Microsoft and their digital media position...

anti-riaa.com used our newssubmit again to put our attention on an article at zdnet about Microsofts position towards digital media.

It seems this is getting more and more important for Microsoft. On thing they are working on is the Windows Media Video (WMV) format. This is a new way to encode video that has been under development for years and that is almost completed. Also WMA is still improving.

WMA Professional will debut with Corona, a new version of Windows Media Player coming later this year. The format supports six channels of audio sound for speakers that surround a computer user, but the compression used lets this information be transferred at 128 kilobits per second, an improvement over the 384 kilobits per second required by the prevailing "5.1" standard from Dolby Laboratories, Majidimehr said.

This influence is amplified by Microsoft's digital rights management (DRM) software, which controls whether content protected by copyright holders can be viewed or heard. The MP3 format isn't constrained in this way, making it easy to copy a song from a PC to a portable music player, for example. The recording industry, accustomed to having consumers pay for each copy of music they desire, loathes such liberty.

Windows' digital rights management is a key plank in wooing media partners such as Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, EMI, BMG Entertainment and Warner Music Group.

The creation of a good (music) format isn't something I am against. However I think the DRM is something that Microsoft must take their hands off.

However WMA is doing really good. Because of the fact that Microsoft has deals with 90% of all DVD chip makers soon every DVD player will support the format.

To read more about the position and plans of Microsoft read the full article on zdnet.

Source: zdnet