Currently if it comes to piracy protection a combination of three character is used many times; DRM. DRM stands for Digital Rights Managements and this technology should restrict the use of digital media. This means that one copy right holder could restrict a file only to be played 5 times, or 10 times, or play it unlimited times and not let the user burn it to CD etc. There are endless possibilites.
Microsoft has just launched the first Beta of Windows Media Player that incorporates clearly DRM functions. Older versions already had DRM technologies, but the new versions are more stricter and more advanced. Wired reports the following about it:
We need interoperable DRM products that allow people to never feel the walls (of security)," said Ted Cohen, vice president of new media at EMI, one of the five major music labels. |
It's not a new idea, but it's starting to resonate with Congress. At a recent government hearing, Philip Bond, undersecretary of commerce for technology, opened the debate by saying that he wanted a world with "a consistent and reliable and predictable level of legitimate copyright protection."
That's a frightening turn for consumer advocates and technologists who argue that DRM fundamentally alters the way people use their computers, televisions and stereos.
It's the word "legitimate" that bugs consumer advocates because nobody is quite sure what that means. They argue that fair use rights -- which allow people to listen to a copy of a CD in their car, for example -- have eroded in the quest for security, even the squishy kind.
Also intresting in this article is that Thompson will come with a new technology called the Super MP3. This format should bring better sound quality and next year it will get a video component as well allowing entertainment companies to encode a song along with a video, album cover, lyrics and other information.
Source: Wired.com
