Microsoft-Sony Plan: A Media-Rights Ploy?

sk8rboi writes "Missing in Wed.'s (CNet) reports about the Digital Home Working Group (DHWG) effort from âoeMicrosoft and Sony to make sure DVD players and cell phones can communicate with each other over a home wireless networkâ is the real reason for the work--it's a DRM (digital rights management) play in disguise. Look at it logically. Why would an industry alliance need to define a standard to share an MP3 file between a smart phone and a PC? According to EmbeddedWatch, the answer is, it wouldnâ(TM)t. The file can already be shared via wireless email or WiFi. And both can read the file, since both support MP3. Consumer-electronics systems and computers can already interchange all sorts of files. But what they canâ(TM)t do--and what companies like Microsoft and Sony wish they could--is regulate the transfer of such files (aka block them if theyâ(TM)ve been downloaded for free from KaZaa). (DHWG, by the way, is actually led by Intel.)"

Comments

Re:Seriously people....get off it

[chunkwhite86]

On a side note, I just realized that windows media 9 kicks ass. If you go to amazon to listen to a song off a cd, listen to it in windows media, then real player. There's no comparison. If you listen to the two side by side then that would be a comparison. If there isn't a comparison then I don't understand what you're trying to do.

Actually, WMA doesn't kick ass.

We already have proven that OGG kicks WMA and MP3's ass.