Seattletimes reports that Microsoft has noticed the popularity of the filesharing network KaZaA and has used the network to spread movies of the company in the Windows Media 9 format to promote it.
Microsoft is intrested in the peer to peer networks, because it think it could be potentially also a good place to distribute protected content.
Microsoft has picked up the tab to distribute at least two companies' promotional videos on Kazaa in the Windows Media 9 format, representatives of those companies say. The videos not only show off the improved picture quality of Microsoft's latest technology, they also help distribute it '” when Kazaa users download and play either video, their Microsoft media player software is automatically upgraded to Windows Media 9. |
The dalliance with Kazaa seems risky, given the network's reputation for promoting piracy. But to Microsoft, the projects serve a legitimate purpose: showing the entertainment industry how the anti-piracy features of Windows Media 9 might tame the file-sharing beast.
The videos were put on the Kazaa network by Altnet, a Los Angeles-based company that uses Microsoft's digital-rights-management software to place electronic locks on the songs and videos it distributes. Those locks deter unauthorized copying, enabling companies to take advantage of the virtually free distribution provided by Kazaa without losing the ability to demand payment and limit usage.
Don't they understand that the power of file sharing networks is the freedom? If we want protected files we can download them from websites and we really don't need the hassle to share our own files and bandwidth.
Source: Seattletimes
