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See the original image at electronista.com

Zune gets NBC anti-piracy filters as iPod champions fair use

electronista.com — Isn't this ironic: Microsoft is kowtowing to NBC and is working to install a filter that would block "illegal" copies of TV shows, while Apple of all companies is actually willing (so far) to forego NBC content to avoid being forced into an even more restrictive DRM scheme. I know which player I'm buying (and which one I'm not) next time around.

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  • colincornaby, on 05/08/2008, -49/+71I hope no one here ever buys a Zune again. So much for Zune fanboys labeling us iPod users as sheep.
    • SteelFrog, on 05/08/2008, -13/+29I was thinking of picking up a Zune rather than an iPod, but this totally made me change my mind. I want my media player to just play whatever I put on it and not dictate what I can and can't watch. Is that so complicated?
      • lpxxfaintxx2, on 05/08/2008, -15/+20Too bad the story is inaccurate.
        • mrsteveman1, on 05/08/2008, -1/+6No, it isn't it just hasn't happened yet. Microsoft isn't worth trusting, they have a history of going out of their way to make DRM more restrictive in the hopes that content providers will choose them exclusively as a platform. They tried the same thing with WMA and failed miserably.
          • ShortyR19, on 05/08/2008, -3/+2No, it plain isn't going to happen at all...

            "We have no plans or commitments to implement any new type of content filtering in the Zune devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC."

            http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2008/05/07/just-so- ...
          • mrsteveman1, on 05/08/2008, -1/+4I just got done telling you they aren't worth trusting, and you point to something they said as proof they won't do it? Right....
      • FredFredrickson, on 05/08/2008, -12/+15And you think that an iPod will just play whatever you want to put on it? Someone hasn't done their homework.
        • clubby, on 05/08/2008, -2/+7My iPod plays whatever I put on it. What are you having trouble playing, Fred?
        • migitalwarfare, on 05/08/2008, -0/+8i think fred might mean that it won't play certain formats, which means he missed the point entirely
      • vinnieT, on 05/08/2008, -3/+1The New York Times article is wrong. In fact the article linked above has even been updated to reflect this...
    • xaenyx, on 05/08/2008, -15/+2Yeah.. I've had my zune for over a year, and like it a lot, but I'm definitely going to stick with this firmware.. and I'm not going to buy either a zune no an ipod.
      • Mackofalltrades, on 05/08/2008, -0/+8Buried do to comment making no sense whatsoever.
    • KiraDnote, on 05/08/2008, -13/+4I hope no one here ever buys an iPod (or a Zune) ever again.
      • migitalwarfare, on 05/08/2008, -0/+5everybody loves a luddite posting on the internet
    • Aleman360, on 05/08/2008, -19/+11Until Apple offers a subscription service, I'll stick with my Zune and Zune Pass, thanks.
      • weareglass, on 05/08/2008, -10/+10baaaaaaa.
      • badnewsblair, on 05/08/2008, -2/+5Subscription? Ugh.
      • shmatt, on 05/08/2008, -1/+5off-topic but, honest question- why does anyone like the idea of paying for your music forever? have things changed since rhapsody came out? Do you just burn and re-rip everything? What if I max out my card and the subscription is declined, have I lost all my purchased music? that's ***** crazy... what am i missing here?
    • kipmartin, on 05/08/2008, -12/+4i love my iPod and find beating DRM on it to be a breeze. i prefer buying albums instead of loading limewire songs and no other player comes close with its media management capabilities.

      can you take a Sansdisk or Archos and buy albums? whole complete albums? can you watch all of 'The Office' in an airport on your Samsung?eMusic maybe, but they have crap for content.

