Zune Won’t Play ‘PlaysForSure’ Protected Songs?

Kind of crazy if you think about it. There’s a very strong case against paying for DRM-protected media from any vendor, but at least with Apple, the deal seems pretty clear: stick with Apple and the stuff you’ve paid for will continue to play. If Zune really doesn’t play PlaysForSure protected WMV files, what’s the message to people who paid for PlaysForSure songs and want to buy a Zune? “Microsoft: We plan to force you to re-pay for all your music every two or three years?”

This is so insane I can’t believe it’s true. PlaysForSure is Microsoft’s own DRM-licensing program; Zune is Microsoft’s own player, and it’s based on a Toshiba “Gigabeat” player that already is PlaysForSure-compatible. Why wouldn’t it be PlaysForSure compatible?

★ Friday, 15 September 2006