I experienced the dark force of WMP 11 very recently.
Much, much money spent on music legally downloaded
from various music sites, mostly MSN Music. On any
machine that you update to WMP 11- you can no longer
backup or restore your licenses for the .wma files you legally
downloaded and paid for. On two of my machines- I learned
a very hard lesson about trying to play music I *paid* for.
Something I never thought I would say- thank you lawd for
a hacker. This "hacker" wrote a program to strip the DRM
crap from "protected" files. Let's see- faced with having to
burn all my paid for .wma files to a CD and then ripping them
back to the computer I want them to play on, or using this fast
little program to rip that nonsense out of the files- hmm.... I
wonder which path I took. I'm talking, literally, over a 1,000
songs I paid for. There is one catch, a good one, to using
this program- you have to have at least one valid license that
matches the .wma file you are trying to rip the DRM protection from.

My advice- if you are using WinXP, stay away from
WMP 11. Don't look at it, don't download it- pretend
it doesn't exist. You do not need it. Vista users
don't have a choice. So, do not download any media
"protected" by DRM.

I'm sure there will be some shill that comes along and
says this is no big deal. Well, the erosion of usage rights
is a slow and methodical process. They, the media
companies and Microsoft, have been "testing the waters".
It is amazing what folks just sit back and take. I was sort
of like that before DRM ****ed me off. Fair use rights are
becoming a thing of the past. The ironic thing, these measures
do absolutely nothing to stop the real pirates. All it did was
**** off this customer who tried to do the "right" thing.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights

By Charlie Demerjian

THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan was to start with barely
tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player
11, and the rights get chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM
infected media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.
One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If you buy media with DRM
infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or at least you can't and have them play on
the new box. If you want the grand privilege of moving that content, you need to get the
approval of the content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you. If you
want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or following the advice of J Allard.
Wait, same thing.

So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a safe place. Buying DRM
infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise not to sue, but really nothing more. The
content mafia will do anything in its power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order
to protect those bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the user a
whole lot of protection.

Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes, WiMP11 will no longer allow
you the privilege of backing up your licenses, they are tied to a single device, and if you
lose it, you are really SOL. Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less
than a civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.

Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing part takes the cake.
"Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back up your media usage rights (previously
known as licenses)", Wow, new terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be
raped. "The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your rights or limit the
number of computers on which can use the songs or videos that you obtain from them. Some stores
do not permit you to restore media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get
bent, we got your cash.

But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your rights away too. If the 'Copy
protect music' option is turned on, well, I can't top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a
song you ripped from a CD with the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to
restore your usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to a Microsoft
Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited number of times." This says to me
it will keep track of your ripping externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it
to. Can you think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to play the songs
you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will be before a service pack,
masquerading as a 'critical security patch' takes away the optional part of the 'copy
protection'? Now do you understand why they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home?
Think their firewall will stop it even if you ask?

Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it guts Tivo capabilities.
After three days, it kills your recordings for you, how thoughtful of them. Going away for a
week? Tough, your rights are inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV
shows that are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content recorded on premium
channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is
installed on Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue
exists at this time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.

What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights that I can think of. MS
planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and this is the first big hammer to drop. Your
rights, the promises they made, and anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia
making yet more money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were dumb enough
to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you.

Mo

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e.aspx#1608319

Release Notes for Windows Media Player 11

Only problem is your argument is majorly one-sided, as if Microsoft are the
only ones doing it (*coughcoughApplecoughcough!*). Besides, obviously you
haven't done your research or you would've known that it's the music
companies that are pushing for DRM or they wouldn't allow their artist's
songs to be sold online.

So if you want to blame anyone, blame the music companies.

"MICHAEL" wrote in message
...
I experienced the dark force of WMP 11 very recently.
Much, much money spent on music legally downloaded
from various music sites, mostly MSN Music. On any
machine that you update to WMP 11- you can no longer
backup or restore your licenses for the .wma files you legally
downloaded and paid for. On two of my machines- I learned
a very hard lesson about trying to play music I *paid* for.
Something I never thought I would say- thank you lawd for
a hacker. This "hacker" wrote a program to strip the DRM
crap from "protected" files. Let's see- faced with having to
burn all my paid for .wma files to a CD and then ripping them
back to the computer I want them to play on, or using this fast
little program to rip that nonsense out of the files- hmm.... I
wonder which path I took. I'm talking, literally, over a 1,000
songs I paid for. There is one catch, a good one, to using
this program- you have to have at least one valid license that
matches the .wma file you are trying to rip the DRM protection from.

My advice- if you are using WinXP, stay away from
WMP 11. Don't look at it, don't download it- pretend
it doesn't exist. You do not need it. Vista users
don't have a choice. So, do not download any media
"protected" by DRM.

I'm sure there will be some shill that comes along and
says this is no big deal. Well, the erosion of usage rights
is a slow and methodical process. They, the media
companies and Microsoft, have been "testing the waters".
It is amazing what folks just sit back and take. I was sort
of like that before DRM ****ed me off. Fair use rights are
becoming a thing of the past. The ironic thing, these measures
do absolutely nothing to stop the real pirates. All it did was
**** off this customer who tried to do the "right" thing.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights

By Charlie Demerjian

THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan was to
start with barely tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the
thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player 11, and the rights get
chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM infected
media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.
One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If you buy
media with DRM infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or at
least you can't and have them play on the new box. If you want the grand
privilege of moving that content, you need to get the approval of the
content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you. If
you want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or following
the advice of J Allard. Wait, same thing.