      sorry, but even crippled it can kick everyone else's ass.
      • weareglass, on 05/08/2008, -2/+3I was with you up until you said eMusic had crap for content. eMusic is the best thing that ever happened to my listening habits. They just recently got the Rolling Stones' backcatalog up to 1970. Do you know how expensive it is to buy a Rolling Stones best of? On eMusic it cost me a quarter a song. Sweet.
    • falafelkiosken, on 05/08/2008, -8/+11there are lots of Redmond fanboys, probably more than us Apple fanboys, and they are as crazy as we are
      • Sudz, on 05/08/2008, -4/+3No way there are more MS Fanboys than Apple. That's crazy talk!
        Maybe for Xbox but if there is a Zune fanbase it has been kept so secret they haven't even bought the units...
    • lsatkins, on 05/08/2008, -3/+6It's an mp3 player not a ***** way of life.
    • ZenMojo, on 05/08/2008, -6/+5People, get your heads out of your asses and start burying this ***** as inaccurate.
    • Andrwmorph, on 05/08/2008, -4/+2My piece of ***** video iPod worked properly for the first month. After that all my videos on it decided that they were going to stop showing up as videos and start showing up as songs that jam my ipod. Now whenever I try and play a song I haven't heard in a long time it ends up being not the one I selected but some random one. ANGER!
    • etx313, on 05/08/2008, -5/+4Baaaah Baaaah iSheeple!
  • bmelnick, on 05/08/2008, -34/+47This has got to be a nail in the coffin of the Zune effort. Seriously .... who is going to buy something that will likely wind up not allowing them to transfer legitimately purchased content onto it .... such as ANY DVD content.

    Just about makes you crazy!!!
    • trappleton, on 05/08/2008, -5/+13People who don't know about the filter, which will be 95% of consumers.
    • NiGHTSChao, on 05/08/2008, -6/+7Bmelnick, how is this a nail in the "Zune's coffin" if the story is not true?
      All over the blogosphere, people are confirming that Microsoft has countered this NBC statement by saying its NOT true
      The Zune is not some dieing piece of technology you ipod ***** hope it to be
      • ZenMojo, on 05/08/2008, -4/+2Who cares if it's true or not? Apple fanboys finally found something to make the iPod look superior to Microsoft's nonetheless flailing effort in the market and as long as it makes them feel justified in forsaking quality for a logo, they'll knowingly spread ***** anyway.
  • LumpOfCole, on 05/08/2008, -23/+27I'm a Zune advocate too, but this is definitely the wrong direction. I'm still of the opinion that a Zuke 80gb player is better than an 80gb iPod, but if stories like this continue I'll have to change my opinion.
    • estvir, on 05/08/2008, -21/+11Well, lucky for you it's not true.
    • vinnieT, on 05/08/2008, -4/+2I love my Zune 30. After my second iPod broke (went through two in 9 months), I decided to take a look at the competition. I'm glad I did. The Zune 1.x software was junk (it was a hacked up version of WMP), but the new-from-the-ground-up 2.x software is a gem. The Zune is better product (the hardware was designed and built by Toshiba, software by MS).
  • TROY7, on 05/08/2008, -16/+11The only thing worse than the product is the name...
  • estvir, on 05/08/2008, -24/+126THIS STORY IS INACCURATE.

    "We have seen some chatter in the blogosphere over the last 24 hours around a couple of posts speculating about what Zune may or may not do in terms of putting content filtering features directly into the Zune family of devices in future releases.

    We know you guys are following this discussion closely, and wanted to be absolutely clear on this issue:

    We have no plans or commitments to implement any new type of content filtering in the Zune devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC.

    We think some folks in the industry were expressing hopes for how the entire industry, not just Microsoft, would come to look at content distribution, and some speculation has ensued. Again, no plans are in place toward this end."

    Source: http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2008/05/07/just-so- ...
    • clak, on 05/08/2008, -23/+29Come on, who are you going to believe, an executive from NBC or a blogger from Microsoft? This sort of thing is exactly like something that Microsoft would do. Remember Windows Genuine Advantage?
      • Ranvier, on 05/08/2008, -4/+7The insider blog is not the only one who's denied this.
      • SteelFrog, on 05/08/2008, -9/+13...that was a pretty stupid argument. Of course we'll believe someone from the actual company before some random media group. The media doesn't really care of they get it wrong or right while Microsoft reps do (if they want to keep their jobs anyway).
        • weareglass, on 05/08/2008, -5/+7"Of course we'll believe anything Microsoft says. Yay Microsoft!"

