Microsoft is unveiling its new Janus based DRM software which they announced work on about a month ago. The new copy protection tools allows 'rented' content to be played on Janus compatible playback players, mobile phones and other equipment while preventing unauthorised sharing or transferring to an insecure or unsafe medium. While a Janus-like Windows Media system has been around for about a year now, any subscription service which offered flatrate unlimited or time-limited downloads such as Napster could not be transferred off the PC it was originally downloaded to.
It also appears that Microsoft wishes to boost its Windows Media usage in an aim to keep users and newbies tied its Windows OS platform, since most other operating systems apart from MAC OS do not support Windows Media. The main advantage with a subscription based system is that users can fill their high capacity players without having to pay by the song like iTunes, although at a cost of having to pay a monthly or yearly subscription to keep their music active. However it will likely take some time before users and even the content providers to get accustomed to renting music.
Janus compatible Windows Media devices are expected to become available on the market in the next few months. Several content providers including Napster, Walt Disney and AOL have agreed to take on Janus technology. Thanks to D4rk0n3 for letting us know about this news.
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Originally expected as long as a year ago, the technology--internally code-named Janus--has been seen as a potential way to let subscription music services such as Napster and RealNetworks' Rhapsody move to portable MP3 players. Those services, which allow subscribers to listen to unlimited amounts of music in return for a single monthly fee, are typically tied to PCs today. But the new digital rights management tools also include features that would protect content that is streamed around a home network, or even block data pathways potentially deemed "unsafe," such as the traditional analog outputs on a high-definition TV set. That's a feature that has been sought by movie studios in advance of the move to digital television. Read the full article here. |
While most users are happy to rent movies for a once off viewing, music has worked quite different over the years since most consumers listen to songs over and over again (at least with the 80's). However the rental system looks like it will kill off music once it leaves the charts. While most users are currently unlikely to pop on CDs from "last year's charts", making it rental based will almost certainly make the remainder think twice before obtaining last year's music again.
Feel free to discuss and read more about subscription based music services on our Music Downloads, P2P & Legal Issues Forum.
Source: CNET News - The Net
