Jane C

DRM = Draining Rights Management ;-)

--
Jane, not plain 64 bit enabled
Batteries not included. Braincell on vacation :-)
"MICHAEL" <u158627_emr@dslr.net> wrote in message
news:ezgQhxk3GHA.2152@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>I experienced the dark force of WMP 11 very recently.
> Much, much money spent on music legally downloaded
> from various music sites, mostly MSN Music. On any
> machine that you update to WMP 11- you can no longer
> backup or restore your licenses for the .wma files you legally
> downloaded and paid for. On two of my machines- I learned
> a very hard lesson about trying to play music I *paid* for.
> Something I never thought I would say- thank you lawd for
> a hacker. This "hacker" wrote a program to strip the DRM
> crap from "protected" files. Let's see- faced with having to
> burn all my paid for .wma files to a CD and then ripping them
> back to the computer I want them to play on, or using this fast
> little program to rip that nonsense out of the files- hmm.... I
> wonder which path I took. I'm talking, literally, over a 1,000
> songs I paid for. There is one catch, a good one, to using
> this program- you have to have at least one valid license that
> matches the .wma file you are trying to rip the DRM protection from.
>
> My advice- if you are using WinXP, stay away from
> WMP 11. Don't look at it, don't download it- pretend
> it doesn't exist. You do not need it. Vista users
> don't have a choice. So, do not download any media
> "protected" by DRM.
>
> I'm sure there will be some shill that comes along and
> says this is no big deal. Well, the erosion of usage rights
> is a slow and methodical process. They, the media
> companies and Microsoft, have been "testing the waters".
> It is amazing what folks just sit back and take. I was sort
> of like that before DRM pissed me off. Fair use rights are
> becoming a thing of the past. The ironic thing, these measures
> do absolutely nothing to stop the real pirates. All it did was
> piss off this customer who tried to do the "right" thing.
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights
>
> By Charlie Demerjian
>
> THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan was to
> start with barely tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the
> thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player 11, and the rights get
> chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM infected
> media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.
> One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If you buy
> media with DRM infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or at
> least you can't and have them play on the new box. If you want the grand
> privilege of moving that content, you need to get the approval of the
> content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you. If
> you want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or following
> the advice of J Allard. Wait, same thing.
>
> So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a safe
> place. Buying DRM infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise not to
> sue, but really nothing more. The content mafia will do anything in its
> power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order to protect those
> bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the user
> a whole lot of protection.
>
> Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes, WiMP11
> will no longer allow you the privilege of backing up your licenses, they
> are tied to a single device, and if you lose it, you are really SOL.
> Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less than a
> civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.
>
> Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing part
> takes the cake. "Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back up
> your media usage rights (previously known as licenses)", Wow, new
> terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be raped.
> "The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your
> rights or limit the number of computers on which can use the songs or
> videos that you obtain from them. Some stores do not permit you to restore
> media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get bent, we
> got your cash.
>
> But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your rights
> away too. If the 'Copy protect music' option is turned on, well, I can't
> top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a song you ripped from a CD with
> the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to restore your
> usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to a
> Microsoft Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited
> number of times." This says to me it will keep track of your ripping
> externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it to. Can you
> think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to play
> the songs you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will be
> before a service pack, masquerading as a 'critical security patch' takes
> away the optional part of the 'copy protection'? Now do you understand why
> they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home? Think their
> firewall will stop it even if you ask?
>
> Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it guts
> Tivo capabilities. After three days, it kills your recordings for you, how
> thoughtful of them. Going away for a week? Tough, your rights are
> inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV shows that
> are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content recorded on
> premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media
> Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media Center
> Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at this
> time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.
>
> What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights that I
> can think of. MS planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and this
> is the first big hammer to drop. Your rights, the promises they made, and
> anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia making yet more
> money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were dumb
> enough to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you.
>
> More:
>
> http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e.aspx#1608319
>
> Release Notes for Windows Media Player 11
>