          There I fixed it for you.
        • tschau, on 05/08/2008, -2/+8You'll always believe what a PR person from a company tells you before the media? Man, you must get ***** pulled over on you all the time.

          Companies have a way of saying what's in their best interest, regardless of what the truth may be. Reps from a company don't have to tell the exact truth to keep their jobs, they just have to do what's good for the company. Which in this case is probably deny what's in the works until they're ready.

          The media, on the other hand, do have the job of exposing the truth of what companies are up to.
      • klco, on 05/08/2008, -9/+12Microsoft spammers on digg...
        • lpxxfaintxx2, on 05/08/2008, -9/+4You're the only spammer here. Most people had some input to the story, unlike your ***** comment.
      • KiraDnote, on 05/08/2008, -4/+9Windows Genuine Advantage - a compelling reason to use XP corporate on your personal computer.
      • Digitalfilm43, on 05/08/2008, -4/+10Just like "PlaysForSure"? That will always be around and always work...Right? That's why they named it PlaysForSure....oh, wait...I guess they were wrong.
      • phoomp, on 05/08/2008, -1/+3I'm certainly going to believe someone from Microsoft over someone from NBC
    • nickj6282, on 05/08/2008, -12/+10Lets not forget that Microsoft is also steadfastly denying the existence of a Blu-Ray drive for the Xbox 360 despite clear evidence that one is in production already.
      • mcflynnthm, on 05/08/2008, -4/+6There's a difference between not announcing a new product and defending your company from inaccurate and/or misleading statements from partner companies.
    • charlesray, on 05/08/2008, -1/+10To be honest, I'd rather Microsoft institute this feature than use the word "blogosphere" in an official communication.
    • MrIso, on 05/08/2008, -4/+3Yeah I buried this story by mistake, meant to mark it as inaccurate.

