雅虎! 音乐无限原来是有限的

几个月前, we covered the decision by Microsoft to turn off its digital rights management (DRM) servers for its now-defunct MSN 音乐 service. The DRM servers are required to play purchased music on up to five authorized computers, so turning off the DRM servers means that a machine with an updated operating system will no longer play content, and no alternate machines can be used to play the purchased music if the consumer wants to replace an authorized machine.

微软最终让步了, after the hue and cry of consumers and news reports, lengthening the time it would maintain its DRM servers for an additional three years and promising to assess consumer needs at that particular point.

经过慎重考虑, Microsoft has decided to continue to support the authorization of new computers and devices and delivery of new license keys for MSN 音乐 customers through at least the end of 2011,邮件中写道, "after which we will evaluate how much this functionality is still being used and what steps should be taken next to support our customers."

上周，雅虎! made the 公告 that it intends to shut off its 雅虎! 音乐无限 DRM servers in fairly short order.

“雅虎! 音乐商店, along with the ability to purchase and download single songs and albums, will no longer be available as of September 30, 2008,该公司在一封电子邮件中宣布. "Songs and albums that were purchased through the 雅虎! 音乐无限 Store are protected by a digital rights management system that requires a valid license key before they can be played on your computer.

“商店关闭后，雅虎! will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for music purchased from 雅虎! 音乐无限," the email 公告 continued, "and 雅虎! will no longer be able to authorize song playback on additional computers. Please note that your purchased tracks will generally continue to play on your existing authorized computers unless there is a change to the computer's operating system."

像微软, 雅虎 is recommending that users "back up" their purchased tracks to an audio CD, 在此过程中规避DRM.

"For any user who purchased tracks through 雅虎! 音乐无限, we highly recommend that you back up the purchased tracks to an audio CD before the closing of the Store on September 30, 2008. Backing up your music to an audio CD will allow you to copy the music back to your computer again if the license keys for your original music files cannot be retrieved."

"The reality is that users of this service can burn these tracks to CD with little if any degradation in the quality of the music,克里斯托弗·列维说, a 流媒体 All-Star and president of BuyDRM, offerig a bit of perspective on the 雅虎! 公告.

就像MSN一样, 雅虎 got out of the music business quite some time ago due to their lack of traction in the space,利维说。. "As a business decision this makes sense."

Levy feels the news coverage about this topic is primarily a way for writers to use "as another touch point to get banner impressions.有趣的是，雅虎! isn't getting out of the music business entirely, as it used the email announcing the death of its DRM servers as a way to remind customers that its partnership with Real on the Rhapsody music service will allow it to continue selling content.

而雅虎! 音乐无限 Store will no longer be available," the email announced, "雅虎! 音乐 has partnered with Rhapsody so you can still purchase your favorite tracks . . . 感谢您使用雅虎! 音乐."

Rhapsody, 正如2008年6月的一篇报道中提到的那样, 现在也销售无数字版权保护的音乐, 尽管不确定雅虎是否! 音乐 will be selling these DRM-free MP3 tracks.

“对音乐行业来说, the battle continues to be 'How can we beat Apple without DRM while they beat us with DRM’?利维说。. "Nobody seems to have solved that riddle yet and this lack of a solutions continues to benefit Apple as the world’s leading music retailer and the largest provider of DRM-enabled music in the world."

Levy acknowledges that Apple sells DRM-free content through its iTunes 音乐商店, but sums up the argument for DRM as Apple's Achille's heel.

"If Apple licensed FairPlay we wouldn’t be having this discussion,利维说。. "But this situation does bring to light an important issue. What happens when Apple decides their margins on selling music are too thin [rumored to be + / - $.02 per track sold] and they decide to shut down their FairPlay servers? 那么这次讨论将把我们带向何方呢?"