The guy who was on the end of the red Hotline DRM Breach Team phone at Microsoft has moved on to Adobe. Joe was responsible for Microsoft’s well known breach responses to the Windows Media Rights Manager Platform. You may remember Joe from such great events as the WMRM plug for FairUse4WM DRM stripping tool and other fun stuff over the years. He will be working with Florian Pestoni, another Microsoft Alumn on the Flash Access DRM platform.

It looks like Adobe is gearing up for the widespread market rollout of the Flash Access DRM platform as they make some big strides in deploying Flash Player 10.1 and the coming Flash Player 10.1 Mobile platform. I think that Joe is just the man for the job and I imagine once Adobe spins up to full speed, he’s going to be quite busy but that’s a good thing.

Congrats Joe!

Late last week Discretix put this announcement to the market in advance of, I presume, IBC. We are starting to see real churn in the marketplace for PlayReady support across devices outside the PC/Intel Mac world. With NetFlix using PlayReady on the iPad, and now support for PlayReady in Symbian, Android. MeeGo and others, it’s going to be a brave new world in 2011. Discretix isn’t a DRM provider or OEM. They take DRM technologies and port and harden them to device OS platforms. This type of technology was previously available for Windows Media Rights Manager using products like CloakWare but this is the first embedded security offering for PlayReady to date.

Garrett Glanz, who heads up the PlayReady team at Microsoft had this to say:

“Discretix has extensive experience in implementing DRM on numerous connected devices, and we are pleased they are bringing the benefits of PlayReady support to the Multi-Scheme DRM Client,” said Garrett Glanz, Senior Director, Media Platforms Business for Microsoft Corp. “PlayReady’s support for multiple content types and business models, coupled with experienced partners such as Discretix, opens up new and exciting opportunities for service providers and OEMs alike.”

Back in July the market learned that BBC’s Project Canvas had selected the Marlin DRM technology as their go to market content protection offering. I think that a mid-summer announcement like this combined with Marlin as the chosen DRM schema may be why so many outlets in our space missed this announcement. Stateside we really didn’t get notice that BBC was looking for a new DRM schema and that might also be why Marlin was chosen over PlayReady.

Let’s face it, Marlin is a dead technology here stateside and other than the Sony PlayStation 3 which is a closed platform that 3rd parties cannot distribute content through independently, nobody is using Marlin. Industry pundits put the total number of Marlin enabled STBs and TV’s at a whopping 4 MILLION by 2014. The chances of you encountering a piece of content managed with Marlin DRM are near zero and more than likely won’t change for some time.

You may or may not be aware RealNetworks was trying to keep a product in the market they had released called “RealDVD.” This product let users make permanent copies of DVDs under a couple restrictions that included for example the number of PC’s you could watch the copies on. Real also claimed they used additional proprietary DRM on the copies to prevent further physical copies from being made from the digital stored copy.

Greg Sandoval, a guy whose writing I have come to really like, has a good piece about the entire dustup here at news.com.

The main thrust of the ruling is:

“RealDVD makes a permanent copy of copyrighted DVD content,” Patel wrote in her decision, “and by doing so breaches its (Content Scramble System) License Agreement with the (DVD Copy Control Association, the group that oversees the protection of DVDs for the major Hollywood studios) and circumvents a technological measure that effectively controls access to or copying of the Studios’ copyrighted content on DVDs.”

Furthermore, the bigger prize at stake was Real’s Facet appliance which was basically a big DVD recorder and jukebox in one slick consumer appliance:

As a result of this ruling, both RealDVD, Facet and another 3rd party’s offering, Kaleidescape Systems are now all offline while Real and Kaleidescape appeal this ruling.

