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ACCC clears Optus to scrap HFC network and use NBN instead
The ACCC has cleared, provisionally, the proposed deal between Optus and NBN Co under which Optus is to be paid around $800m to shut down its HFC network and transfer customers onto the NBN. read moreMicrosoft versus FairUse4WM test case for DRM
Stan Beer
Thursday, 28 September 2006 07:37
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After realizing that it can't implement a foolproof software-based digital rights management (DRM) system, Microsoft has lodged a lawsuit against the anonymous developers of FairUse4WM, a program which cracks Microsoft's PlaysForSure DRM.This lawsuit is a test case highlighting the rights of consumers versus the rights of IT software and hardware manufacturers.
Although some have likened the Microsoft versus FairUse4WM developer lawsuit to the successful action against the original Napster some years ago, the cases in fact bear no resemblance to each other.
Napster when it started was all about illegally sharing and distributing music without paying for it. Breaking DRM codes is about giving back to consumers fair use of the music they have paid for.
Many consumers quite justifiably believe that if they legally purchase a music or video recording that they should be free to play it on whatever device they choose. They take exception to companies like Apple and Microsoft attempting to create closed systems designed to lock music and video content consumers in to one particular hardware and software platform.
There is nothing fair about Apple's FairPlay or Microsoft's PlaysForSure DRM systems or the laws that back them. They force consumers into making a choice about which site to download from and what portable hardware they buy. Once they have downloaded their first track, the user is locked in to a particular platform and the more music they download, the more solid that lock becomes.
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