So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a safe
place. Buying DRM infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise not to
sue, but really nothing more. The content mafia will do anything in its
power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order to protect those
bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the user
a whole lot of protection.

Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes, WiMP11
will no longer allow you the privilege of backing up your licenses, they
are tied to a single device, and if you lose it, you are really SOL.
Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less than a
civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.

Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing part
takes the cake. "Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back up
your media usage rights (previously known as licenses)", Wow, new
terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be raped.
"The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your
rights or limit the number of computers on which can use the songs or
videos that you obtain from them. Some stores do not permit you to restore
media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get bent, we
got your cash.

But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your rights
away too. If the 'Copy protect music' option is turned on, well, I can't
top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a song you ripped from a CD with
the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to restore your
usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to a
Microsoft Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited
number of times." This says to me it will keep track of your ripping
externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it to. Can you
think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to play
the songs you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will be
before a service pack, masquerading as a 'critical security patch' takes
away the optional part of the 'copy protection'? Now do you understand why
they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home? Think their
firewall will stop it even if you ask?

Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it guts
Tivo capabilities. After three days, it kills your recordings for you, how
thoughtful of them. Going away for a week? Tough, your rights are
inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV shows that
are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content recorded on
premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media
Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at this
time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.

What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights that I
can think of. MS planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and this
is the first big hammer to drop. Your rights, the promises they made, and
anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia making yet more
money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were dumb
enough to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you.

Mo

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e.aspx#1608319

Release Notes for Windows Media Player 11

I don't give two ****es about Apple- what Microsoft does
has an impact on 95% of those who use computers.

Of course, the entertainment companies push this
DRM crap hard. However, Microsoft is really the
company that developed and created this- it's their
OS. And, no one forced Microsoft to take the backup
and restore function out of WMP 11. That is my
biggest problem with the whole scheme.

I should have a right to make a backup and keep
it *locally*. With WMP 11, you don't have that right.
If something mucks up the licenses or your computer-
you are SOL. I should also have the right to play
any music I pay for on any computer that I own-
I'm not talking about those subscription service downloads-
I mean music I paid for outright. Playing that music
any place I want, should be as easy as taking a CD
with you and playing it anywhere you want.

I knew some shill would speak up, just didn't think
it would take only 7 minutes.


-Michael

"Test Man" wrote in message ...
Only problem is your argument is majorly one-sided, as if Microsoft are the
only ones doing it (*coughcoughApplecoughcough!*). Besides, obviously you
haven't done your research or you would've known that it's the music
companies that are pushing for DRM or they wouldn't allow their artist's
songs to be sold online.

So if you want to blame anyone, blame the music companies.

"MICHAEL" wrote in message
...
I experienced the dark force of WMP 11 very recently.
Much, much money spent on music legally downloaded
from various music sites, mostly MSN Music. On any
machine that you update to WMP 11- you can no longer
backup or restore your licenses for the .wma files you legally
downloaded and paid for. On two of my machines- I learned
a very hard lesson about trying to play music I *paid* for.
Something I never thought I would say- thank you lawd for
a hacker. This "hacker" wrote a program to strip the DRM
crap from "protected" files. Let's see- faced with having to
burn all my paid for .wma files to a CD and then ripping them
back to the computer I want them to play on, or using this fast
little program to rip that nonsense out of the files- hmm.... I
wonder which path I took. I'm talking, literally, over a 1,000
songs I paid for. There is one catch, a good one, to using
this program- you have to have at least one valid license that
matches the .wma file you are trying to rip the DRM protection from.

My advice- if you are using WinXP, stay away from
WMP 11. Don't look at it, don't download it- pretend
it doesn't exist. You do not need it. Vista users
don't have a choice. So, do not download any media
"protected" by DRM.

I'm sure there will be some shill that comes along and
says this is no big deal. Well, the erosion of usage rights
is a slow and methodical process. They, the media
companies and Microsoft, have been "testing the waters".
It is amazing what folks just sit back and take. I was sort
of like that before DRM ****ed me off. Fair use rights are
becoming a thing of the past. The ironic thing, these measures
do absolutely nothing to stop the real pirates. All it did was
**** off this customer who tried to do the "right" thing.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights

By Charlie Demerjian

THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan was to
start with barely tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the
thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player 11, and the rights get
chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM infected
media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.
One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If you buy
media with DRM infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or at
least you can't and have them play on the new box. If you want the grand
privilege of moving that content, you need to get the approval of the
content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you. If
you want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or following
the advice of J Allard. Wait, same thing.

So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a safe
place. Buying DRM infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise not to
sue, but really nothing more. The content mafia will do anything in its
power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order to protect those
bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the user
a whole lot of protection.

Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes, WiMP11
will no longer allow you the privilege of backing up your licenses, they
are tied to a single device, and if you lose it, you are really SOL.
Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less than a
civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.

Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing part
takes the cake. "Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back up
your media usage rights (previously known as licenses)", Wow, new
terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be raped.
"The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your
rights or limit the number of computers on which can use the songs or
videos that you obtain from them. Some stores do not permit you to restore
media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get bent, we
got your cash.