      http://www.news.com/8301-13860_3-9938650-56.html?p ...
    • InorganicMatter, on 05/08/2008, -1/+4Yeah, I believe that as much as I believed there was no Xbox 360 Elite, or there's no Xbox 360 Blu-ray drive, or that WinFS would be in Vista, or that DX10 would be faster than DX9 on the same hardware.
    • masterkenobi, on 05/08/2008, -2/+1Apple fanboy: Fap fap fap fap fap....wait, what?
  • Commodus, on 05/08/2008, -10/+24Just a quick add-on: Microsoft has only said it has "no plans or commitments," but also hasn't said why it backtracked on its own spokesperson's word. I'm wondering if this wasn't a case of being caught in the act and having to turn around to save face.
  • clak, on 05/08/2008, -22/+14A few Microsoft fanboys on Engadget were denying that this report was real, even though a high level executive at NBC initially leaked this new scheme. They argued with me about it in the comment section, citing the words of some Zune blogger, but their conviction wasn't as strong as usually is with stories like this. I think deep down they know that Microsoft is very capable of embracing anti-piracy filters after all the craziness with Genuine Windows Advantage and the DRM in Vista.
  • lazydrumhead, on 05/08/2008, -10/+12While I'm all for making sure files are easily usable, why can't companies try and keep their product from being stolen?
    • Jambi, on 05/08/2008, -0/+13Because I'll guarantee you that this won't stop people out to steal stuff from disabling the DRM solution and pirating stuff anyway, while the legitimate user will get yet another hoop to jump through, making it more and more inconvenient to use the product. Treating legitimate customers as criminals alienates them, and doesn't actually stop the real ones.
    • nickj6282, on 05/08/2008, -0/+12Is it stealing if I rip episodes of Heroes or The Office from my DVDs (purchased legally from Target) onto a Zune? What if this DRM scheme won't allow me to play those? Those are legally purchased.
      • Jambi, on 05/08/2008, -0/+10It's obviously stealing, because NBC has decreed that you may only watch the content purchased on a DVD player. (and soon, it'll be only on the DVD player that's been authorized to play them...you'll need a key) What's that, fair use you say? Only terrorists believe in things like that! Or Communists! Or secret Nazis who've been hiding in Argentina since the 40's! We've got you now, Dr. Mengele!
      • vinnieT, on 05/08/2008, -4/+0It's not illegal to rip a legally purchased DVD for your own personal use. It's illegal to share the ripped content. Same holds true for CDs. You don't have a right to steal copyright-protected media just because you don't want to pay for it.
    • KiraDnote, on 05/08/2008, -0/+10Microsoft shouldn't be concerned about what content you put on your Zune. It's none of their business, and if they want to make it their business then we should stop buying their products.
    • Flamancot, on 05/08/2008, -0/+9Not to mention this is part of a much more important and larger trend. We're not talking about installing a security system in circuit city or toys r us to prevent shoplifters. Digital media is increasingly easy to "steal," and will continue to get easier. I'm looking forward to a fundamental change in the what the word ownership really means to people in these industries... All of these security measures and restrictions look like the last desperate attempts of old companies with huge inertia to remain relevant and profit-making.
    • Aidenf77, on 05/08/2008, -0/+6Jambi hit the nail on the head. When companies try and "protect" their digital product, the only ones who lose are paying customers and the companies themselves. If a DRM solution can be implemented, it can be circumvented. If companies consider the fact that there is nothing they can really do to stop those who want to pirate, then they can be free to focus on delivering a top notch product in the most accessible manner possible. I think that if companies stop wasting resources on restrictive DRM, and dedicate more time and money toward delivering the most integrated, intuitive, and streamlined distribution methods, paying consumers will repeatedly flock to what they have to offer; despite any pirating that might happen between legitimate purchases.
    • Fartag, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2The FSM has intended for non-private information to be freely shareable to all. It's up to society to work out the mechanisms on how to do that and meanwhile not starve the information content producers. There are _many_ ways to do this that we know of already. Encouraging government or companies to excessively limit what we say (upload), what we hear (download) and what we do (enhance, decrypt, repair, etc.) to the data on our own machines is a terrible thing to do to our future. Our fundamental mishandling of information in society is what lead to these bizarre symptoms in the first place and they must be overcome!
  • WCL23, on 05/08/2008, -11/+8I refuse to buy anything that unnecessarily restricts my right to use it how I please. I live in hope that others will some day do the same on a massive scale. Maybe then DRM will quickly be a thing of the past. I mean, in this case the Zune can play what I want it to, yet in some instances it wont because the content may be pirated. How about you just get bent. I'm not buying any product that behaves in that way.
    • KiraDnote, on 05/08/2008, -6/+5We should stop buying all Microsoft products, not just the Zune.
      • phenomnaruto, on 05/08/2008, -2/+2Or maybe you both should not believe the hype as every bit of this article is inaccurate.
  • Vrevolution, on 05/08/2008, -17/+12R.I.P Zune
  • DangerCollie, on 05/08/2008, -15/+11Big surprise, consider the source. Microsoft's corporate decision making has been dysfunctional since Ballmer took over. Any real surprise they'd come down on the wrong side of this issue?
    • KiraDnote, on 05/08/2008, -1/+5Ballmer is a huge part of the problem. Microsoft should fire him post haste. There's no way Microsoft is going to prosper under Ballmer.
  • Marglar, on 05/08/2008, -16/+7Screw ipods and zunes. I'll stick with Sandisk products, no DRM or antipiracy crap to worry about, just drag and drop and you are good to go.
    • nebkiwi, on 05/08/2008, -1/+11"SanDisk is also investigating the option, according to NBC."
    • rblancarte, on 05/08/2008, -1/+6Then you clearly didn't read the article
      "SanDisk is also investigating the option, according to NBC."
    • Marglar, on 05/08/2008, -5/+1Correct, I didn't. when I see "Warning: The Content in this Article May be Inaccurate" at the top I don't even bother to read it. I was just throwing out a general comment.
  • habhi, on 05/08/2008, -14/+4"I know which player I'm buying (and which one I'm not) next time around."

    I hope this alone isn't what made you choose iPod over Zune. I hope common sense came first.
    • KiraDnote, on 05/08/2008, -7/+3Since he's planning to buy an iPod, common sense is not part of the equation.
  • td04impostor, on 05/08/2008, -8/+30Every time you buy a Zune, Steve Jobs kills a kitten.
  • mrhuhk, on 05/08/2008, -10/+5It's not fair use. Fair use is a principal that applies to your right to use copyrighted materials for discussion in academic and op-ed settings. Fair use can only be applied to limited uses of a copyrighted work.

