WinInfo Daily UPDATE, April 2, 2007: EMI Drops DRM, iTunes First to Sign On

EMI Drops DRM, iTunes First to Sign On
Microsoft to Issue Early Patch for Zero-Day Exploit

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==== IN THE NEWS

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EMI Drops DRM, iTunes First to Sign On
Microsoft to Issue Early Patch for Zero-Day Exploit


by Paul Thurrott, thurrott@windowsitpro.com

EMI Drops DRM, iTunes First to Sign On
EMI Music has announced that it will release its entire catalog without digital rights management (DRM) restrictions, the first of the four largest music companies to do so. In addition, EMI announced that Apple's iTunes would be the first online music service to sell these unrestricted files starting in May.

EMI's move is dramatic. Currently, almost all commercial digital content sold online is constrained by DRM technologies, many of which are quite onerous and difficult to work around. Under the new plan, EMI will continue to sell DRM-restricted content itself and via various online services. But for those customers that are interested in DRM-free offerings, EMI will offer a logical and desirable alternative.

EMI announced that Apple will be the first EMI partner to sell both the old DRM-restricted songs and the newer, DRM-free songs side-by-side. Apple CEO Steve Jobs said Monday that the DRM-free versions of individual songs on iTunes will offer twice the quality of the DRM-restricted versions, meaning that they will be encoded using the 256 Kbps Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format, compared with 128 Kbps for the original versions. (In a bit of showmanship, Jobs claimed that the 128 Kbps files already offered "the best audio quality" offered by any mainstream digital music service, which is demonstrably untrue: All Windows Media-based online services already offer dramatically higher quality music files than does Apple.) The new songs will cost $1.29 in the United States, compared with 99 cents for the restricted versions.

In a nice nod toward users, Apple will also allow its customers to upgrade any existing EMI song purchases to the new unrestricted format for 30 cents per song. This process can be automated so that, as songs become available in the new format over time, their users' libraries will automatically be updated. Apple will continue to offer both the 99 cent and $1.29 versions of songs, side-by-side, so that users can choose the format they want. A setting in the iTunes software will establish the default format users desire.

As for albums, at least for now, Apple will offer DRM-restricted and DRM-free versions of albums for the same price (typically $9.99). The new songs and albums will go on sale, worldwide, in May, Apple says.

One key piece missing from the deal is the long-awaited catalog from musical legends "The Beatles." Rumors have been circulating for months that The Beatles' catalog would be placed on iTunes and other online music services, and the recent settlement between Apple and Apple Corps. (which represents The Beatles and controls their catalog) would lead to that release. Apple is also rumored to be developing a special Beatles-themed "Yellow Submarine" iPod that would be sold with the entire Beatles catalog pre-loaded. With today's announcement, there was no news about The Beatles per se, though EMI CEO Eric Nicoli said the company is working on getting that catalog online.

Microsoft to Issue Early Patch for Zero-Day Exploit
Microsoft announced today that it would deliver an out-of-band (OOB) security update for the recently disclosed Windows animated mouse cursor flaw, which has resulted in a so-called "zero-day" exploit. That is, the software giant will deliver a patch for this flaw in advance of its regularly scheduled monthly security patch schedule.

Microsoft says it will ship the patch tomorrow, Tuesday, April 3, 2007, one week before its regularly scheduled patch day release. The flaw, which involves a part of the Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE) rendering engine, has already led to widespread dissemination of exploit code online, which required Microsoft to move more quickly on the patch.

The flaw affects only users running various versions of Windows, though you can protect yourself by using a non-IE browser such as Mozilla Firefox. Microsoft's patch will be made available via Windows Update, Automatic Updates, and direct download from Microsoft.com.

Editor's Note:
Voting Has Opened in the Windows IT Pro 2007 Community Choice Awards!
Vote for your favorite products from the Buyer's Guides we published in Windows IT Pro over the past 12 months. The first three categories--Host-Based Intrusion Systems, KVM over IP Switches, and Ultra-Portable Laptops--are now open for voting on the Windows IT Pro forums. We'll open three new categories each week for the next three weeks, and voting will remain open for three weeks per category. To see the list of products in each category and place your vote, follow these links:
Host-Based Intrusion Prevention Systems (http://forums.windowsitpro.com/web/forum/messageview.aspx?catid=42&threadid=84647 )

KVM over IP Switches (http://forums.windowsitpro.com/web/forum/messageview.aspx?catid=47&threadid=84644 )

Ultra-Portable Laptops (http://forums.windowsitpro.com/web/forum/messageview.aspx?catid=47&threadid=84643 ).

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