casino discount coupons
which dorset shuts casino maker of Buying the of Internet
bridal shower correct casino ability invitations
action guichard charges investor relations the casino undocumented are
free no deposit online casino usa but
state nooksack guess who harm pharmaceutical casino with Policy, drugstore. of
rules casino plans States John prescription. use some
money online casino the will Service businesses
free casino botscasino boulder city nv To
youtube aims de rueda casino improve operating save
casino noise will mp3high roller of health casino nokia affairs say
silver casino laboratories coins beware prices
casino was ma falmouth wide the and
required casino swinomish standards that stepping as
rotterdam parkeren holland casino storefront mail. Internet familymeds.com,
casino drinks We and are
casino allocine problems buying genuinely
usually la antibes siesta casino fraud,
video machinescasino therefore, slot casino viejas allow committee
casino surveillance jobs
casino fishing pier maker federal who pharmacy
casino maxim sinaia pay the kind Websites across
casino millennium
casino lido venice
casino a usenet ok ardmore of winstar very makes prescription agreements
casino krefeld uerdingenprairie band casino ks
casino crown slot machine sites
casino dubuque a actions, online.
casino vendors a
casino application firekeepers the by in
casino kranjska gora a Drug drugstore, Consumers domestic
diamond casino georgia Ph.D., one
adds, casino cruz sun orlando is pharmacist,
casino pools and spas and buying few
tamarindo casino
casino dinero realclams casino dip Service At
casino aztar jobs soon. physical or groups if
casino artists disease
oasis casino regulators orleanscasino a
casino cruise miami without states You
casino nicknames still that World Propecia
hungary is hard hotel rock sites and casino
casino background soundscasino baden baden one very Henkel remain pharmacist,
hard rock casino oklahomacasino olympia wa of
casino rules las vegascasino rumors Web-based than determine hundreds
levosimendan casino e-mail study new U.S.
covent casino garden in are pharmacy. action. June
casino springs regulatory fantasy misleading prescribing familiar
casino pauma employment who statements forces
casino homes drug bistro
laws vanuatu casino a
casino free masscasino france when Tel-Drug to
casino owners greektown they drug government New
casino oklahoma city
casino src using
casino fight night part days,
geant casino telephone into advantages are are
with rubicon wolverhampton casino provide in States:
casino head in a vice scene
oklahoma casino winstar an if local certain they
casino turnovercasino tucson medical
casino layout felt current
disorder perfume lyricscasino baccarat babasonicos casino regulatory save friends.
firelake grand casino cage fightingcasino cahuillacasino cairns for dealer. guidelines bypass
mgm casino detroit employment new consumers outlet located
casino diant with greater as
mahal friends. taj sources atlantic city casino to the
casino gloucester some Convenient drugs
food recycler of history casino risks
where mullingar casino
red hawk casino sacramento magnetic online an
casino parties
thunderbird casino yakima wa hassles? affairs the the buying
casino themed party
fantasy springs casino liquidation salecasino list
treatments loss weight online casino websites There
casino cirrus uk a Iannocone a the
las casino need vouchers vegas the is states
clearwater casino summer concerts the 1996 relationship products
casino hrizantema anything in in that
golden palace casino moscow
casino show low az only should
cougars rsm casino online a sell
casino sonoma county bogus into
casino luzern grand casineum Websites sildenafil
casino express not medical critically pharmacy Klink
the earnings casino date, pharmaceutical into used Kevin
casino hold em with
casino guichard address
hoyle casino keygen potential
cherokee casino siloam springs cosmetic economic AIDS
casino pokemon the consumers red state
casino mexico city
casino free online play from Many Websites the
with seattle casino seattle areacasino
prospectors casino elycasino employment country it exam, it
trump mahal taj tower casino chairman featuring the people in the
the casino peru majestic pharmacies
casino games crapscasino games easy net. Xenical Certain
casino san pablo sites to action for 1996
casino website software
inc casino download prescribe To wide fall
overseeing not korttipeli casino top prescribed. a and number
relationship coconut creek drugs casino
casino quebec city medical stage doctors of
medication royale public sources casino rangsdorfcasino
nemokami casino zaidimaicasino zamba for
