only solution that has been vetted widely, but we are not happy with how it affects playback," says BitTorrent's Bram Cohen.
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20.3.2007 Microsoft Confirms Move to DRM-Free Musi
Lost amid the hoopla over last week's EMI announcement regarding their decision to sell digital music without digital rights management (DRM) restrictions was the fact that Apple was only the first digital music reseller to sign on for the new offerings. This week, Microsoft admitted that it, too, would offer music without DRM.
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9.4.2007 DRM-Free Music Plays for Microsoft. Sorry, Apple
Apple CEO Steve Jobs is getting exactly what he asked for nearly a year ago: industry movement away from DRM music. But the DRM freedom he wanted is looking more like DRM freedom from Apple.
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8.1.2008 Silverlight 2, Microsoft's Flash Killer, Gets DRM, Just Like Vista
Microsoft's Flash killer, Silverlight, is on track to get digital rights management just like the company's latest Windows client, Windows Vista. Microsoft has faced a barrage of criticism over the content protection capabilities in Vista, and the subject is bound to yet again come into play with Silverlight 2.
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14.4.2008 Microsoft AntiSpy program will remove Sony's DRM Rootkit
From antimalware blog:
I've been getting a lot of questions in the last week about Microsoft's position on the Sony DRM and rootkit discussions, so I thought I'd share a little info on what we're doing here. We are concerned about any malware and its impact on our customers' machines. Rootkits have a clearly negative impact on not only the security, but also the reliability and performance of their systems.
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14.11.2005 Yahoo Music continues DRM-free download experiment
Yahoo put another music track without DRM (digital rights management) on sale through its Yahoo Music service Tuesday.
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6.12.2006 Microsoft patents watermark technology that may lock down DRM-free music
Microsoft has won a patent for a digital-watermarking technology that could be used to protect the rights of content owners even when digital music is distributed without DRM protection.
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12.9.2007 It's Time to Face the Ugly Truth, SP3 or No SP3, the Clock Is Ticking for Windows XP
As 2008 has kicked in, it's now time to face the ugly truth. The clock is ticking for Windows XP. And while Microsoft may view this as a natural stage in the evolution of a product introduced all the way in 2001, a healthy proportion of end-users and businesses will fail to see eye to eye with the company on this one.
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5.1.2008 The Only Way for Windows XP SP3 Is Down
SP3 will do nothing for XP, but still more than what SP1 will do for Vista - The third and final service pack for Windows XP will do little to nothing for the operating system, but will manage to deliver a superior boost to the platform's momentum in comparison to Service Pack 1 for Windows Vista.
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12.4.2008 Office XP SP3 Info
Office XP Service Pack 3 (SP3) provides the latest updates to Microsoft Office XP. SP3 contains significant security enhancements, in addition to stability and performance improvements. This service pack applies to any level of Office XP.
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Sneak Preview of XP SP3?
An unofficial preview pack containing what purports to be Windows XP Service Pack 3 has been uploaded to The Hotfix web site. The Hotfix is an independently-run site that specializes in downloads and discussions of Windows patches and bug fixes.
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Microsoft Delays XP SP3
Bink has an interesting article up on his site concerning Windows XP SP3. Microsoft has apparently pushed back the scheduled release date of SP3 to the second half of 2007.
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16.1.2006 Windows XP SP3 Preview No. 5
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11.2.2006 Windows XP SP3 On The Horizon
According to Microsoft press release about Unified Access Control and Network Access Protection, Windows XP service pack 3 (SP3) is in development and will be released later this year.
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24.5.2007 Windows XP SP3 Available for Download!
In two weeks too :) Microsoft confirmed officially that Windows XP Service Pack 3 will be made available for download in the next couple of weeks.
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29.8.2007 Windows XP Closes In on SP3
Microsoft's most successful operating system, ever, has inched closer to Service Pack 3. Release Candidate 1 is now available from MSDN and—so I hear—from TechNet. I can only personally confirm MSDN availability.
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4.12.2007 Deploying Windows XP SP3
With a pre-Release Candidate build of Windows XP Service Pack 3 available for download, the imminence of the final version of the refresh is starting to take contour.
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13.12.2007 Should You Upgrade from Vista to XP SP3?
Windows Vista was released to manufacturing and to businesses in November 2006, and the operating system hit the shelves only at the end of January 2007.
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27.12.2007 Will SP3 Save Windows XP?
Will the third and final service pack for Windows XP manage to breath new life into the operating system? Will users and original equipment manufacturers be able to apply enough pressure on Microsoft to keep Windows XP alive?
