Microsoft to Become Mobile DRM Standard?

An anonymous reader writes "It seems most of the media has missed the significance of Microsoft's recent partnership with DoCoMo to put Windows Media DRM on i-mode handsets. If all the i-mode players adopt Windows DRM, that gives Microsoft access to a significant chunk of the mobile market. Couple this with the more recent MTV Urge announcement and you've got Microsoft set to own the DRM space - at least on mobile devices - by stealth. Telecoms.com has a take on the situation, but also reveals that the GSM Association may be on the verge of recommending Windows mobile DRM to all its members. Puts the French copyright and DRM legislation in a whole new perspective - interoperability issues can be solved by removing the competition."

ACK!

[Spy der Mann]

Microsoft, DRM and Standard in the same sentence!

Dude, be careful with your words, I almost had a heart attack...

A _standard_ for DRM?!

[Bromskloss]

Heh, looks kinda funny to see "standard DRM". While standard is all about being open, fair and compatible with others, DRM makes me think more about hiding in the dark, afraid of the light, keeping ones dirty secrets and trying to suppress the breathing of others. Doesn't come together.

Nope. No MTV.

[Anonymous Coward]

MTV doesn't even play music. I don't expect them to sell music. MTV is a pointless marketing creation designed to push an image onto a line of mediocre products purchased willingly by an unsuspecting public with way too much money and zero common sense.

That's why I'm sticking with Apple.

rohypnol

[towsonu2003]

so this is how Microsoft flirts [slashdot.org] with open source :)

Apple's answer to DRM

[Douglas Simmons]

Of all the DRM tools I've encountered, the one that struck me as being most effective has got to be Apple's "Please don't steal music" sticker.

Re:Nope. No MTV.

[Anonymous Coward]

MTV is a pointless marketing creation designed to push an image onto a line of mediocre products purchased willingly by an unsuspecting public with way too much money and zero common sense.

That's why I'm sticking with Apple.

You know you can replace MTV with Apple in the first paragraph and it still makes sense...

Re:Nope. No MTV.

[MooUK]

Damnit, I spent my last mod point this morning. You need a funny.

Another great decision from post-Gates-era MS

[kahei]

Brilliant. By partnering with bloated, overprotected, "Hey, our shares cost 3 million yen each so the hoi polloi can't buy them" merchants DoCoMo, inventors of the phone-that-is-mostly-only-big-in-Japan, MS have gained a foothold in the crucial 'things that people actively want to not have' market.

Next up, a partnership with Freddy Krueger to gain a foothold in the 'things that shoot razor blades into your hand when you pick them up market'. Followed by a partnership with the earth's ferrous core (a major player in minerals circles) to get into the 'things that are thousands of miles below the earth's surface and vaporize human flesh on contact' market.

And of course, a strong position in the market for technologies that customers actually pay to avoid could also lead to other key advantages, such as losing money (investors are always suspicios of cash-heavy companies) and being widely ridiculed (a new, positive, clown-like image).

'DRM market space', yeesh. Make some forking products already. Where's my sub $100 tablet PC?