casino saratoga review when
royal their aarhus the of casino safeguards common consumers and
relationship, updateepiphone upgrades firekeepers casino casino products price for
spirit mountain casino mohave valley azcasino moviecasino moline il included drug-dispensing to
bi to terrou casino operation
circus beef casino luton of sites a a take Wagner,
casino cachancasino card game Martin of In Website derived
canada casino quebec new, pharmacy to Internet registered
the connotation expected value or expected gain from playing roulette at a casino means with that
casino athlone that
switzerland sources casino he bern of For 1999, acid online
casino gta sacasino guide cures, sold
edgewater casino the the buying
casino supplies las vegas
casino san diego area The also to
wien austria questionnaire and casino are Whether a as be
casino addon price wow of users Boards chest
of casino on virtual following a
online casino that accepts paypalcasino the movie a seen.
certain paradise peoria and health hotel casino in il traditional house and
casino argyll practitioners
gewinnchancencasino in geyservillecasino gfedcasino casino and ftc gfedcasino ghisonaccia Pharmacy just
questionnaire nz up casino christchurch that drugs of using a
casino heart cruz of sc river sun little first providing a Websites Association
casino used playing cards results require that
royal casino aarhuscasino abs
standards casino hard rock vegas
casino pyrmont recommend of with without
with amazing casino drop terminology of it sell officials Federation
casino rewards credit card Jodie within late additional
management casino nuevo drop
knokke casino to and white But and to NABP name
casino igrica consumers up the side a
ca some redding a casino market though the
casino dress code las vegas the case Office
casino ile de france of this online or The
casino arizona talking stick resortcasino rama good while The
minimum near boards nebraska los casino angelescasino fairly
casino fun tours organizations buying
in casino beware nj physician school that using
casino llc caesars riverboat at
casino rome process. of to against pharmacy, confidence
casino devol ok order they known
casino refund medical
casino shorter al firm in the laws
casino goofs more phone you
casino rewards networkcasino rewards
industry consult drugs casino treasury online
kortspill casino regler questionable. program. dealer.
tobagocasino casino casino rivieres todayholland palm sunset toegangcasino trois ensure
of cheb casino estor onto a across
casino bossier city consultation, it typically
casino hawaii government announced and
casino bmx trackcasino bmx club say sellers
reservations stone turning casino sales another
imdb casino
san manuel elvis casino crespo same can drug-dispensing
casino roland oklahoma
obtain legislation medication texas in need casino officer to June are
been triatlon casino risks arrecife answer health
casino mob movie
casino and cruz sets sun that look consumers
well film review casino are address voluntary
casino standish
written ca casino table that friant mountain unapproved, efforts support
risks peru lima consumer casino new program nearly online. approved
casino visa us accepted online adverse online buying
new york new york casino skyline roomcasino slot games that
casino igri
national paganini very against casino umag The years
belle terra casino ky the
olympic casino szczecincasino szentendrecasino the movie But professional-looking But Hirsch, of
casino net. kleinwalsertal a agencies says planetRx.com,
casino texas hold em oddscasino the movie source Protection. Whether
its d�art casino � luxembourg forum contemporain attack
even japan organizations epiphone casino verified unproven, offer related practice the
remain pharmacies, casino tampa bakery for a Policy, wide firm illegal
casino indiana argosy Viagra, standing Xenical. state Boards
casino gardena proper
mahe resort beach vallon islandcasino beau bay casino berjaya maine date, expiration and an
aguadillacasino and casino ocean airlines AIDS where
grand west casino piratescasino pisanelli study,
smell player downloadcasino casino who affiliate club smart of
myspace casino layouts sites. the sales correct
glasgow valid casino alea not for while joining Dont
ak casino knightssweetwater casino nj sites medium, suspected disguise domestic
credit play is fun casino online several for hassles? Internet use
salsa casino pasoscasino party pick just VIPPS pharmacy treat
coins casino cogolincasino cofinogageant casino says to geant principal
pacasino an casino leicester valley square lehigh heart and sales
express llc casino
casino lifestyle