    What we're talking about are rights that come with the first sale of a work. You have a right to make copies for your own use.

    And even that is really whitewashing what we're really talking about: music is increasingly a promotional tool for other things. It won't be ten years before people just assume music is free.

    What we're really talking about is the inevitability that comes when the market can't beat the consumer.
    • Flamancot, on 05/08/2008, -0/+4100% behind you here, I feel the same way about the inevitability of Digital Media. Music especially... these companies can't win, and had better stop wasting their time and figure out another way to make money if they want to be around ten years from now. And if they're not, I certainly won't cry for them.
    • jerrycan, on 05/08/2008, -0/+3Can fair use include taking a time shifted copy from my media-center?
    • trixterIreland, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1fair use also includes the ability for you in your own home without distributing the work to make any revisions you see fit. If you have a book you can rip pages out, write your own pages and stick them in, cross out words and replace them. Why you can even make copies of the book. It does not forbid you from any of these things, it does forbid you from distributing that work without the rights if you used enough of the original (you may for example in a commercial setting use a small section of someone elses work legally under fair use).

      When people use the term fair use here they are referring to making copies of media they have the right to use, such as a DVD they paid for, and placing it on the player. And that is covered by fair use. What they are not saying (en masse at least) and what they are not calling fair use is to take that copy and give it to their friends (or enemies if the mpaa/riaa is watching).

      The right to make that copy, as you acknowledged exists, comes from the fair use provisions.
    • Sudz, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1I think you are exactly wrong mrhuhk. You are describing free speech - my right to use images and names of products in discussions and reviews. Fair use describes what you can fairly use a product you bought or licensed for.
      Fair use had a big win when people were allowed to tape movies from HBO for example. They bought it, they can use it. It's also 'fair' for device manufacturers to make it a huge pain in the ass to exercise your fair use rights through DRM and lawsuits... so it goes.
  • RudeTurnip, on 05/08/2008, -7/+7Would the device only play videos with DRM? It would be funny if you couldn't watch Diggnation on the Zune, which is actually a sponsor of the show. I watch Diggnation every week, but I literally have not watched NBC in over a year since I bought my house and chose not to get cable TV.
    Apple is right...NBC is not worth insulting your customers over. Bye bye *****.
    • weareglass, on 05/08/2008, -0/+4$20 says this story's not in the next Diggnation episode.
  • ErikHarrison, on 05/08/2008, -11/+4Ballmer is just like Bush. NO THIRD TERM FOR THE WAR MONGERER!!!!

  • Ranvier, on 05/08/2008, -14/+18***** story.
  • jjpertusch, on 05/08/2008, -18/+34buried, inaccurate.

    on a side note, i LOVE my Zune. love it. also, after use, a ton of my friends have voluntarily (without me asking) said that they think the zune interfacezune itself is a lot better than the ipod. you dont have to love it, but it is my opinion that most zune haters have never actually used one.

    i also have an ipod nano for running. free mp3 player love.
    • clak, on 05/08/2008, -4/+6Funny, that's exactly what I've been saying to Apple users who bash OS X. Most of them have never used it. And for the record, you guys keep comparing the Zune to the old iPods. Why don't you compare the Zune to the iPod Touch. That's the future.
      • Hadriagh, on 05/08/2008, -4/+5Probably because the iPod Touch is worthless. The lack of tactile buttons and the limited space kill it for me. No buttons means I can't control it in the car while I'm driving (without being reckless) and I can't control it while keeping it in my pocket. The iPod touch doesn't offer enough space to hold my music collection, which for its physical size would drive me crazy. Not to mention then I'd have to use ***** iTunes to update it and deal with Apples horrible software updater. I swear that thing pops up at all the wrong times, and puts all their shortcuts on your desktop/quick launch EVERY UPDATE without asking. Their updater convinced me to stop using Quicktime altogether.
        • Commodus, on 05/08/2008, -1/+3Worthless? Get a car cradle for a little money and it's actually better than a hardware-controlled player. Pocket is only really useful in a few cases (I'll agree it's better when it's -20 and you're not keen on freezing just to skip tracks). The size is fine in my experience - it's just capacity that needs to catch up.

