Slashdot Mirror


Zune Won't Play Old DRM Infected Files

Spritzer writes "According to the EFF, the new Zune portable media player from Microsoft won't play files infected with the old Microsoft DRM. It seems that all of the 'PlaysforSure' media that has been sold and is currently being sold will not play on the Zune. In addition, Microsoft has now advocated violating the DMCA in order to transfer files to the player. Microsoft Zune architect J Allard was quoted as saying there's 'Lots of DVD ripping software out there that encodes to those formats, so the most popular formats out there, whether it's MPEG-4 or H.264, we'll support those.'" ZDNet offers up additional commentary on this revelation.

14 of 463 comments (clear)

  1. DRM by rackhamh · · Score: 1, Funny

    Nothing for you to see here. Please move along.

    Apparently Slashdot has jumped on the DRM bandwagon...

  2. Re:DRM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
    Maybe when a company like Microsoft tells it's users that they have to break the law in order to view media they purchased


    I don't think MS is advocating Breaking The Law. I think their spokesman is a Judas Priest fan.
  3. Re:PlaysForSure? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Maybe they should rename it to PlaysfoShizzle...

  4. Ouch by TheWoozle · · Score: 5, Funny

    Microsoft really does a remarkable job of shooting themselves in the foot, don't they? It's like a frickin' comedy of errors with Microsoft's attempts to enter into the media device market.

    The worst part is that their formats (WMA/WMV) have become the formats of choice for a large number of devices and services. And now those services are feeling what it's like to be a Microsoft customer. Ouch. Sorry guys, we should've told you to lube up first.

    --
    Insisting on "correct" English is like saying that there is only one, definitive recipe for chili.
  5. LOL, the RIAA will finally have somebody to sue! by swschrad · · Score: 3, Funny

    Microsoft, meet the devil. RIAA, meet The Borg. lock 'em both in a room and wait for the noise to die down before looking to see if anything survived ;)

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  6. PlayForSure is correctly named. by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wonder why slashdotters make comments disparaging the monicker "PlayForSure". It is named correctly and it works as designed. The problem seems to be that slashdotters think "PlayForSure" means the songs the chumps bought will play for sure. Nah. Common misunderstanding. Play for sure, simply means, MSFT will play these chumps who buy DRMed music for sure, play them like a fiddle, shake them down for music they have already bought.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  7. An article about preventing piracy today? by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of all the days...

    Microsoft, you scurvy dogs!

  8. arrr by Blob+Pet · · Score: 3, Funny

    Aye, why do Me suddenly feel the need t' pirate some mo'ies?
    Because tis' Talk Like a Pirate Day. Gar, Where can I find a bottle o'rum?

    --
    "...today consumers have been conditioned to think of beer when they see a bullfrog..."
  9. The New IPod Killer by onkelonkel · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...snort....giggle...

    --
    None of them can see the clouds; The polished wings don't care.
  10. Need a new slogan... by argent · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Plays for sure.... psyche!"

    "Plays for now."

    "Plays for as long as we feel like it."

    "Sure it plays. Trust us."

  11. I thought it was PaidForSure by NotQuiteReal · · Score: 5, Funny
    All this time I reading it as PaidForSure.

    My bad.

    --
    This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
  12. Re:PlaysForSure? by madcow_bg · · Score: 2, Funny

    or Won'tPlay,ForSure. Simple typo, guys, happens to everyone :)

  13. Re:PlaysForSure? by Shai-kun · · Score: 5, Funny

    "That's a hell of an operating system. What do you call it?"
    "The Aristocrats!"

    --
    ...or so I've been told.
  14. Re:You know what they say about assumptions by Gulik · · Score: 2, Funny

    We've also found that there's a category of customers that say, "Give me a brand experience, advertise it to me on television; I want to be part of the digital music revolution, and that solution [PlaysForSure] doesn't work for me."

    I would give him a dollar of my very own money if he could produce even one customer, let alone a category of them, who have said "That solution where all the music I buy will play on all the devices I own? That doesn't work for me -- do you have something less convenient?"