Apple Video iPod Invites War with Microsoft - What Kind of Copyright Protection?
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Microsoft is certainly making sure it has a hand in the future of digital rights management. It is part of a group formed about a year ago to create a rights-management system for high-definition video. The Advanced Access Content System (AACS) is backed by Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Warner Brothers, Disney, Panasonic, Toshiba, and Sony, among others. The system would allow users to move copyrighted content around within a home network, such as from a computer to a television. Of the two high-definition successor formats to DVDs, HD DVD will definitely support AACS, and Blu-ray may follow suit.
So far we have been talking about Microsoft and home video, not portable video devices. But a glance back to January of this year reveals the connection. Microsoft made a deal with TiVo to make sure that TiVo To Go recordings would work on Microsoft Mobile devices. At the same time, Microsoft unveiled its MSN Video Downloads service, which boasts TV shows and clips from more than a dozen sources, including FOX Sports, CNBC, Food Network and (of course) MSNBC. If you’re not seeing the potential convergence of Microsoft on the entertainment market, you should be.
You see, Microsoft has been quietly making inroads with its Windows Media codec and digital rights management system (DRM) supported by set-top boxes, mobile phones, PDAs, portable video players, game consoles and more. With many people already owning Windows PCs, when they see the Microsoft “PlaysForSure” logo on these devices, they will figure that the device will play well with their computers. The idea is that they’ll appreciate how easy it is for them to move content around – so something they downloaded from the Internet can be moved to their portable video player or even their cell phone without much of a hassle.
Sloan predicted that history would repeat itself with Apple leapfrogging the competitors already in place in the portable video players arena, much as it leapfrogged the ones already in the portable music player business with its iPod and iTunes. But a different repetition of history suggests itself. Many analysts believe that Apple lost the PC desktop market because it refused to license its Graphical User Interface. Could it end up losing the consumer electronics market because it has so far neglected to license its FairPlay DRM technology?
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