May 8th, 2008
Zune of the future may come with copyright cop
Microsoft is “exploring” the possibility of building in copyright protection into the Zune player, Saul Hansell writes in the Times. The agreement is part of NBC Universal’s deal to sell its programming for Zune.
Microsoft is parsing this story very closely — to Clintonian levels, in fact.
Hansell reported yesterday that Microsoft “will work with (NBC) to try to develop a copyright ‘cop’ to be installed on its devices.”
Mr. (J.B.) Perrette (president of digital distribution for NBC Universal) said the plan is to create “filtering technology that allows for playback of legitimately purchased content versus non-legitimately purchased content.”
On the Zune Insider blog, Microsoft’s Cesar Menendez offered an official response:
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.
Hansell says that Perrette said Microsoft had committed to explore filtering, not necessarily to implement. So Menendez’s statement may be technically correct right now but not full disclosure. Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn’s comment to Hansell may give a fuller picture:
I don’t think they are wrong, but we are not going to characterize those discussions. … We have agreed to work with NBC across a range of topics, and protection of copyrighted material is certainly one of them.