          Also, on a Mac, those update problems (you can turn that off in Windows, by the way) don't exist in the first place.
  • mogebier, on 05/08/2008, -9/+14Who PAYS to download TV shows anyway??
    ipod-loving chumps??
  • JNudda, on 05/08/2008, -11/+35Buried. Inaccurate.
    http://zuneinsider.com/archive/2008/05/07/just-so- ...
  • Spire3660, on 05/08/2008, -6/+1The only way this would work is if the player only accepted digitally signed content, which is clearly never going to happen.
  • Rov3r, on 05/08/2008, -7/+31Inaccurate but still:

    ***** THE RIAA
  • Aleman360, on 05/08/2008, -9/+2Who cares, you can watch NBC shows for free on either nbc.com or hulu.com. Do people honestly watch a lot of videos on these tiny screens anyways?
    • phenomnaruto, on 05/08/2008, -0/+2Unlike Hulu,Zune 80's have tv out with dvd resolution (depending on resolution of video) that enables you to watch anything on your Zune on any TV in high quality.
  • lpxxfaintxx2, on 05/08/2008, -10/+20Electronista has just lost my respect. Buried.
  • usgovterrorists, on 05/08/2008, -12/+4Microsoft, by putting the customer last, will eventually end up defunct.
  • products7074740, on 05/08/2008, -5/+35Buried as inaccurate. And thats coming from an iPod and Mac owner. Inaccurate is inaccurate no matter what brand you buy.
  • kurtwinter, on 05/08/2008, -9/+1After crippling the processing power of the Zune to scan every playable media format for copyright restrictions, it blazes along with 5fps video and 8 bit sound.
  • eth3l, on 05/08/2008, -7/+22INACCURATE

    This has been resoundingly marked as inaccurate all over the interwebs. Stop the FUD.
  • Sidedish, on 05/08/2008, -6/+4Yeah. You're buying a Cowon. Mine dual boots and plays Doom... and this story is marketing *****.
  • AronT, on 05/08/2008, -13/+2Way to go Microsoft, bending over for the big guy so you can further screw the little guy...
    • AronT, on 05/08/2008, -1/+2Whatever Microsoft is just trying to save face and you don't want to hear it.
  • mliving, on 05/08/2008, -15/+11Apple has every bit as much DRM as the Zune.
    ACC is DRM!
    If Apple were really as open as you claim then why can't I transfer my iTunes songs to a CD or MP3 player other than Apple's?
    Enough of the Apple FUD!
    • biw314, on 05/08/2008, -0/+5have you looked into this at all? every line you've written has something wrong in it.
    • AronT, on 05/08/2008, -2/+9Here are the problems with your post.
      1) Let me spell it out for you... A-A-C... try it yourself.
      2) AAC does not equal DRM - it never has, and it never will.
      3) You CAN copy any iTunes purchase to a CD anytime you want. Luckily, you only need to do it once to copy it back to your library without any DRM.
      4) Technically this is Microsoft FUD - or Apple propaganda - depending on where you stand.

      Now shut up and go quietly submit to your overlords.

      Ps, Not buying an iPod just to be "different" is probably more sheep-like than actually buying an iPod.
  • nard3456, on 05/08/2008, -10/+4Im stickin with my ipod
  • tacklebox, on 05/08/2008, -9/+10Inaccurate. Read the zune insider website. There is no deal with NBC.

    "We have no plans or commitments to implement any new type of content filtering in the Zune devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC."
  • fancycwabs, on 05/08/2008, -3/+3They should try to market Zune they way they used to market Surge--have a commercial where a guy puts a Zune on an inflatable raft in the middle of a pool, yells "ZUUUUUUUNE!" and all his Xtreme buds charge into the pool to get the Zune.

