Reason #9,358 For Not Buying DRM'd Music: Wal-Mart Shuts Down DRM Servers

from the and-again dept

Following the misguided lead of both Microsoft and Yahoo, it appears that Wal-Mart has decided to turn off its DRM servers, basically screwing over anyone who trusted Wal-Mart to make sure that music bought from Wal-Mart would keep working. What's amazing is that Wal-Mart would do this after seeing the backlash that made both Microsoft and Yahoo eventually back down (with Yahoo even going so far as to offer refunds). Wal-Mart, on the other hand, just told people they have a week to burn their music to a CD and re-rip it -- or they lose it entirely. Obviously, by this point, you should know that buying DRM'd music is a mistake, because you're leaving the music in a situation where the company you bought it from can "turn it off" at some point, but what's more amazing is that Wal-Mart would make the exact same mistake after seeing what happened to both Yahoo and Microsoft.

Filed Under: drm, servers
Companies: microsoft, wal-mart, yahoo

Microsoft Keeps DRM Servers Alive For Now; Won't Screw Over Own Customers For A Few More Years

from the well,-that's-something dept

For years, we've given examples of how DRM ends up screwing over customers one way or another. One of the most obvious ways is when that DRM requires files to "check in" over the internet to work, and the company that manages the "check in" server takes it down. That's what's Microsoft announced it was doing with its incredibly-misnamed "PlaysForSure" DRM servers back in April. This was, effectively, going back on the terms of the deal they offered to music buyers. Following the outcry in response, however, it appears that Microsoft has reconsidered, saying that it will keep the servers running at least until 2011. So for the 35 people or so who bought into the PlaysForSure system, you have another 3 years to find new DRM-free sources of music.

Filed Under: drm, playsforsure, servers
Companies: microsoft