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Microsoft Brings Back DRM 414

Barence writes "Microsoft yesterday unveiled its MSN Mobile Music service — and a surprise return to digital rights management (DRM). While companies such as Apple and Amazon have finally moved to music download services free of copy protection, MSN Mobile locks tracks to the mobile handset they are downloaded to. It also charges more than the other services per track, and offers no way to transfer your tracks to your new phone when you upgrade. The company's Head of Mobile UK spoke to PC Pro about the launch, but his answers are almost as baffling as the service itself. Best quote: Q: 'If I buy these songs on your service — and they're locked to my phone — what happens when I upgrade my phone in six months' time?' A: 'Well, I think you know the answer to that.'"

Comment Standard Error (Score 1) 255

If you call the poll answers 0 for "not online" and 1 for "online", standard error can be calculated easily. First, standard deviation = square root of [mean of squares - square of mean]; both 0 and 1 are identities under squaring, so the mean of the squares is the same as the mean. So, stddev = sqrt(0.67 - 0.67^2) = 0.470. Standard error is calculated by dividing this by the square root of the number of samples; 0.470/sqrt(6403) = 0.00588.

That's an error of +-0.59% for both percentages, making the difference between 66% and 68% even less significant. The fact that only two digits of them are presented adds another +-0.5% error for both values, in a flat distribution. I don't know how to calculate the resultant significance, but it's pretty damned negligible.

If I've made an error, someone please correct me.

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