But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your rights
away too. If the 'Copy protect music' option is turned on, well, I can't
top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a song you ripped from a CD with
the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to restore your
usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to a
Microsoft Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited
number of times." This says to me it will keep track of your ripping
externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it to. Can you
think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to play
the songs you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will be
before a service pack, masquerading as a 'critical security patch' takes
away the optional part of the 'copy protection'? Now do you understand why
they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home? Think their
firewall will stop it even if you ask?

Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it guts
Tivo capabilities. After three days, it kills your recordings for you, how
thoughtful of them. Going away for a week? Tough, your rights are
inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV shows that
are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content recorded on
premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media
Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at this
time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.

What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights that I
can think of. MS planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and this
is the first big hammer to drop. Your rights, the promises they made, and
anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia making yet more
money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were dumb
enough to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you.

Mo

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e.aspx#1608319

Release Notes for Windows Media Player 11

ya i thought wmp11 was pretty good at first till it started
screwing around with my music files i had ripped from my
cd's so i didn't have to put the cd in to play it.
then it started dropping the artwork and not reading the directory.
pretty soo it was just easier to use my windvd7 and vlc player
instead.


"MICHAEL" wrote:

I don't give two ****es about Apple- what Microsoft does
has an impact on 95% of those who use computers.

Of course, the entertainment companies push this
DRM crap hard. However, Microsoft is really the
company that developed and created this- it's their
OS. And, no one forced Microsoft to take the backup
and restore function out of WMP 11. That is my
biggest problem with the whole scheme.

I should have a right to make a backup and keep
it *locally*. With WMP 11, you don't have that right.
If something mucks up the licenses or your computer-
you are SOL. I should also have the right to play
any music I pay for on any computer that I own-
I'm not talking about those subscription service downloads-
I mean music I paid for outright. Playing that music
any place I want, should be as easy as taking a CD
with you and playing it anywhere you want.

I knew some shill would speak up, just didn't think
it would take only 7 minutes.


-Michael

"Test Man" wrote in message ...
Only problem is your argument is majorly one-sided, as if Microsoft are the
only ones doing it (*coughcoughApplecoughcough!*). Besides, obviously you
haven't done your research or you would've known that it's the music
companies that are pushing for DRM or they wouldn't allow their artist's
songs to be sold online.

So if you want to blame anyone, blame the music companies.

"MICHAEL" wrote in message
...
I experienced the dark force of WMP 11 very recently.
Much, much money spent on music legally downloaded
from various music sites, mostly MSN Music. On any
machine that you update to WMP 11- you can no longer
backup or restore your licenses for the .wma files you legally
downloaded and paid for. On two of my machines- I learned
a very hard lesson about trying to play music I *paid* for.
Something I never thought I would say- thank you lawd for
a hacker. This "hacker" wrote a program to strip the DRM
crap from "protected" files. Let's see- faced with having to
burn all my paid for .wma files to a CD and then ripping them
back to the computer I want them to play on, or using this fast
little program to rip that nonsense out of the files- hmm.... I
wonder which path I took. I'm talking, literally, over a 1,000
songs I paid for. There is one catch, a good one, to using
this program- you have to have at least one valid license that
matches the .wma file you are trying to rip the DRM protection from.

My advice- if you are using WinXP, stay away from
WMP 11. Don't look at it, don't download it- pretend
it doesn't exist. You do not need it. Vista users
don't have a choice. So, do not download any media
"protected" by DRM.

I'm sure there will be some shill that comes along and
says this is no big deal. Well, the erosion of usage rights
is a slow and methodical process. They, the media
companies and Microsoft, have been "testing the waters".
It is amazing what folks just sit back and take. I was sort
of like that before DRM ****ed me off. Fair use rights are
becoming a thing of the past. The ironic thing, these measures
do absolutely nothing to stop the real pirates. All it did was
**** off this customer who tried to do the "right" thing.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights

By Charlie Demerjian

THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan was to
start with barely tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the
thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player 11, and the rights get
chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM infected
media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.
One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If you buy
media with DRM infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or at
least you can't and have them play on the new box. If you want the grand
privilege of moving that content, you need to get the approval of the
content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you. If
you want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or following
the advice of J Allard. Wait, same thing.

So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a safe
place. Buying DRM infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise not to
sue, but really nothing more. The content mafia will do anything in its
power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order to protect those
bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the user
a whole lot of protection.

Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes, WiMP11
will no longer allow you the privilege of backing up your licenses, they
are tied to a single device, and if you lose it, you are really SOL.
Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less than a
civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.

Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing part
takes the cake. "Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back up
your media usage rights (previously known as licenses)", Wow, new
terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be raped.
"The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your
rights or limit the number of computers on which can use the songs or
videos that you obtain from them. Some stores do not permit you to restore
media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get bent, we
got your cash.

But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your rights
away too. If the 'Copy protect music' option is turned on, well, I can't
top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a song you ripped from a CD with
the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to restore your
usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to a
Microsoft Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited
number of times." This says to me it will keep track of your ripping
externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it to. Can you
think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to play
the songs you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will be
before a service pack, masquerading as a 'critical security patch' takes
away the optional part of the 'copy protection'? Now do you understand why
they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home? Think their
firewall will stop it even if you ask?

Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it guts
Tivo capabilities. After three days, it kills your recordings for you, how
thoughtful of them. Going away for a week? Tough, your rights are
inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV shows that
are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content recorded on
premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media
Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at this
time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.