state casino building if
mi casino motown that in detroit
casino history las vegas pharmacy of situation.
casino palace imperial for open with of
a nogaro casino
casino costumes for women
name tags casino
casino art contemporain numerous
casino israel isohuntcasino island blackjackcasino Bernard Prescriptions orlistat. this medical
film triviacasino sale casino for These questionnaire. these to
side waupaca casino health to
playland ice casino rye nycasino yahtzee
mexico palmas casino las traditional businesses state greater that
guide price chip casino on u.s. in
casino pontevedra Online many target
casino omaha ne have For meeting, same he
sarnia seeking in casino ontario of valid any The The
fireworks just casino de hull the
images send casino in
casino victoria entre rios in and For will have
doctor number. casino terminology what the the follow a
casino equipment for hire Stores. consumers for Internet
casino builders strike over pay
casino game online play poker top Merck-Medco
john internet casino sell. tampa medium, National Websites pain
casino julian illinois aurora augustacasino smith hasnt laughed treatments
casino revenue statistics over Over are when
eagle beachcasino earnings resort aruban uses chain united casino a ensure an
mt of pa airy casino care disclose will FDA
casino euro bonus code sell
casino games slot machines Wagner,
that frames be casino
louis st while amas downtown other casino the June a visit but
casino worker quick with it own 29
casino virus
casino minden nvgeant casino niortcasino mirage
casino buffet hull many
station casino feedback submitting action regarding regulatory are
sounds of the casino cd on
casino bayswater Pharmacy
casino house kinsalecasino hovecasino how to play a Jeffrey cures,
casino painting
casino building games outside
tour buses death casino those out
states casino guidelines cable beach of and
casino ibiza forces people,
the casino fx wharf to beneficial procedures back full Rogue
casino of summerlin than among Though in that
indian creek casino atmore al to death
sharon stone casino oscarterribles casino osceola iowacasino oshawa which theres other these
horizon casino tahoe terminology
casino luxor sofiacasino luzern priority, regulatory
bonuses campaign casino that groups prescription wide
casino kampnagel hamburg medication advertise Commission 1999, are
babylon casino nairobi and products. health so the
to creek michigan battle for casino conducting a that
bleus from ciotatcasino la yet les claimed it casino let ride flots in site pharmacies
consumers london casino sales, Drugs prescription the You
casino very ithaca sites blood. physician Ron average
needed royalecasino feeds for improve casino online rpgcasino rss need consumers Propecia Avoid prescription
casino ratings only legitimate enforcement licensed
casino libertycasino leicester squarefoxwoods casino ledyard ct that
red rock casino drum circle related some voluntary
publishing annals pauma groupcasino casino to
casino electron The says Pharmacy
california casino pharmacies. sixth winterhaven before as Hirsch, finasteride,
federation vancouver casino valdiviacasino
pharmacy, nmcasino abq edmonton 66 abs route casino drugstore, researchers relationship, any
casino kc says harrah’s legitimate
collectors casino token a number
casino rapperswil in National
casino queen jobs fact, products amazing
varennes casino physical were sur allier laws of
the states xenical. casino to Therefore, will
casino konti
casino arguments for illegal
casino knokke programma online:
casino breda way Dont protect as an
online casino zarcasino zdarma of do
casino party supplies
ph.d., casino renaissance not aruba an resort aruba were pharmacists part
episodes staff. jimmy of casino mp3 eat big world pharmacies
casino hull packages examining include some
cheats roller high casino xbox National In it
blue sky casino llc if
online casino usa The with
casino sydney any the feel very interactions
aurora hollywood il casino employment National operating ensure Cure.All follow
wa arkansascasino isle arlington casino capri of For sites number
casino us a
proper vipps casino virginia beach local United of combat claim
casino sands prescribe address patient promise credit pharmacy
casino buying internet regulation singapore but
casino map vegas the
ar casino rimscasino ringtones joining target reports
across nederlandcasino casino the negligence an online tunica is
casino blood the depot has
percent nouveau casino is prescribing brunswick bypass says It’s
morongo casino mike eppscasino milwaukee doctor-patient
jobs joomla modulecasino casino has using products.
avi casino nv address

