From: black.hole.4.spam{at}gmail.com (Don Hills)

In article , "Rich"  wrote:
>   If I ignore the bullshit here and reply in regard to what I saw
>claimed in one of the press articles about the Zune it won't please the
>folks looking for reasons to whine and complain.  I may as well.  The
>article I read described how a user can share a piece of music he
>purchased with others so that the others get limited trial version.  If
>this is the case they the issue is entirely a contractual issue with the
>music providers.

On the face of it, it's a good idea as far as it goes. I can see it being
attractive to the RIAA. But...

>   Sharing other files would be interesting but I suspect opens the door
>to claims of infringment unless some court has ruled that you are
>allowed to share whole works.  I have no memory of this.

It is not necessary for a court to allow it. It is the prerogative of the
copyright holder whether to allow copying of the work or not.

What it will come to is that the only way to enforce the control will be
for the copyright holder to provide the original copy of the work in a DRM
format with flags to indicate whether sharing is limited or unlimited. The
Zune can then respect those flags. Copyright holders who allow/encourage
unlimited copying usually use a format that is not DRM encumbered in the
first place to ensure reaching as wide a target audience as possible. If
the Zune unilaterally applies a copy restricting wrapper to that work as
part of the process of sharing it, it is violating the copyright.

--
Don Hills    (dmhills at attglobaldotnet)     Wellington, New Zealand
"New interface closely resembles Presentation Manager,
 preparing you for the wonders of OS/2!"
    -- Advertisement on the box for Microsoft Windows 2.11 for 286

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