What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights that I
can think of. MS planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and this
is the first big hammer to drop. Your rights, the promises they made, and
anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia making yet more
money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were dumb
enough to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you.

Mo

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e.aspx#1608319

Release Notes for Windows Media Player 11

I always rip my own music to mp3 format and thank god that still all works
and any wma files I rip from cd's I always make sure their not protected
I have over 800 cd's at home all of which I legally purchased I always buy
the latest music
I never buy any mp3 songs or wma music files online I guess if I already own
the cd's why should I pay for it twice ? seeing I have the right to back
them up
I was at one stage thinking of buying online music but DRM has totally
turned me off that idea and I'm sure many more feel that way. And hopefully
force a rethink of this DRM crap

"MrCoffee" wrote in message
...
ya i thought wmp11 was pretty good at first till it started
screwing around with my music files i had ripped from my
cd's so i didn't have to put the cd in to play it.
then it started dropping the artwork and not reading the directory.
pretty soo it was just easier to use my windvd7 and vlc player
instead.


"MICHAEL" wrote:

I don't give two ****es about Apple- what Microsoft does
has an impact on 95% of those who use computers.

Of course, the entertainment companies push this
DRM crap hard. However, Microsoft is really the
company that developed and created this- it's their
OS. And, no one forced Microsoft to take the backup
and restore function out of WMP 11. That is my
biggest problem with the whole scheme.

I should have a right to make a backup and keep
it *locally*. With WMP 11, you don't have that right.
If something mucks up the licenses or your computer-
you are SOL. I should also have the right to play
any music I pay for on any computer that I own-
I'm not talking about those subscription service downloads-
I mean music I paid for outright. Playing that music
any place I want, should be as easy as taking a CD
with you and playing it anywhere you want.

I knew some shill would speak up, just didn't think
it would take only 7 minutes.


-Michael

"Test Man" wrote in message
...
Only problem is your argument is majorly one-sided, as if Microsoft are
the
only ones doing it (*coughcoughApplecoughcough!*). Besides, obviously
you
haven't done your research or you would've known that it's the music
companies that are pushing for DRM or they wouldn't allow their
artist's
songs to be sold online.

So if you want to blame anyone, blame the music companies.

"MICHAEL" wrote in message
...
I experienced the dark force of WMP 11 very recently.
Much, much money spent on music legally downloaded
from various music sites, mostly MSN Music. On any
machine that you update to WMP 11- you can no longer
backup or restore your licenses for the .wma files you legally
downloaded and paid for. On two of my machines- I learned
a very hard lesson about trying to play music I *paid* for.
Something I never thought I would say- thank you lawd for
a hacker. This "hacker" wrote a program to strip the DRM
crap from "protected" files. Let's see- faced with having to
burn all my paid for .wma files to a CD and then ripping them
back to the computer I want them to play on, or using this fast
little program to rip that nonsense out of the files- hmm.... I
wonder which path I took. I'm talking, literally, over a 1,000
songs I paid for. There is one catch, a good one, to using
this program- you have to have at least one valid license that
matches the .wma file you are trying to rip the DRM protection from.

My advice- if you are using WinXP, stay away from
WMP 11. Don't look at it, don't download it- pretend
it doesn't exist. You do not need it. Vista users
don't have a choice. So, do not download any media
"protected" by DRM.

I'm sure there will be some shill that comes along and
says this is no big deal. Well, the erosion of usage rights
is a slow and methodical process. They, the media
companies and Microsoft, have been "testing the waters".
It is amazing what folks just sit back and take. I was sort
of like that before DRM ****ed me off. Fair use rights are
becoming a thing of the past. The ironic thing, these measures
do absolutely nothing to stop the real pirates. All it did was
**** off this customer who tried to do the "right" thing.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights

By Charlie Demerjian

THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan was
to
start with barely tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the
thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player 11, and the rights get
chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM
infected
media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.
One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If you
buy
media with DRM infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or
at
least you can't and have them play on the new box. If you want the
grand
privilege of moving that content, you need to get the approval of the
content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you.
If
you want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or
following
the advice of J Allard. Wait, same thing.

So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a
safe
place. Buying DRM infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise
not to
sue, but really nothing more. The content mafia will do anything in
its
power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order to protect
those
bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the
user
a whole lot of protection.

Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes,
WiMP11
will no longer allow you the privilege of backing up your licenses,
they
are tied to a single device, and if you lose it, you are really SOL.
Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less than a
civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.

Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing
part
takes the cake. "Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back
up
your media usage rights (previously known as licenses)", Wow, new
terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be raped.
"The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your
rights or limit the number of computers on which can use the songs or
videos that you obtain from them. Some stores do not permit you to
restore
media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get
bent, we
got your cash.

But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your
rights
away too. If the 'Copy protect music' option is turned on, well, I
can't
top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a song you ripped from a CD
with
the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to restore
your
usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to a
Microsoft Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited
number of times." This says to me it will keep track of your ripping
externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it to. Can
you
think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to
play
the songs you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will
be
before a service pack, masquerading as a 'critical security patch'
takes
away the optional part of the 'copy protection'? Now do you understand
why
they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home? Think their
firewall will stop it even if you ask?

Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it
guts
Tivo capabilities. After three days, it kills your recordings for you,
how
thoughtful of them. Going away for a week? Tough, your rights are
inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV shows
that
are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content
recorded on
premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media
Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media
Center
Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at this
time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.

What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights
that I
can think of. MS planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and
this
is the first big hammer to drop. Your rights, the promises they made,
and
anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia making yet
more
money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were dumb
enough to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you.

Mo

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e.aspx#1608319

Release Notes for Windows Media Player 11

An additional note to my last post
"Fab decrypter" and "DVDshrink" work very well on RC1 so at least those who
backup their DVD's can still do so with RC1

"Will Schuitman" wrote in message
...
I always rip my own music to mp3 format and thank god that still all works
and any wma files I rip from cd's I always make sure their not protected
I have over 800 cd's at home all of which I legally purchased I always buy
the latest music
I never buy any mp3 songs or wma music files online I guess if I already
own the cd's why should I pay for it twice ? seeing I have the right to
back them up
I was at one stage thinking of buying online music but DRM has totally
turned me off that idea and I'm sure many more feel that way. And
hopefully force a rethink of this DRM crap

"MrCoffee" wrote in message
...
ya i thought wmp11 was pretty good at first till it started
screwing around with my music files i had ripped from my
cd's so i didn't have to put the cd in to play it.
then it started dropping the artwork and not reading the directory.
pretty soo it was just easier to use my windvd7 and vlc player
instead.


"MICHAEL" wrote:

I don't give two ****es about Apple- what Microsoft does
has an impact on 95% of those who use computers.

Of course, the entertainment companies push this
DRM crap hard. However, Microsoft is really the
company that developed and created this- it's their
OS. And, no one forced Microsoft to take the backup
and restore function out of WMP 11. That is my
biggest problem with the whole scheme.

I should have a right to make a backup and keep
it *locally*. With WMP 11, you don't have that right.
If something mucks up the licenses or your computer-
you are SOL. I should also have the right to play
any music I pay for on any computer that I own-
I'm not talking about those subscription service downloads-
I mean music I paid for outright. Playing that music
any place I want, should be as easy as taking a CD
with you and playing it anywhere you want.

I knew some shill would speak up, just didn't think
it would take only 7 minutes.


-Michael

"Test Man" wrote in message
...
Only problem is your argument is majorly one-sided, as if Microsoft
are the
only ones doing it (*coughcoughApplecoughcough!*). Besides, obviously
you
haven't done your research or you would've known that it's the music
companies that are pushing for DRM or they wouldn't allow their
artist's
songs to be sold online.

So if you want to blame anyone, blame the music companies.

"MICHAEL" wrote in message
...
I experienced the dark force of WMP 11 very recently.
Much, much money spent on music legally downloaded
from various music sites, mostly MSN Music. On any
machine that you update to WMP 11- you can no longer
backup or restore your licenses for the .wma files you legally
downloaded and paid for. On two of my machines- I learned
a very hard lesson about trying to play music I *paid* for.
Something I never thought I would say- thank you lawd for
a hacker. This "hacker" wrote a program to strip the DRM
crap from "protected" files. Let's see- faced with having to
burn all my paid for .wma files to a CD and then ripping them
back to the computer I want them to play on, or using this fast
little program to rip that nonsense out of the files- hmm.... I
wonder which path I took. I'm talking, literally, over a 1,000
songs I paid for. There is one catch, a good one, to using
this program- you have to have at least one valid license that
matches the .wma file you are trying to rip the DRM protection from.

My advice- if you are using WinXP, stay away from
WMP 11. Don't look at it, don't download it- pretend
it doesn't exist. You do not need it. Vista users
don't have a choice. So, do not download any media
"protected" by DRM.

I'm sure there will be some shill that comes along and
says this is no big deal. Well, the erosion of usage rights
is a slow and methodical process. They, the media
companies and Microsoft, have been "testing the waters".
It is amazing what folks just sit back and take. I was sort
of like that before DRM ****ed me off. Fair use rights are
becoming a thing of the past. The ironic thing, these measures
do absolutely nothing to stop the real pirates. All it did was
**** off this customer who tried to do the "right" thing.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights

By Charlie Demerjian

THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan
was to
start with barely tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the
thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player 11, and the rights get
chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM
infected
media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.
One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If
you buy
media with DRM infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or
at
least you can't and have them play on the new box. If you want the
grand
privilege of moving that content, you need to get the approval of the
content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you.
If
you want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or
following
the advice of J Allard. Wait, same thing.

So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a
safe
place. Buying DRM infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise
not to
sue, but really nothing more. The content mafia will do anything in
its
power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order to protect
those
bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the
user
a whole lot of protection.

Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes,
WiMP11
will no longer allow you the privilege of backing up your licenses,
they
are tied to a single device, and if you lose it, you are really SOL.
Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less than
a
civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.

Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing
part
takes the cake. "Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back
up
your media usage rights (previously known as licenses)", Wow, new
terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be
raped.
"The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your
rights or limit the number of computers on which can use the songs or
videos that you obtain from them. Some stores do not permit you to
restore
media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get
bent, we
got your cash.

