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Microsoft Licensing Fee Intended To Reduce Hobbyists

Posted by Zonk on from the please-obey-the-keep-off-the-grass-sign dept.

BokLM writes "Microsoft's Amir Majidimehr, Corporate VP of the Windows Digital Media Division, explained at a DRM conference in London why they require a license fee from device makers." From the article: "According to Amir, the fee is not intended to recoup the expenses Microsoft incurred in developing their DRM, or to turn a profit. The intention is to reduce the number of licensees to a manageable level, to lock out 'hobbyists' and other entities that Microsoft doesn't want to have to trouble itself with."

11 of 355 comments (clear)

  1. hobby by Average_Joe_Sixpack · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... but what if my hobby is annoying microsoft?

  2. more patience than me by kevin.fowler · · Score: 5, Funny

    Considering we're talking about the oh-so-chipper WMA/V format, they should be paying people to have to work with it.

    --
    Bury me in mashed potatoes.
  3. anagram by kunzy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did you know that "Steve Ballmer" is an anagram for "Tremble, slave!". This explains a lot :)

    1. Re:anagram by LukePieStalker · · Score: 2, Funny

      And an anagram for Bill Gates is "I get balls". I'm not sure what that explains, but it's pretty funny.

  4. Another one? by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 4, Funny

    Guess we can add the "War on Cusotmers" (started by the RIAA) to the country's other great successes -- the War on Terror, War on Drugs, and War on Kids on My Lawn

    1. Re:Another one? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      I don't know about you but the War on Kids on My Lawn is going swimmingly here in Daytona.

    2. Re:Another one? by meringuoid · · Score: 4, Funny
      the War on Terror

      Here's a little viral propaganda you might like to try spreading. Refer to it always as the war against terror. In conversation. In posts. On IRC. It's the war AGAINST terror. Try to get that alternative phrase into common currency. Get your friends to do the same. Spread the meme throughout /. - there's nearly a million of us, and we're quite talkative, so if we work in concert to subvert the language we can make a difference. Think of it as linguistic Googlebombing.

      It's just possible that the acronym of the new phrase, and its appropriateness to the likes of Bush and Blair, will have a subliminal effect on all who hear the phrase. George Bush leads us in the war against terror. TWAT.

      --
      Real Daleks don't climb stairs - they level the building.
  5. Monopoly 101 by imbaczek · · Score: 1, Funny

    1. Microsoft 2. Profit!!!

  6. Re:Things haven't changed since 1976... by smittyoneeach · · Score: 2, Funny
    more to advance computing than anything Microsoft has done

    Holds true for some values of "more" and "advance"

    OTOH, if you factor out Mr. Softy, and just consider $800_pound_gorilla, I think a contrary case can be made that the positive network effect of $800_pound_gorilla has been substantial.

    Consider CUA, or any other standard that has helped focus the market.

    Somewhere between monoculture and chaos is a reasonable operating point.

    So, a helpful question might be: how can we manage $800_pound_gorilla such that we minimize chaos without venturing into the Mordor of monoculture?
    --
    Get thee glass eyes, and, like a scurvy politician, seem to see things thou dost not.--King Lear
  7. TranslatorBot To The Rescue by ElboRuum · · Score: 3, Funny

    The intention is to reduce the number of licensees to a manageable level, to lock out 'hobbyists' and other entities that Microsoft doesn't want to have to trouble itself with."

    *BEEP* *BOP* *BOOP* CHICKACHICKACHICKA *ZIP* *BOOP*

    Readout:

    We write software! NOT YOU!

  8. Re:Things haven't changed since 1976... by HunterZ · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm reminded of a movie called Revolution OS [revolution-os.com] which enlightened me to Gates' history with hobbyists.

    Do you have a Torrent link for that movie? (j/k)

    --
    Arguing about vi versus Emacs is like arguing whether it's better to make fire by rubbing sticks or banging rocks.