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15.1.2008 Is Windows XP SP3 just around the corner?
Clues that Microsoft is ready to announce the final version of Windows XP Service Pack (SP) 3 are starting to mount.
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20.2.2008 The First XP SP3 Security Vulnerability
The third and final service pack for Windows XP is not even out, and Microsoft is already hammering away at it plugging security soles.
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14.4.2008 The First Update for XP SP3 RTM
Although it was released to manufacturing on April 21, 2008, the third and last service pack for Windows XP has yet to make it to end users. Despite this, Microsoft has already made available the first update tailored on XP SP3.
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22.4.2008Despite rumors, Windows XP SP3 still not quite ready
With Windows Vista Service Pack 1 out the door, Microsoft was largely expected to release Windows XP SP3 last week or this week. It didn't, instead
making public a refresh build of SP3 Release Candidate 2...
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26.03.2008iTunes Lowers Price of DRM-Free Tracks
Apple has silently dropped the price of its DRM-free iTunes Plus tracks, which come as 256kbps AAC. Instead of $1.29, the tracks will cost the same as
standard songs with DRM: 99-cents. The move is seemingly in response to Amazon's launch of its DRM-free music store that sells 256kbps MP3s...
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16.10.2007Apple to go DRM free?
There are rumors and then there are "rumors". This one falls under the later category that Apple may be taking its iTunes DRM free. While not
every rumor makes it to the front page this one can't seem to die off. Again and again we have heard trickles of whispers that it may happen.
The idea is that DRM free services such as Amazon may catch on much faster than Apple's DRM filled iTunes store. It only makes sense that at some
point Apple would finally seal a deal with the major four record labels to sell DRM free songs as well. It was also noted that a subscription based
iTunes model may not be too far off either.
Read full
story.....
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09.12.2008Sun: Open Source DRM is the Answer
Sun Microsystems has called on the industry to rally around a single standard for digital rights management and is touting its latest project DReaM, or DRM Everywhere Available, as a possible solution. Dubbed the Open Media Commons, Sun will offer its DRM to any interested party free of royalties..
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22.08.2005Flash and DRM: Does Adobe really have any choice?
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is taking Adobe to task for including DRM in Flash Media Server 3 and Flash Player 9. But does Adobe really have
much choice, now that social networking sites such as YouTube are under pressure from content providers to implement DRM?..
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22.02.2008Apple Releases iTunes 7.2, Launches iTunes Plus (DRM Free)
Apple released iTunes 7.2
updated in the Mac OS X
Software Update tonight, which
offers support for "iTunes
Plus", Apple's new DRM-free
$1.29 offerings announced in
April.
With iTunes
7.2, preview and purchase
iTunes Plus musicnew
higher-quality, DRM-free music
downloads from participating
music labels.
Despite the software
update, the Apple iTunes Store
itself does not show any
DRM-Free music currently
available for purchase. The
DRM-Free launch will likely
occur later this morning (Wed,
May 30th)...
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30.05.2007Microsoft continues to warn of IE8 lock-in for XP SP3 users
Last year when Microsoft launched Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2, Jane Maliouta announced that consumers using Windows XP SP3 would be locked-in with the
IE8 if they had installed the IE8 beta prior to upgrading to SP3. Microsoft again yesterday issued that same warning to it's consumers. If you are
still one of the millions of users on Windows XP with SP3 installed, Microsoft has provided crucial steps to follow if you're ready to upgrade to
IE8 RC1. You can obtain IE8 RC1 from the links on this page. To see if you're one of the people who will have IE8 locked in, follow these steps.
Is your computer running Windows XP SP3?
Read full story.....
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27.01.2009CES Trend #9: Will CE vendors start steering clear of DRM?
Our countdown to next week's CES centers now on whether the CE industry will at last reach a solution to the DRM conundrum. The new trend toward
DRM-free music doesn't appear to be shaking the Blu-ray and HD DVD folks, who continue to cling to proprietary disk formats. Will consumers seek a
video alternative, and might it come from China?..
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31.12.2007Reverse Engineering DRM on CDs Deemed Lawful
The US Librarian of Congress
is recommending that Congress
officially recognize that
engineering intended to expose
flaws in DRM schemes on audio
CDs to be non-infringing.
Soon, the type of work
engineers like Mark
Russinovich and Ed Felten
performed to expose DRM flaws,
will be protected by law...