But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your
rights
away too. If the 'Copy protect music' option is turned on, well, I
can't
top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a song you ripped from a CD
with
the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to restore
your
usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to
a
Microsoft Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited
number of times." This says to me it will keep track of your ripping
externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it to. Can
you
think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to
play
the songs you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will
be
before a service pack, masquerading as a 'critical security patch'
takes
away the optional part of the 'copy protection'? Now do you
understand why
they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home? Think their
firewall will stop it even if you ask?

Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it
guts
Tivo capabilities. After three days, it kills your recordings for
you, how
thoughtful of them. Going away for a week? Tough, your rights are
inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV shows
that
are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content
recorded on
premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media
Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media
Center
Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at
this
time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.

What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights
that I
can think of. MS planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and
this
is the first big hammer to drop. Your rights, the promises they made,
and
anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia making yet
more
money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were
dumb
enough to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you.

Mo

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e.aspx#1608319

Release Notes for Windows Media Player 11

I agree completely. If DRM actually did ANYTHING to deter piracy then maybe
it would be justified. Fact is, it does nothing at all to deter pirates.

It is the recording companies that are pushing for this, but honestly, I
don't think that MS is doing much of anything to resist.

"MICHAEL" wrote:

I experienced the dark force of WMP 11 very recently.
Much, much money spent on music legally downloaded
from various music sites, mostly MSN Music. On any
machine that you update to WMP 11- you can no longer
backup or restore your licenses for the .wma files you legally
downloaded and paid for. On two of my machines- I learned
a very hard lesson about trying to play music I *paid* for.
Something I never thought I would say- thank you lawd for
a hacker. This "hacker" wrote a program to strip the DRM
crap from "protected" files. Let's see- faced with having to
burn all my paid for .wma files to a CD and then ripping them
back to the computer I want them to play on, or using this fast
little program to rip that nonsense out of the files- hmm.... I
wonder which path I took. I'm talking, literally, over a 1,000
songs I paid for. There is one catch, a good one, to using
this program- you have to have at least one valid license that
matches the .wma file you are trying to rip the DRM protection from.

My advice- if you are using WinXP, stay away from
WMP 11. Don't look at it, don't download it- pretend
it doesn't exist. You do not need it. Vista users
don't have a choice. So, do not download any media
"protected" by DRM.

I'm sure there will be some shill that comes along and
says this is no big deal. Well, the erosion of usage rights
is a slow and methodical process. They, the media
companies and Microsoft, have been "testing the waters".
It is amazing what folks just sit back and take. I was sort
of like that before DRM ****ed me off. Fair use rights are
becoming a thing of the past. The ironic thing, these measures
do absolutely nothing to stop the real pirates. All it did was
**** off this customer who tried to do the "right" thing.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights

By Charlie Demerjian

THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan was to start with barely
tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player
11, and the rights get chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM
infected media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.
One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If you buy media with DRM
infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or at least you can't and have them play on
the new box. If you want the grand privilege of moving that content, you need to get the
approval of the content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you. If you
want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or following the advice of J Allard.
Wait, same thing.

So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a safe place. Buying DRM
infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise not to sue, but really nothing more. The
content mafia will do anything in its power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order
to protect those bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the user a
whole lot of protection.

Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes, WiMP11 will no longer allow
you the privilege of backing up your licenses, they are tied to a single device, and if you
lose it, you are really SOL. Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less
than a civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.

Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing part takes the cake.
"Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back up your media usage rights (previously
known as licenses)", Wow, new terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be
raped. "The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your rights or limit the
number of computers on which can use the songs or videos that you obtain from them. Some stores
do not permit you to restore media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get
bent, we got your cash.

But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your rights away too. If the 'Copy
protect music' option is turned on, well, I can't top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a
song you ripped from a CD with the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to
restore your usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to a Microsoft
Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited number of times." This says to me
it will keep track of your ripping externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it
to. Can you think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to play the songs
you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will be before a service pack,
masquerading as a 'critical security patch' takes away the optional part of the 'copy
protection'? Now do you understand why they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home?
Think their firewall will stop it even if you ask?

Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it guts Tivo capabilities.
After three days, it kills your recordings for you, how thoughtful of them. Going away for a
week? Tough, your rights are inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV
shows that are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content recorded on premium
channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is
installed on Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue
exists at this time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.

What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights that I can think of. MS
planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and this is the first big hammer to drop. Your
rights, the promises they made, and anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia
making yet more money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were dumb enough
to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you.

Mo

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e.aspx#1608319

Release Notes for Windows Media Player 11

I happen to have some unprotected MP3 files I copied to a CD-R. On XP Pro and
MP 11 I had no problem playing them. On a clean install of Vista RC1 with
MP11 I get Red Circle with X on it on every file on the CD. WTF? These are
unprotected MP3 files I copied from a game disc that are in the public
domain, no less. WTF?

MS doesn't give any helpful message how to resolve the issue, either. It's
like their Genuine Advantage. It did break on my machine. MS did take
ownership of the problem, in their credit. Before it could be resolved,
though, I had done a hard drive wipe, reformat and clean reinstall. I have no
issues now. Except WM 11 won't play MP3 files on Vista that played just fine
with WM 11 on XP Pro.

