This is why DRM is bad
I normally wouldn’t mention tech news (if you want to know what I’m reading, just look at my Google Reader feed), but I hate DRM enough to bring this up:
DRM sucks redux: Microsoft to nuke MSN Music DRM keys.
Customers who have purchased music from Microsoft’s now-defunct MSN Music store are now facing a decision they never anticipated making: commit to which computers (and OS) they want to authorize forever, or give up access to the music they paid for. Why? Because Microsoft has decided that it’s done supporting the service and will be turning off the MSN Music license servers by the end of this summer.
This is precisely why you shouldn’t be using DRM based services such as iTunes. If and when they go defunct, your whole music collection (that you paid good money for) is toast.
If you’re lucky, they’ll do what Microsoft is doing, and they’ll let you create a permanent license for the music. Even then, you are kind of screwed, because the license will probably be tied to a specific OS and computer, and we all know that no one keeps the same computer indefinitely. You’ll one day reach a point where the only thing that’ll play your music is the dusty junk in the basement that you stopped upgrading years ago.
Instead, buy DRM-free music from Amazon and never worry about it again.