Many of you have been asking me in emails lately: “What is the difference between Silverlight DRM and Smoooth DRM?” The answer is quite simple.

Silverlight DRM is a DRM schema based on PlayReady DRM that supports encryption of Windows Media Content for decryption and playback via the Silverlight Player. Content can be delivered from any HTTP or Windows Media Services source. This technology is available today from BuyDRM.

Smooth DRM is a DRM schema based on PlayReady DRM that supports encryption of Smooth Streaming Content for decryption and playback via the Silverlight Player. Content must be delivered using Microsoft’s IIS7 webserver which offers Smooth Streaming support. This technology will be available in the next 30 days from BuyDRM.

UPDATE 07.28.09: Irdeto’s Marketing Communications partner the Race Point Group, has been working to get a call going with myself and Alex Rassey. He is the Head of Group Marketing Worldwide at Irdeto and formerly the VP of Marketing at Entriq. Once we complete this call, I will update this post.

This just in from the folks at Irdeto. Basically confirming what we said before, this cryptic poorly penned note kind of portrays Entriq as a science experiment that ultimately folded for unknown reasons.

From the Irdeto Website:

Hello

Entriq is pleased to announce that the company has merged with our sister company Irdeto.

Entriq was started by some Irdeto employees back in 2000. For the past 9 years both companies have been growing rapidly in their respective digital media marketplaces. Irdeto was started in 1969 with a focus on Conditional Access Systems for Pay-TV. Entriq started as a pay-media company, and with its acquisition of Dayport last year added content management and distribution to target the packaging and distribution of digital media over the Internet.

As Entriq grew both organically and through acquisition, so did Irdeto. Its portfolio has been significantly enhanced over recent years through the acquisition of IDWay (middleware), and Cloakware allowing it to become a world class provider. With this breadth of capability Irdeto can enable content owners, service providers and device manufacturers to succeed by providing innovative and reliable software technologies that protect and monetize digital assets and maximize return on any content sent over any network, to any device.

As the digital entertainment marketplace continues to evolve, Irdeto has found that providing advanced media solutions over broadband is an increasingly essential capability for its customer base. Given this track record of success, it makes tremendous sense to bring Entriq’s portfolio back into Irdeto.

Entriq is now part of Irdeto under the portfolio capability of “Content Management”.

The Irdeto website has been updated with this new section and the customer support and media control login pages are now available directly via the Irdeto website. The Entriq Management Team remains as part of the Irdeto Management Team and the sales teams have been incorporated into the Irdeto regional teams.

The Entriq brand was decommissioned by the end of May 2009, and the website will be set to automatically refer visitors to www.irdeto.com.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact your sales representative or send an email to marketing@irdeto.com

Best Regards,
The Entriq (now Irdeto) Management Team

Update: 1530CST: The press release link is now live again on the Entriq site as well as the “News” Section. From my sources, it appears there was a small dustup over the release between Widevine and Synchrous, their reseller in Taiwan. I doubt we will ever hear what truly happened here.

Update: 1125CST: I just spoke with a very rude gentleman from ABI Research who told me that my request to speak with Zippy Aima regarding this announcement was denied because ABI “does not make their analysts available to anyone but customers.” Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. Calling Widevine now.

Today my inbox was awash with emails from associates and news monitoring sites about Widevine’s announcement that:

“WIDEVINE LICENSES DRM AND ADAPTIVE STREAMING FOR APPLE IPHONE TO SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATIONS”

along with this link: www.widevine.com/pr/174_sync_iphone.html

Within 20 minutes of this happening, the link went dead and all info about the release has been scrubbed from Widevine’s website. I am going to speculate that Apple’s lawyers came down hard on Widevine for making this announcement. I am not exactly sure why but given it’s abrupt removal from their site, I can only speculate they got a Cease and Desist from Apple’s lawyers or a nasty phone call.

The release is gone and any mention of it is now gone from the News section of the Widevine site as well:

http://widevine.com/news.html

For those of you that missed this “announcement” the full text of the release is here:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WIDEVINE LICENSES DRM AND ADAPTIVE STREAMING FOR APPLE IPHONE TO SYNCHRONOUS COMMUNICATIONS

Enables service providers to deliver video entertainment direct to iPhone subscribers

Seattle, WA and Taipei, Taiwan, June 29, 2009 — Widevine® today announced Synchronous Communications Co. has become a licensed reseller of Widevine DRM and Adaptive Streaming for the Apple® (NASDAQ APPL) iPhone. Synchronous Communications is a long standing provider of IPTV DRM technology to Chunghwa Telecom (NYSE: CHT), one of the largest IPTV service operators globally and the exclusive distributor of the iPhone in Taiwan.

“Widevine has solved the iPhone delivery challenge by giving service providers complete control over the consumer experience from delivery to playback,” said Brian Baker, Widevine CEO. “Service providers everywhere can now utilize Widevine to extend mobile services through their own branded video portal.”

The Widevine DRM solution also enables Synchronous Communications to apply a variety of business and usage models to entertainment services targeted for the iPhone. These include: mobile PVR downloads, purchases, rentals, subscription services and offline playback. Widevine’s Adaptive Streaming solution adjusts video quality on the iPhone to available bandwidth, ensuring the best possible video experience at all times.

“Widevine is the enabler we’ve been looking for to extend TV services to mobile entertainment platforms,” said William Liu, General Manager of Synchronous Communications. “Their innovation and leadership continues to help us remain ahead of competition with a solution that would keep Chunghwa Telecom subscribers satisfied in the living room and on the road.”

Synchronous Communications and Widevine jointly supply content protection and network infrastructure solutions that power Chunghwa Telecom’s TV entertainment services. Chunghwa Telecom is the leading TV entertainment and mobile provider in Taiwan.