"Will Schuitman" wrote:

An additional note to my last post
"Fab decrypter" and "DVDshrink" work very well on RC1 so at least those who
backup their DVD's can still do so with RC1

"Will Schuitman" wrote in message
...
I always rip my own music to mp3 format and thank god that still all works
and any wma files I rip from cd's I always make sure their not protected
I have over 800 cd's at home all of which I legally purchased I always buy
the latest music
I never buy any mp3 songs or wma music files online I guess if I already
own the cd's why should I pay for it twice ? seeing I have the right to
back them up
I was at one stage thinking of buying online music but DRM has totally
turned me off that idea and I'm sure many more feel that way. And
hopefully force a rethink of this DRM crap

"MrCoffee" wrote in message
...
ya i thought wmp11 was pretty good at first till it started
screwing around with my music files i had ripped from my
cd's so i didn't have to put the cd in to play it.
then it started dropping the artwork and not reading the directory.
pretty soo it was just easier to use my windvd7 and vlc player
instead.


"MICHAEL" wrote:

I don't give two ****es about Apple- what Microsoft does
has an impact on 95% of those who use computers.

Of course, the entertainment companies push this
DRM crap hard. However, Microsoft is really the
company that developed and created this- it's their
OS. And, no one forced Microsoft to take the backup
and restore function out of WMP 11. That is my
biggest problem with the whole scheme.

I should have a right to make a backup and keep
it *locally*. With WMP 11, you don't have that right.
If something mucks up the licenses or your computer-
you are SOL. I should also have the right to play
any music I pay for on any computer that I own-
I'm not talking about those subscription service downloads-
I mean music I paid for outright. Playing that music
any place I want, should be as easy as taking a CD
with you and playing it anywhere you want.

I knew some shill would speak up, just didn't think
it would take only 7 minutes.


-Michael

"Test Man" wrote in message
...
Only problem is your argument is majorly one-sided, as if Microsoft
are the
only ones doing it (*coughcoughApplecoughcough!*). Besides, obviously
you
haven't done your research or you would've known that it's the music
companies that are pushing for DRM or they wouldn't allow their
artist's
songs to be sold online.

So if you want to blame anyone, blame the music companies.

"MICHAEL" wrote in message
...
I experienced the dark force of WMP 11 very recently.
Much, much money spent on music legally downloaded
from various music sites, mostly MSN Music. On any
machine that you update to WMP 11- you can no longer
backup or restore your licenses for the .wma files you legally
downloaded and paid for. On two of my machines- I learned
a very hard lesson about trying to play music I *paid* for.
Something I never thought I would say- thank you lawd for
a hacker. This "hacker" wrote a program to strip the DRM
crap from "protected" files. Let's see- faced with having to
burn all my paid for .wma files to a CD and then ripping them
back to the computer I want them to play on, or using this fast
little program to rip that nonsense out of the files- hmm.... I
wonder which path I took. I'm talking, literally, over a 1,000
songs I paid for. There is one catch, a good one, to using
this program- you have to have at least one valid license that
matches the .wma file you are trying to rip the DRM protection from.

My advice- if you are using WinXP, stay away from
WMP 11. Don't look at it, don't download it- pretend
it doesn't exist. You do not need it. Vista users
don't have a choice. So, do not download any media
"protected" by DRM.

I'm sure there will be some shill that comes along and
says this is no big deal. Well, the erosion of usage rights
is a slow and methodical process. They, the media
companies and Microsoft, have been "testing the waters".
It is amazing what folks just sit back and take. I was sort
of like that before DRM ****ed me off. Fair use rights are
becoming a thing of the past. The ironic thing, these measures
do absolutely nothing to stop the real pirates. All it did was
**** off this customer who tried to do the "right" thing.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights

By Charlie Demerjian

THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan
was to
start with barely tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the
thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player 11, and the rights get
chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM
infected
media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.
One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If
you buy
media with DRM infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or
at
least you can't and have them play on the new box. If you want the
grand
privilege of moving that content, you need to get the approval of the
content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you.
If
you want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or
following
the advice of J Allard. Wait, same thing.

So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a
safe
place. Buying DRM infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise
not to
sue, but really nothing more. The content mafia will do anything in
its
power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order to protect
those
bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the
user
a whole lot of protection.

Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes,
WiMP11
will no longer allow you the privilege of backing up your licenses,
they
are tied to a single device, and if you lose it, you are really SOL.
Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less than
a
civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.

Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing
part
takes the cake. "Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back
up
your media usage rights (previously known as licenses)", Wow, new
terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be
raped.
"The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your
rights or limit the number of computers on which can use the songs or
videos that you obtain from them. Some stores do not permit you to
restore
media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get
bent, we
got your cash.

But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your
rights
away too. If the 'Copy protect music' option is turned on, well, I
can't
top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a song you ripped from a CD
with
the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to restore
your
usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to
a
Microsoft Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited
number of times." This says to me it will keep track of your ripping
externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it to. Can
you
think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to
play
the songs you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will
be
before a service pack, masquerading as a 'critical security patch'
takes
away the optional part of the 'copy protection'? Now do you
understand why
they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home? Think their
firewall will stop it even if you ask?

Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it
guts
Tivo capabilities. After three days, it kills your recordings for
you, how
thoughtful of them. Going away for a week? Tough, your rights are
inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV shows
that
are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content
recorded on
premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media
Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media
Center
Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at
this
time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.

What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights
that I
can think of. MS planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and
this
is the first big hammer to drop. Your rights, the promises they made,
and
anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia making yet
more
money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were
dumb
enough to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you.

