Microsoft Introduces CD Copy-Protection 'Fix'

[Jon Simon]

>From 
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&cid=569&ncid=738&e=1&u=/nm/20030118/tc_nm/tech_microsoft_cd_dc

Microsoft Introduces CD Copy-Protection 'Fix'

By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent

CANNES, France (Reuters) -  Microsoft Corp. (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) 
announced on Saturday the introduction of new digital rights software 
aimed at helping music labels control unauthorized copying of CDs, 
one of the biggest thorns in the ailing industry's side.


Stung by the common practice of consumers copying, or "burning," new 
versions of a store-bought CD onto recordable CDs, music companies 
have invested heavily in copy-protection technologies that have 
mainly backfired or annoyed customers.

For example, most copy-proof CDs are designed so that they cannot be 
played on a PC, but often this prevents playback on portable devices 
and car stereos too.

Last year, some resourceful software enthusiasts cracked Sony Music's 
(6758.T) proprietary technology simply by scribbling a magic marker 
pen around the edges of the disc, thus enabling playback on any 
device.

Microsoft believes it may have come up with a solution. The new 
software is called the Windows Media Data Session Toolkit.

It enables music labels to lay songs onto a copy-controlled CD in 
multiple layers, one that would permit normal playback on a stereo 
and a PC.

$500 MILLION INVESTMENT

The PC layer, laid digitally on the same disc, can be modified by the 
content provider, so that they could prevent, for example, burning 
songs onto another CD, said David Fester, general manager, digital 
media entertainment for Microsoft.

Universal Music (EAUG.PA) and EMI (EMI.L), two of the biggest record 
labels in the world, "are very excited about this because it enables 
the industry to build a CD with their own protections built in," he 
said, speaking at the Midem music conference in southern France.

Microsoft has invested $500 million in digital rights management, or 
DRM, for music, Fester said. The Toolkit was co-developed with 
technology partners Phoenix-based SunnComm Technologies and France's 
MPO International Group, he added.

Microsoft is making a concerted push into DRM, a hotly contested new field.

Technology and media companies, such as Microsoft, Sony, Philips 
(PHG.AS) and Real Networks (NasdaqNM:RNWK - news), are looking to 
build a business out of securing copyright protections across the 
Internet and other digital media.

Microsoft has discussed plans for an upcoming operating system, 
code-named "Palladium," that will seek to put user controls on all 
bits of information they store on a computer document, from medical 
records to billing information.

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