    What? They don't make Surge anymore?
  • MWeather, on 05/08/2008, -4/+4I won't be buying a Zune OR an iPod. Both are overpriced, DRM infected crap.
  • skyshock1, on 05/08/2008, -6/+5"I know which player I'm buying (and which one I'm not) next time around."

    Me too! I'll be buying a Cowon mp3 player and NOT buying anything from Apple or Microsoft.
    • Commodus, on 05/08/2008, -0/+1More power to you - kudos to Apple for turning NBC down, but something independent of either is fine by me!
  • taradisiac, on 05/08/2008, -4/+1lol yeah because we all know those things are IMPOSSIBLE to bypass rite?
  • Vtorch, on 05/08/2008, -5/+4Buried for Inaccurate. It wouldn't have been buried had the submitter "Commodus" didn't have to post his own (stupid) editorial along with the link. Plus there is no evidence of Apple "championing" anything.
  • FredFredrickson, on 05/08/2008, -3/+4iPod champions fair use? Please!

    It's one thing to say that anti-piracy schemes in the Zune are bad, but it's quite another to act like Apple doesn't have their own anti-piracy schemes in place as well. iPod / Quicktime are just as bad as anything Zune is doing. Get over it.
  • sifelltneytandi, on 05/08/2008, -2/+2It's nice to see that some here still have operating brains. Microsoft and Apple aren't the only game in town. Apple packs its ***** full of restrictive DRM, too, so this caption is hilarious to me. As if the person writing it ever had any question that he'd purchase Apple over Microsoft any day of the week for any reason or no reason at all.

    If I HAD to choose, I'd get a Zune. As people ahve said, these things aren't anywhere near foolproof, so it wouldn't be a huge deal. But, since I don't have to choose, I'll look for other brands that offer twice the features at the same price or much less.
  • Zorn85, on 05/08/2008, -4/+5Kudos NBC. Now I will just pirate your shows to get them on my iPod. Your plan has worked brilliantly!
  • rolltide78, on 05/08/2008, -3/+2I don't really get what's the big deal here. I paid $80 for a refurb 30 GB Zune and it has by far been the best money ever spent. The service is great and so is the device (albeit older and a little bulky). The ability to download thousands of songs and albums a month for $15 is great. Spending the price of a CD per month for an unlimited amount of music is just awesome. I know if I ever quit the subscription I'll lose them but I don't anticipate that happening. I'll take this over a $1 per song any day of the week! The new social aspect of the Zune is great too. Hands down my favorite player and I've owned a Sandisk and an Ipod. Lastly, as we all know everything is hackable. Don't let these stories bother ya too much! Just my $.02.
  • cadmiumpaint, on 05/08/2008, -3/+6As if selling the zune in Brown wasn't a big enough mistake...
  • xenxes, on 05/08/2008, -2/+3There's bound to be firmware hacks or someway to bypass it. On principle though, bad move for Microsoft.
  • bigandy, on 05/08/2008, -6/+4YOU ALL FAIL! This was confirmed inaccurate.
  • NiGHTSChao, on 05/08/2008, -8/+6You people are ***** stupid
    This story is just NBC talking out of their ass, its inaccurate
    • sifelltneytandi, on 05/08/2008, -1/+2So why does this make anybody "***** stupid"? Just curious, since NBC themselves made this statement. There was no reason to doubt it initially.
      • NiGHTSChao, on 05/08/2008, -1/+1For the people up top that say "Oh this is just another nail in the Zune Coffin" or "Oh well, the Zune sucks ass and this doesn't surprise me because Microsoft hates their followers"

        ***** like that, sorry I didn't put it into context
  • sirber, on 05/08/2008, -1/+2Nuclear Biological Chemical Anti-piracy filters? nnnnnice!
  • InorganicMatter, on 05/08/2008, -4/+6And now Microsoft is backpedaling. Who wants to bet the original story is true, and they are backtracking to save face like they've done so many times in the past. 10-to-1 it's true, and will be silently rolled out in a year after everyone has forgotten, just like everyone forgot about WinFS, or DX10's "better performance."
  • jacinto, on 05/08/2008, -4/+3read the title of the submission and figure out the bias. so much for objectivity
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