When Microsoft and DRM combine

No, this isn't a quote from Captain Planet (although I wish it were something as cheesy and campy as that).

No, this little piece of news that Microsoft is abandoning their DRM-music service through MSN heralds the end of the line for any of their past customers.

The setup: You want to buy some music online, legally, so you go out on the net and look for music download sites.

The bait: You might arrive at the MSN music download site and decide to purchase some DRM-licensed music, and download it to your PC. DRM allows for that music to be on only a certain number of devices, so you may keep one copy on your PC, maybe another on your mp3 player. Each time you want to move the music to a new device, your PC requests a new license file from the MSN DRM authentication system, which issues the approval to copy that piece of music to a new device.

The switch: Microsoft decides to drop their MSN music-download service, and discontinue issuing authorizations.

The dilemma: You are now forced to keep your PC running indefinitely if you ever want to listen to the music you have purchased ever again. Don't delete it from your mp3 player, either, if you ever want to listen to it from there. Because this is the last time you get to transfer the song off of your PC, too.

Forever.

Because DRM will not allow you to move any licensed music you own to another device, never allow you to even burn it to a CD without the authentication from a non-existent MSN authenticator.

Need to reformat your PC?
Say buh-bye to your MSN DRM-licensed music.

Want to upgrade your PC to a new OS?
Oh, I'm sorry. Tough luck.

Want to free up some space on your mp3 player? 
Microsoft says, 'screw you'. 

I really hope that consumers will get the message and STOP SUPPORTING DRM MUSIC. How many people need to get screwed before consumers get smart and stop supporting DRM? Because if the consumers get smart, and the power of their money goes elsewhere, DRM will go away, too.

Switching to a service like iTunes doesn't really solve the problem, either. As long as there is money in the industry, you will always have companies like MSN or other up-starts trying to get a slice of the pie. That's a part of American economics. If iTunes lasts forever, that still doesn't negate the evil of DRM, or stop music listeners getting screwed by it.

The only thing that makes me less-than-completely-irate at Microsoft is the fact that consumers out there made the big mistake of purchasing DRM-infused music to begin with.

I almost feel like the customers are getting what they deserve.

Almost.

XML, ex-em-schmell!

I pulled up my rss feed in IE today, and got an error:
"Use of default namespace declaration attribute in DTD not supported."

Apparently, IE doesn't support the very valid code that specifies the document type in an xml feed.

So, while w3.org recommends specifying a doctype in every webpage, I had to pull my doctype specification in my RSS/XML feeds.

It should be working fine now. If not, drop me a line. I'll keep an eye on it over the next few days.

This is probably OK. The doctype I was using was XHTML, which XML should fit, but for example I can't guarantee that the code posted by my blog users will be strictly XHTML-only, which would break the doctype.

Lesson learned: even if you are writing valid, standardized, even recommended code, check first to make sure Microsoft decided to support it in IE. And periodically re-check your code to make sure Microsoft didn't decide to suddenly STOP supporting valid coding practices after the fact.

Windows Vista is out

Today Microsoft Windows Vista went on sale. With all of their promises of improved security, I'm sure it will only be a matter of time until someone proves them wrong. Again.

I do have to say, I was impressed when Windows XP was released -- compared to Windows 98, even Windows 2000, it seemed a lot more stable of an OS. It takes a lot to invoke that infamous blue screen of death, but it is still possible.

If anyone has had experienced the new wonder child of Microsoft, feel free to leave comments here, or email me and I will post it here.

Sony DRM 'rootkit' removal woes

If you pop a music CD into your PC, you may be getting more than you bargained for. Sony's copy-protection software installs a 'rootkit' that hides from the system process list. There are already examples of trojan viruses that have used this cloaking technology to compromise a system. Another issue presented by this is the concern of privacy for the user, as it has been proven that the DRM makes a connection to Sony via the Internet without informing the consumer in the EULA.

http://wired-vig.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,69601,00.html

Microsoft will soon release an update to remove the cloaking portion of the DRM, but details on removal of the actual service are shady at best.

Mark Russinovich at SysInternals has posted more detailed information on the security issues and vulnerability of the DRM software, and has instructions for manually removing the Sony DRM.
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/more-on-sony-dangerous-decloaking.html