Microsoft PlaysForSure Will Only Play For Now

- Image: Secret Diary of Steve Jobs

Recently, Microsoft sent an email to customers of MSN Music, the service it offered before the emergence of the Zune Marketplace. The MSN Music files used Microsoft's "PlaysForSure" DRM, which requires that purchased music files "phone home" to Microsoft DRM servers to ensure that you aren't a naughty pirate before they can be played. The email states that: "As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers. You will need to obtain a license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008. If you attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August 31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play."

In other words, Microsoft is busy with the Zune and their new Live Mesh service, far too busy to continue running the PlaysForSure DRM servers. Better hurry and buy that new computer now and authorize your music, and then be prepared to use that computer for the rest of your life. The alternative of course is to burn all your protected music to CDs and then re-rip everything, which would only cause "minor" fidelity loss. Whoever said DRM only hurts paying customers?