difenbaker
12-05-2007, 10:07 AM
Nokia's music deal is duff
Doesn't ditch defunct DRM
By Wily Ferret: Wednesday, 05 December 2007, 2:58 PM
DESPITE THE FURORE over Nokia's 'Comes with Music' announcement yesterday, a close look at the terms of the free music deal reveal a rather less rosy picture than was originally thought.
If you missed the original news then here's the hype: in a tie up with Universal Music, Nokia will be offering a free music subscription package with some of its 2008 phones. That means that Nokia buyers will be able to grab as much music as they want for nothing - the cost of the subscription will be built into the phone package. The big news - that even after the year ends and the subscription expires, customers will be able to hang onto the music they've downloaded to continue playing.
But here's the bad news - the music will be encoded with Microsoft's now-defunct PlaysForSure DRM, encryption so aggravating that even the Vole itself has abandoned it. That means that there will be no ability to transfer the music to another portable device beyond a) an outdated MP3 player or b) another new Nokia phone paid-for on upgrade. No Ipod, no Zune, and no CD-burning either, natch.
We can certainly applaud Nokia for trying to move its devices and its business model forward, competing with Apple both in the music service arena and the music-playing phone arena. But Microsoft DRM just ain't the way to do it.
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/12/05/nokia-music-deal-duff
:o
Doesn't ditch defunct DRM
By Wily Ferret: Wednesday, 05 December 2007, 2:58 PM
DESPITE THE FURORE over Nokia's 'Comes with Music' announcement yesterday, a close look at the terms of the free music deal reveal a rather less rosy picture than was originally thought.
If you missed the original news then here's the hype: in a tie up with Universal Music, Nokia will be offering a free music subscription package with some of its 2008 phones. That means that Nokia buyers will be able to grab as much music as they want for nothing - the cost of the subscription will be built into the phone package. The big news - that even after the year ends and the subscription expires, customers will be able to hang onto the music they've downloaded to continue playing.
But here's the bad news - the music will be encoded with Microsoft's now-defunct PlaysForSure DRM, encryption so aggravating that even the Vole itself has abandoned it. That means that there will be no ability to transfer the music to another portable device beyond a) an outdated MP3 player or b) another new Nokia phone paid-for on upgrade. No Ipod, no Zune, and no CD-burning either, natch.
We can certainly applaud Nokia for trying to move its devices and its business model forward, competing with Apple both in the music service arena and the music-playing phone arena. But Microsoft DRM just ain't the way to do it.
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/12/05/nokia-music-deal-duff
:o