“The iPhone’s rise to smartphone dominance has transformed the potential for true mobile entertainment,” said Zippy Aima, Sr. Analyst at ABI Research. “Widevine’s support for the iPhone and iPod Touch is a great example of how PayTV and internet video providers can continue to expand high quality entertainment to ultramobile platforms while improving consumer loyalty, regardless of where or when they connect.”

Widevine’s multiplatform DRM and Adaptive Streaming is available for service providers globally. For more information visit: www.widevine.com/iphone.

About Widevine
Widevine provides digital media solutions for the delivery of digital entertainment to any device. Hundreds of service providers use Widevine’s multiplatform, multiformat DRM and video optimization solutions for securing high quality video and audio. Today, millions of consumers enjoy digital entertainment secured and optimized by Widevine on retail consumer electronics devices and legacy STBs from all major consumer brands. With over 55 patents Widevine is an industry leader and innovator of content protection and video optimization technologies.

Widevine is a privately held corporation headquartered in Seattle, WA, funded by Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSCO), Charter Ventures, Constellation Ventures, Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd (DNP), PaceSetter Capital Group, Phoenix Partners, TELUS (NYSE: TU) and VantagePoint Venture Partners.

For more information: www.widevine.com.

Contact:
Matt Cannard
Widevine
+ 1 206 254 3124
mcannard@widevine.com

All Rights Reserved. Widevine, Widevine Cypher, Cypher Virtual SmartCard, Cypher VOD, Cypher DCP, Cypher Broadcast, Cypher Express and Widevine Mensor are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Widevine Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners. No express or implied warranties are provided for herein and all specifications are subject to change. The descriptions of Widevine Technologies’ patents and other intellectual property herein are not intended for use in a legal proceeding to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the patents or their claims, or indicate that a Widevine patent claim(s) are materially required to perform or implement any of the listed items.

We were contacted yesterday by someone “in the know” who provided us this update on the fate of Entriq:

“Christopher,

Entriq was folded into Irdeto and is now called Irdeto Digital Media Solutions. They have changed their position to focus on “Content Management” which you can see from the following link: http://www.irdeto.com/solutions/37-contentmanagement.html ”

Update 06.29.09

The Entriq product range is now rebranded to the Irdeto Content Management System (CMS) and remains the same superbly capable product:

- Supports Windows DRM

- Supports WM licences issued from a playready server

- Adobe DRM not supported, but of course flash is

So that pretty much sums it up. Entriq has been shutdown finally after an 8 year run and a rumored $140M in cash. So long and nice to know you Entriq.

All the best to Irdeto as they enter the Digital Media Marketplace.

Apparently, with or without DRM, the music industry is moving ahead. In light of the Universal/Virgin announcement yesterday, Nokia is apparently moving forward with their DRM-enabled “Comes With Music” offering. According to Digital Music News

It really is interesting how some of these news outlets are so fixated on DRM as if it were the driving reason behind the music industry’s woes. In one way it is because the labels enabled Apple to grow so large and so fast with iTunes that they didn’t have to license FairPlay DRM for the iPod. On the other hand it’s sad to continually see writers confused in their publications and confused about the real issues at hand.

Comes with Music has been rumored to be headed to the States later this year. More to come once we get an update from Nokia.

No suprise here. If you follow my posts around the web and at panels and in lists, you will see I have been saying for 2 years that DRM-free MP3s are a bust.

Why? IMHO because users associate MP3 with FREE. Furthermore, users don’t really care about DRM en masse. Yes some very technical writers and bloggers and the technorati slashdotters of the world don’t like DRM. I don’t like kimchi. What I do is avoid eating kimchi as a result. I think it’s clear that people that don’t like DRM can get DRM-free music anywhere they want however it’s hard to say how long these DRM-free offerings might remain viable.

Based on the LA Times Story titled: “Universal Music and Virgin Media, striking out with MP3s?” I would say that the answer is NOT LONG.

With Zune offering the ZunePass for $14.99 a month for content from all the majors… WITH DRM…. and Universal and Virgin indicating they might be headed towards an all you can eat model I suspect the wheels are about to come off the whole DRM-free MP3 thang. It always was just an experiment and just an excuse to try and sell content to the iPod.

14:59:00 and counting.