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09/20/2006, 10:25am, EDT
Wednesday, September 20th
MS defends Zune temporary DRM
Microsoft has answered claims that its Zune player may violate the international Creative Commons license, which states that copy protection cannot be applied to files where it does not already exist. If true, this would make Microsoft liable for any changes that might be made to relevant songs during wireless transfers between Zune players, since the handheld gadget imposes DRM on some of the music sent from one Zune to another, according to Electronista. "We don't actually 'wrap all songs up in DRM:' Zune to Zune Sharing doesn't change the DRM on a song, and it doesn't impose DRM restrictions on any files that are unprotected," wrote Cesar Menendez, a Microsoft employee who left the Xbox marketing team to help with the Zune player. "If you have a song - say that you got 'free and clear' - Zune to Zune Sharing won't apply any DRM to that song."
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The point is irrelevant because about the only place where there will be Zunes in close proximity will be on the Microsoft campus after Steve Ballmer forces employees to turn in their iPods for Zunes.