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29.11.2006Sony BMG Confirms DRM Free Music
Sony BMG Confirms DRM Free Music, But Will Force Customers to Visit A Store To Buy It:
As we reported January 4, Sony BMG will become the last of
the big four record companies to sell DRM free music, but with one very stupid catch. DRM free music from Sony BMG will be available from January 15
to those who purchase a plastic card called the “Platinum Music Pass” for the album they want from a retail store for $12.99. Buyers
will then have to visit MusicPass.com and enter a code to download the DRM free album they selected in the store.
Read full story.....
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08.01.2008Windows XP SP3 moves closer to completion
Beta testers have received access to a release candidate of Windows XP Service Pack 3, but general consumers still have a long wait until they'll see
SP3 available for download...
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20.11.2007Most European Music Execs Agree with Jobs on DRM
A report issued last week by
JupiterResearch lead analyst
Mark Mulligan, just two days
after Apple CEO Steve Jobs
published an open letter
advocating the end of DRM,
revealed that in a continental
survey of European music
industry executives, more than
half agree with the statement
that DRM measures are
"overly restrictive."..
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16.02.2007Wal-Mart revamps DRM-free MP3 music site
A few weeks after shutting down its old DRM servers and then turning them on again, Wal-Mart has re-launched its newer DRM-free MP3 music downloads
site...
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29.10.2008First look at DRM for Silverlight
It had to happen sometime: Microsoft announced today DRM is making its way onto the Silverlight platform, powered by none other than the company's
elusive PlayReady content access technology...
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15.04.2008New Features Discovered in Windows XP SP3: Is It Better Than Vista?
The principal reason given for the tremendous under-the-hood changes to Windows unveiled early this year in Vista was the need to overhaul the
security model. Now it seems many of those changes are also coming to XP in SP3...
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10.10.2007DRM-less Amazon MP3 store now complete with Sony BMG
With the last remaining label of the big four to join the online retailer's new music store, it could be argued that DRM is essentially dead...
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11.01.2008DRM (on music) is dead. Long live DRM (on video)!
CES is best known for what seems like miles and miles of shiny consumer electronics, product demos, and expansive booths. But some of the most
interesting action takes place off the beaten track of the show floor, in meeting rooms where players from opposite ends of the tech world come to
discuss the issues of the day. Such was the case at this year's show. In a discussion called "The True Cost of DRM: What Can't We Do Now?"
moderated by Paul Sweeting of
Content Agenda, four panelists had different takes on impact
of DRM over the past decade, while managing to agree that, when it comes to music, DRM is indeed dead.
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08.01.2008DRM advocates getting nervous about consumer backlash
You all know the slogan: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." At the
Digital Rights Strategies conference in New York City, a similar message could be heard: "DRM doesn't anger consumers, content
owners abusing DRM anger consumers."
Few, of course, would argue that the mere existence of DRM is a bad thing. Locked away in a
vault somewhere or trapped in one of those nifty mirrors featured in Superman, DRM can do little harm. Such assertions are merely academic, of course.
Tools are designed to be used, and DRM is being used to do what it was designed to do: control how consumers interact with content.
But the growing backlash against DRM is causing dissension in the pro-DRM ranks. Paul Sweeting's
excellent report on the DRS conference records the
frustrations of the DRM community at the tactics of the content industry. They apparently feel that an overzealous content industry is abusing DRM;
this is a bit like Smith & Wesson complaining that bullets can kill.
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24.09.2007Rage over 'Spore' DRM turns into class action suit
EA has been sued in the Northern District of California over DRM software placed in its evolution simulator game Spore , developed by Will
Wright and Maxis...
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25.09.2008Apple hides account info in DRM-free music, too
With great power comes
great responsibility, and
apparently with DRM-free music
comes files embedded with
identifying information. Such
is the situation with Apple's
new DRM-free music: songs sold
without DRM still have a
user's full name and account
e-mail embedded in them, which
means that dropping that new
DRM-free song on your favorite
P2P network could come back to
bite you.
We started
examining the files this
morning and noticed our names
and e-mail addresses in the
files, and we've found
corroboration of the find at
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/05/30
/tuaw-tip-dont-torrent-that-so
ng/>TUAW, as well. But
there's more to the story:
Apple embeds your account
information in all songs sold
on the store, not just
DRM-free songs. Previously it
wasn't much of a big deal,
since no one could imagine
users sharing encrypted, DRMed
content.
But now
that DRM-free music from Apple
is on the loose, the hidden
data is more significant since
it could theoretically be used
to trace shared tunes back to
the original owner. It must
also be kept in mind that this
kind of information could be
spoofed...
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31.05.2007
