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Napster 2.0's DRM problem
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By Jeff Foster, Section UnFairUse Posted on Wed Oct 29, 2003 at 01:37:59 PM PDT
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DRM -- Product Activation -- Usage Restrictions
Roxio has recently released it's new online music service, Napster 2.0, and while sharing it's name with it's predecessor, it shares little else. Not only must users now pay to play as with Apple's iTunes and similar services, but Napster will restrict what users can do with the music after it is downloaded. And the DRM that enforces those usage restrictions, and even the overall management of the enforcement policies themselves, appear to be in the hands of Microsoft.
Sources: Company Spokespersons, Company Website
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It has been known since Roxio announced Napster 2.0 that it would use Microsoft DRM. The DRM polices appear to be fairly standard for online music services: the user must ask permission from Naspter to copy any downloaded track to another computer, the user can only copy tracks to the different computers, and the user can can only burn the same playlist five times before having to use a different playlist for at least one CD burn. However, Napster's license agreement and privacy policy fail to mention that Microsoft will be in control of the DRM process and leave open a number of questions about who will make policy decisions in the future.
In an e-mail interview a Roxio spokesperson told the GripeLog that Microsoft sets and implements all of Napster's DRM polices. Furthermore, it seems that even Roxio is not aware of what Microsoft is doing with Napster's DRM polices. When asked for example whether purchased songs are linked to individual computers by the DRM in Napster, the Roxio representative responded by saying "I do not have answers. This is all internal Microsoft information and it is not available to us either." The same answer was given as to what the response would be if a file linked to a user were to end up on a file sharing network.
So is Roxio in charge of the usage restrictions and enforcement Napster customers will see down the road, or is Microsoft? Whatever the answer to that question, it's clear we've come a long way from the Napster of old.
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