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In other words, there are multiple scenarios in which customers who have bought music, supposedly for a lifetime, may need to re-authorise their purchases. A side effect is that existing licences are destroyed - so existing DRM-protected files could well no longer play. The fix, described in detail on the iPlayer support pages, involves deleting all the files in the hidden DRM folder within Windows. This is a common problem for users installing the BBC's iPlayer software, for example, which also uses Microsoft DRM. Worse still, the DRM component in Windows can get corrupted for no apparent reason. Some users habitually reinstall Windows to keep it running sweetly, but doing so removes its authorisation even adding or changing a hardware component can also break the DRM, as Microsoft notes matter-of-factly in a support article. The problem is worse than it first appears, since a 'new' device may actually be your existing PC.

#Apples media player portable#

Without such a server, former customers of MSN Music will not be able to play their DRM-protected music on any new PCs or portable players that they buy. The licence may permit music to be copied to other computers or devices, but each device must be individually authorised by an online licence server.

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To play the file, the media player must acquire a digital licence that is specific to the PC or portable device on which it is played. So what does that mean? Protected music files are encrypted and locked with a key. 'As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of licence keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers,' it said. Last month, former customers of Microsoft's defunct MSN Music store in the US received an unwelcome email. In the meantime, some early adopters are suffering the consequences of DRM's failure. 'What's going to draw people away from iTunes? One answer is to get rid of DRM.' 'The record companies don't like dealing with Apple, because Apple is in a position where it can dictate the economic terms and dictate the business models,' says Rosenblatt. Industry sources suggest that Apple's iTunes store has more than 70% of the UK download market, and growing. Rosenblatt says that record labels 'have been desperate to find a viable competitor to Apple and iTunes'.

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Apple wouldn't license its version to rivals - so the best-selling iPod drove the iTunes store to its present position, where it is the third-largest music retailer in any form in the US. Ironically, the music companies are now abandoning DRM because it worked too well. And Apple offers DRM-free downloads for an increasing number of tracks. Napster in the US is moving to MP3 for non-subscription downloads, and sources close to the company implied that the UK service will follow suit.

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Amazon has announced that its DRM-free MP3 download store, already online in the US, will be rolled out internationally later this year. 'We are going to be selling non-DRM music from the summer', says Dave Elston, HMV's digital content manager, adding that it would solve 'obvious interoperability issues' - primarily compatibility with Apple's iPod.

Now the Guardian understands that most download stores will remove DRM on permanent music downloads. If DRM does not in fact discourage piracy, then it is merely a nuisance for the user. 'The statistics show that there's no effect on piracy.' 'The industry has finally been able to get some hard data about how removing DRM restrictions from legitimately purchased tracks affects piracy,' says Bill Rosenplatt, DRM specialist and president of GiantSteps Media Technology Strategies. Jobs says it is crucial to the contract: 'If our DRM system is compromised and their music becomes playable on unauthorized devices, we have only a small number of weeks to fix the problem or they can withdraw their entire music catalog from our iTunes store.'Д«ut what's the real effect of DRM? Last year, EMI began offering songs without it on iTunes.

#Apples media player software#

That meant using digital rights management (DRM) - a software wrapper - to protect songs from unlimited copying. When Apple approached record companies about selling their music digitally five years ago, they 'were extremely cautious and required Apple to protect their music from being illegally copied', according to Steve Jobs's recollection of the process.