Mo

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e.aspx#1608319

Release Notes for Windows Media Player 11

DRM = Draining Rights Management ;-)

--
Jane, not plain 64 bit enabled
Batteries not included. Braincell on vacation :-)
"MICHAEL" wrote in message
...
I experienced the dark force of WMP 11 very recently.
Much, much money spent on music legally downloaded
from various music sites, mostly MSN Music. On any
machine that you update to WMP 11- you can no longer
backup or restore your licenses for the .wma files you legally
downloaded and paid for. On two of my machines- I learned
a very hard lesson about trying to play music I *paid* for.
Something I never thought I would say- thank you lawd for
a hacker. This "hacker" wrote a program to strip the DRM
crap from "protected" files. Let's see- faced with having to
burn all my paid for .wma files to a CD and then ripping them
back to the computer I want them to play on, or using this fast
little program to rip that nonsense out of the files- hmm.... I
wonder which path I took. I'm talking, literally, over a 1,000
songs I paid for. There is one catch, a good one, to using
this program- you have to have at least one valid license that
matches the .wma file you are trying to rip the DRM protection from.

My advice- if you are using WinXP, stay away from
WMP 11. Don't look at it, don't download it- pretend
it doesn't exist. You do not need it. Vista users
don't have a choice. So, do not download any media
"protected" by DRM.

I'm sure there will be some shill that comes along and
says this is no big deal. Well, the erosion of usage rights
is a slow and methodical process. They, the media
companies and Microsoft, have been "testing the waters".
It is amazing what folks just sit back and take. I was sort
of like that before DRM ****ed me off. Fair use rights are
becoming a thing of the past. The ironic thing, these measures
do absolutely nothing to stop the real pirates. All it did was
**** off this customer who tried to do the "right" thing.

------------------------------------------------------------------
Microsoft Media Player shreds your rights

By Charlie Demerjian

THINK DRM WAS bad already? Think I was joking when I said the plan was to
start with barely tolerable incursions on your rights, then turn the
thumbscrews? Welcome to Windows Media Player 11, and the rights get
chipped away a lot more. Get used to the feeling, if you buy DRM infected
media, you will only have this happen with increasing rapidity.
One of the problems with WiMP11 is licensing and backing it up. If you buy
media with DRM infections, you can't move the files from PC to PC, or at
least you can't and have them play on the new box. If you want the grand
privilege of moving that content, you need to get the approval of the
content mafia, sign your life away, and use the tools they give you. If
you want to do it in other ways, you are either a lawbreaker or following
the advice of J Allard. Wait, same thing.

So, in WiMP10, you just backed up your licenses, and stored them in a safe
place. Buying DRM infections gets you a bunch of bits and a promise not to
sue, but really nothing more. The content mafia will do anything in its
power, from buying government to rootkitting you in order to protect those
bits, and backing them up leaves a minor loophole while affording the user
a whole lot of protection.

Guess which one wins, minor loophole or major consumer rights? Yes, WiMP11
will no longer allow you the privilege of backing up your licenses, they
are tied to a single device, and if you lose it, you are really SOL.
Remember that feeling I mentioned earlier? This is nothing less than a
civil rights coup, and most people are dumb enough to let it happen.

Read the links, the entire page is scary as hell, but the licensing part
takes the cake. "Windows Media Player 11 does not permit you to back up
your media usage rights (previously known as licenses)", Wow, new
terminology, old idea, you are a wallet with legs waiting to be raped.
"The store might limit the number of times that you can restore your
rights or limit the number of computers on which can use the songs or
videos that you obtain from them. Some stores do not permit you to restore
media usage rights at all." Translation, not our problem, and get bent, we
got your cash.

But it gets worse. If you rip your own CDs, WiMP11 will take your rights
away too. If the 'Copy protect music' option is turned on, well, I can't
top their 1984 wording. "If the file is a song you ripped from a CD with
the Copy protect music option turned on, you might be able to restore your
usage rights by playing the file. You will be prompted to connect to a
Microsoft Web page that explains how to restore your rights a limited
number of times." This says to me it will keep track of your ripping
externally, and remove your rights whether or not you ask it to. Can you
think of a reason you would need to connect to MS for permission to play
the songs you ripped from you own CDs? How long do you think it will be
before a service pack, masquerading as a 'critical security patch' takes
away the optional part of the 'copy protection'? Now do you understand why
they have been testing the waters on WiMP phoning home? Think their
firewall will stop it even if you ask?

Then when you go down on the page a bit, it goes on to show that it guts
Tivo capabilities. After three days, it kills your recordings for you, how
thoughtful of them. Going away for a week? Tough, your rights are
inconvenient to their profits, so they have to go. "Recorded TV shows that
are protected with media usage rights, such as some TV content recorded on
premium channels, will not play back after 3 days when Windows Media
Player 11 Beta 2 for Windows XP is installed on Windows XP Media Center
Edition 2005. No known workaround to resolve this issue exists at this
time." Workaround my *ss, this is wholesale rights removal by design.

What WiMP11 represents is one of the biggest thefts of your rights that I
can think of. MS planned this, pushed the various pieces slowly, and this
is the first big hammer to drop. Your rights, the promises they made, and
anything else that gets in the way of the content mafia making yet more
money gets thrown out. Why? Greed. Your rights? History. You were dumb
enough to let it happen, don't say I didn't warn you.

Mo

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win...e.aspx#1608319

Release Notes for Windows Media Player 11