News Zune and Universal - deal with the devil?

http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2006/11/09/Microsoft_will_pay_Universal_for_Zunes/



Found it informative? Digg it!

 

This deal won't keep me from buying a Zune - it simply adds to the reasons I wouldn't: #1 being MS has enough monopolies already, #2 being backstabbing tactics like "Plays for Sure"

 

According to the NYT the fee paid to Universal is actually because "Each of these devices is used to store unpaid-for material..." - so really, they're assuming you are a criminal.

With that in mind, do i get a discount on my Zune if i don't plan to play pirated music?

Or maybe since i've already paid money to Universal; do I get to 'pirate' all of Universal's catalogue without fear?

What a complete joke

 

I'm sorry Mr. Brett Thomas, but I loved this line:

"In an effort to get a broader support base for its new Zune player and music store, Microsoft may have just landed itself a deal with the devil. I realize that many of you are probably scratching your heads wondering how the company shook its own hand, but let me explain better"

 

1. Beat you to it

2. I think this really shows how the recorl lables view their customers. They think we're ALL criminals, they think they have a god given right to make a profit, and they think that anything they do to bend the customer over in the name of profit is justified because everyone is a pirate. Well, guess what, treat people like criminals and they'll act like criminals. People will know that part of the reason their new player cost so much is because MS gave some of the money to the record labels (Probably only a buck or so per, but still) and so if they want to recieve the full value of their purchase they had better go out and download some music.

 

After going through the video's on the various zune sites; I will not being getting one. There are just too many things missing for me to pay that much. If it is wifi enabled, I want to be able to go by the coffee shop, and browse my home catalog of songs. 30 Gig of memory is not much these days in the land of the likes of napster services. 3by3 rule of DRM is a joke, especially if they already paid RIAA the royalty of service. If I sync my own created content and I want to distribute that to one of my listeners, they have to come back in three days or bust. Do I get a royalty out of the forced DRM?
How about the missing features like an auto sense if the player is held vertical or horizontal? Where are meta tags for pictures to remember alignment? Where is the sharing of playlists, not just individual songs. Why can you flag songs for later inspection but cannot flag a picture. Why can I share a song, but no video? For the price, I want to be able to browse the net, most phones can do that and you get one practically free with the service.

 

I was actually completely intending on buying a Zune, possibly right away, otherwise as soon as OGG support for it hit the streets. However, things like this make me lean toward just continuing repairing my Rio Karma rather than upgrading to "new market" tactics.

In other news, the Zune releases next week? They seem to have achieved the plan to keep this very much hush huss...whether that was intended or not. I'm sure if I said Zune to 99.9% of the population, I'd be looked at with extremely twisted faces.

 

Microsoft really messed it up for the entire digital music industry here...

CD's, DVD's and that sorta thing; i can understand the royalty's on this.
But paying for a media-device that originally holds music which you already
payed for (DRM, Urge, iTunes Store and such), is just insane. You'll be paying
a double royalty on music for Universal, while the device might not even be
used for ány content from Universal itself.

Besides all that, it gives Universal a bit foot between the doors.
Whichever digital music store wants to sell Universal's content, has to pay
a royalty. Even the reason that Universal gave is just bollocks.

Sorry Microsoft, but even if I wanted to buy a clunky device like the Zune,
you actually made me repel the whole thing by your actions with Universal
(also known as The Dog)

 

Not only that, but none of it will probably go to artists since it's unspecific what people will be assumed to pirate. Definitely not buying a Zune now.

 

This is an interesting idea... Why don't they just charge us more for internet connections and HDD's then we can download whatever movies/music we want and we have already paid for it? I can only see this leading to worse things where we are paying more for less

 

Um no, because some of us dont use the internet to pirate. Why assume everyone is a criminal?

 

It would be a bit more like TV... we just buy the box and then everything else is free and the music company still gets their share.

 

That's what some of us want, and hope for.

Anyway, not hugely sure I would have bought a Zune, but I'm definately also not now either.

These days it seems like I'm running a personal boycott of half the things I read about released here

 

bloody greedy b******s!!!!

zune will die soon, it is no match for the ipod.