Folks how would you feel if you trusted the recording industry backed schemes and purchased DRM protected music from Apple and other vendors and one day they said sorry you cant listen to anything
you have purchased anymore, you'd be angry right ?
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/04/30/eff_msn_music_open_letter/The Electronic Frontier Foundation is demanding that Steve Ballmer make a public apology to all people silly enough to purchase tunes from MSN Music, Microsoft's long-defunct iTunes wannabe.
This morning, the San Francisco-based tech watchdog floated an open letter (PDF) to the hulking Microsoft CEO, criticizing the company's recent decision to unplug its MSN Music DRM servers. Without these servers - due to die at the end of August - users can't migrate their MSN tunes to new OSes or new machines unless they start burning CDs.
"Microsoft’s only suggestion for its customers — that they export the music to a CD and then copy it onto their new computers — is woefully insufficient to redress the problem," EFF executive director Shari Steele writes to Ballmer. "Microsoft is asking its customers to invest more time, labor and money in order to continue to enjoy the music for which they have already paid. In fact, Microsoft’s best customers will be the most heavily burdened — the more music they bought, the more work they’ll have to do."
Steele also argues that these CD burners could face the wrath of the Record Industry Ass. of America. "What is worse, this suggestion could put customers at legal risk, as they may not have documentation of purchase," he says. "There is no certainty that all relevant copyright owners would agree that making such backup copies without permission is lawful."
Lets hope this leads to awareness of the massive rip off the recording industry have negotiated for and fostered upon the unsuspecting consumer, it seems they want per track price parity with a CD track but offer nothing except a smile when your forced to purchase the same tracks again and again as they have indicated is their wish, lets not be mislead again folks, DRM is anti consumer and this is the ultimate proof if anyone wished for it, itunes of course has the same in-built limitations and many where hit in a similar way some months ago when the DRM system failed leaving them with nothing, and that folks is what a DRM purchase will ultimately leave you with.
Trust the recording industry ? You cant afford to.
