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Microsoft Re-Brands PlaysForSure

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the always-a-pleasure-doing-business dept.

mikesd81 writes "Information Week writes about a licensing change intended to 'beat Apple at their own game'. They're going to use a combination of branding and DRM, and replace the "PlaysForSure" logo with a "Certified for Windows Vista" tag.'The certification is used to guarantee compatibility with Microsoft's copyright-protection software and is the same logo used for the company's Zune player. The problem, however, is that music and video bought from the online Zune Marketplace won't play in their native format on other devices, including those that will carry the new logo.'"

19 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. Plays for maybe? by gEvil+(beta) · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Might play sometimes"?

    --
    This guy's the limit!
  2. How about XP? Confusing? by guruevi · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So now we're going to have Certified for Windows Vista on things that have nothing to do with Vista? Will it work on XP? That's going to be really confusing for their consumers (Microsoft doesn't have customers) especially since that logo will be found on software and hardware.

    I also don't know what music and music players have to do with Vista other than the DRM. They should rename it: "Plays only on Vista, bitches" and then say like... bitches.

    Apparently the front page is now also infected with DRM since I can't post anything and it keeps logging me out.

    --
    Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
  3. PlaysForSure + Certified for Windows Vista? by wellingtonsteve · · Score: 5, Insightful

    = PlaysForVista

    a subtle hint for the future? ie that you will need Vista to play anything new?

    1. Re:PlaysForSure + Certified for Windows Vista? by vought · · Score: 4, Funny

      a subtle hint for the future? ie that you will need Vista to play anything new? BINGO! As Microsoft unifies PlaysFerShure and Zune DRM, they will include the feature in Vista only, ensuring that millions of people will not care in the slightest, but cementing the reputation of their marketing department as brain dead.
    2. Re:PlaysForSure + Certified for Windows Vista? by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, if the name says as much as "playsforsure" said, it means it will play on Mac, on Linux, even on your cell, but never under any circumstances on Vista.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:PlaysForSure + Certified for Windows Vista? by RareButSeriousSideEf · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Actually, the branding is -- for the first time -- becoming quite clear to me. Microsoft's DRM logos on a device means "protected content must be purchased separately for this device; you cannot transfer previously purchased content to it."

      There. I'm not even an Apple fanboy, but that's an easy target for a "Hi, I'm a Zune," "...and I'm an iPod" commercial. Or better yet, "I'm a generic MP3 player, and content you purchased for me will play on damn near anything."

      --
      Pi Ran Out
  4. Maybe better? by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 4, Informative

    Given that only Windows could handle PlayForSure, and that Microsoft was unlikely to let any other OS developers have the necessary licenses, maybe this is clearer. Maybe its clearer that this form of lock-in requires Microsoft Windows. Either way, its DRM and its nasty.

    --
    Jumpstart the tartan drive.
  5. No... by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...they originally just planned to drop the 'L'.

  6. Makes no sense by Tridus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This move makes no sense. PlaysForSure devices/stores are not compatible with Zune devices/stores, but they'll both carry the same logo? This defeats the entire point of the PlaysForSure branding in the first place: that any device and any store with the branding will work together.

    Somebody at Microsoft has lost their minds.

    --
    -- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
    1. Re:Makes no sense by RAMMS+EIN · · Score: 5, Insightful

      ``This move makes no sense. PlaysForSure devices/stores are not compatible with Zune devices/stores, but they'll both carry the same logo? This defeats the entire point of the PlaysForSure branding in the first place: that any device and any store with the branding will work together.''

      BEEP. You fail it!

      Compatibility was never the idea of PlaysForSure. First of all, PlaysForSure is DRM. DRM is all about making sure things _don't_ play for sure. Secondly, Microsoft introduced the Zune with a PFS-incompatible scheme, without so much as blinking.

      I don't know what exactly the strategy is, but it smells like sucking as much money as they can out of as many idiots who will fall for it. First, they bought into PlaysForSure. Then, Microsoft introduced the Zune...which would have made Zune DRM the tech to get, had it taken off. Now, those who bought into PlaysForSure is screwed because it isn't what Microsoft's _own_ player uses. And those who bought into Zune are screwed, because nobody uses the damn thing.

      And Microsoft, who brought them to this hell, is sitting on piles of money.

      And it became night. And it became day. Just another day in monopoly land.

      --
      Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
  7. Why not just no DRM? by PeterChenoweth · · Score: 4, Interesting
    Unlike many slashdotters, I don't have a big problem with Microsoft. Writing software with their tools pays my bills. But it baffles me as to why they can't figure out that their whole DRM plan is broken. First they create a 'Plays For Sure' system, but then they release their own player that doesn't work with it. Who was the genius that decided that? It's as if Apple had different DRM's for different versions of the iPod. And now *another* name change? They just can't figure it out.

    If Microsoft wants to win customers from Apple, they should just drop DRM all together. If Amazon and Apple (iTunes+) can do it, why not Microsoft?

  8. "PlaysForMe" comes to mind by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

    As in "It plays for me. The problem must be on your end."

    Hey, why shouldn't MS copy the ancient excuse of every tech support on the planet for their products? They copy everything else.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  9. Re:Yeah... by mabhatter654 · · Score: 4, Informative

    don't blame the article... that is EXACTLY what Microsoft is doing!!!! Putting the same "compatibility" sticker on PfS and Zune, when they are clearly not compatible.

  10. i for one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    do not welcome our restrictive drm laden asshat overlords

  11. Re:I think you mean by jcr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Make you buy a bunch of DRM-infested music

    Hold on there.. They're not making you buy anything.

    -jcr

    --
    The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
  12. Whazza works on XP? by amigabill · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I use XP. I'm not interested in Vista. Certified for Vista doesn't make me fell like I can use this stuff... I'll also assume it won't work on my ipod. What about my Sansa with Rockbox? Still dunno. I feel safer _avoiding_ "Certified for Windows Vista" items.

  13. Plays For Sure by DieByWire · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...for small values of 'for sure.'

    --
    Never shake hands with a man you meet in a fertility clinic.
  14. Re:Certified confusion by AJWM · · Score: 5, Informative

    MS pumped in a whole heap of money into Apple at one point to basically keep them solvent

    Uh, if you mean the paltry $128M or so that Microsoft paid Apple for some non-voting, non-dividend stock back in the 90s, Apple had a couple of $Billion in the bank at the time. AAPL stock price was tanking because of lousy management, not lack of cash.

    The money was actually a settlement of some lawsuits by Apple at the time, the "investment" thing was a face-saving figleaf that Gates required if Apple ever wanted to see another version of Office for Mac.

    And yes, there were plenty of Apple fanbois moaning about it and accusing Apple of selling out.

    --
    -- Alastair
  15. Re:Plays for not at all? by cgenman · · Score: 4, Informative

    Apple:

    1. Apple creates proprietary iTunes schema, as none such existed in the market. Sticks with it for ten years. Starts to transition to universal MP3's.

    Microsoft:

    1. Microsoft creates proprietary PlaysForSure schema in response to apple. Partners with lots of companies to push as an proprietary but licenceable standard. Sells PlaysForSure tracks on MSN.com.

    2. Microsoft abandons PlaysForSure, destroying the standard. Microsoft instead sells the Zune, with zune-specific music tracks.

    3. Microsoft sticks PlaysForSure and Zune DRM together as "Certified for Vista." Except that things which are all "Certified for Vista" will play with Vista, but won't actually play with eachother. And it will play with non-Vista things. Right.

    So the music player with an estimated 2% of the market is paired with an OS that has 6%. Good luck with that!

    --
    The ______ Agenda