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For six years, the Internet Nexus served as my technology blog, but I've since started blogging at the SuperSite Blog instead. If you're looking for the blog, please head there. --Paul

Monday, July 12, 2004

iPod undermines Microsoft on copy-locked CDs

ZDNET: "When a copy-protected CD hit No. 1 on the U.S. music sales charts last month, it marked a breakthrough for the antipiracy technology in all but one sense: The music still wouldn't play on Apple's iPod. Now the two companies responsible for most copy-protected CDs are scrambling to create new versions of their technologies that are compatible with Apple's popular digital music player. In the process, they're both making substantial changes in the way CDs are digitally locked, changes that could ultimately be a setback to recent Microsoft strides into the music business. 'If you look at the 500 or 600 customer service comments we've gotten, you see that 80 percent of them have to do with iPod compatibility,' said SunnComm International Chief Executive Officer Peter Jacobs, whose technology was loaded on last month's chart-topping Velvet Revolver disc. 'The rest are, Why can't I do what I want with my music. And a lot of those are really iPod questions too' ... For the past several years, both SunnComm and rival Macrovision have worked to put two different versions of songs on each protected album. The first set of tunes is a locked-down version of the CD's content. The second set consists of digital tracks that can be transferred to a computer or to some portable music devices. That 'second session' has been filled, to date, with songs in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio format. Both companies chose the WMA format because it's supported by virtually every PC on the market, and a large number of different portable players ... But the subsequent meteoric rise of the iPod--which does not play Microsoft-formatted music--has forced a change in plans: no more reliance on Microsoft's technology, no more second session and an appeal to Apple for compatibility ... ndeed, if Apple is able to license its digital rights management technology for use on copy-protected CDs, it could be a promising new revenue source, depending on the terms. Apple declined to comment on the issue."

Or, you know, Apple could just supply WMA compatibility, which it actually rips out of its iPods before shipping them to customers. Just a thought.

[ Posted at 8:56 AM | Permalink ]