AfterDawn: News

Sony Walkman users will have access to HMV download store

Sony has announced it has made five partnerships with music download services across Europe including HMV in the UK, FNAC Music in France, Musicload in Germany, Terra Pixbox in Spain and Planet Music in the Netherlands.

The partnerships will mean Walkman MP3 player users will be offered 3 months' free trials for "unlimited" music subscriptions from those services.



“These exclusive partnerships confirm Sony’s commitment to supporting an open standard with Windows Media Technology”, said Jeffry van Ede, Vice President Sony Audio Marketing Europe.

The announcement continues the strategy Sony has been following for months now in which the company is moving towards support of an open platform and include Windows Media Technology on its MP3 players.

Source:
pocketlint

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Dec 2007 18:37

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• 3 comments

• nobrainer

  Originally posted by fta: the company is moving towards support of an open platform and include Windows Media Technology on its MP3 players. only until they have dominance in the market then its hello to drm lockdown time!
  
  thankfully ipdos have sold in excess of 20 million and sony's (RIAA/MPAA) death grasp will never reach the portable market from the hardware side just yet.
  
  http://www.boingboing.net/2007/12/17/how-sony-bmg-lost-it.html
  
  Originally posted by fta link above: Aaron Perzanowski and Deirdre Mulligan have just posted a wonderful pre-publication paper called "The Magnificence of the Disaster: Reconstructing the Sony BMG Rootkit Incident," which will shortly be published in the Berkeley Technology Law Journal. Exhaustively researched and footnoted -- but written in clear, non-lawyerese prose --
  
  The Magnificence of the Disaster comprehensively analyses the madness that led Sony-BMG to install dangerous, illegal rootkit anti-copying software as well as spyware (produced by a company founded to supply Elvis impersonators, no less!) on millions of its CDs, leading the company to enormous financial and legal penalties.if that wasn't bad enough sony and pals then went and put HDCP DRM in all hdmi connections instantly making fortunes from the sale of new tv's because if you set is not hobbled by DRM enough you get no picture so all your pc screens and early plasma/lcd screens are instantly broken and rendered obsolete even though they have enough pixels to support HD material.
  
  Now the MPAA (sony and goons) want to lock out USB.
  
  http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/17/forge...-for-that-hdtv/
  
  Originally posted by fta link: A spokesman for the organization said that developers "could layer HDMI's HDCP encryption on top." So it's not definite. But with the studios fighting hard to "protect" their content, well, it's a given that some form of DRM will be there
  
  great links from the EFF read and be informed what sony and buddies are upto!
  
  HDCP, Screwing Fans in More Ways Than Ever
  
  American Studios' Secret Plan to Lock Down European TV Devices
  

  Tor: anonymity online HIDE your IP from the spies, post and browse anonymously! http://www.torproject.org/
  
  
  THE RIAA SOUNDEXCHANGE ARE: SONY, UNIVERSAL , WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  THE MPAA ARE: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  17.12.2007 04:40 #1

• borhan9

  I like this. The open phase of this new thing is a great move no DRM is the way to go.

  24.12.2007 18:27 #2

• nobrainer

  Originally posted by borhan9: I like this. The open phase of this new thing is a great move no DRM is the way to go.you think sony will ever drop DRM, you are living in cartoon land if you think that will ever be a reality the only reason they want to make this big news is because of their failed propertarian format ATRAC and they are finally opening up their devices to other forms of DRM due to flagging sales.
  
  Quote:The partnerships will mean Walkman MP3 player users will be offered 3 months' free trials for "unlimited" music subscriptions from those services. no DRM but a 3 month trial, ok lmfao i suppose the "FREE TRIAL" is bundled with the price of the player. And the files expire after 3 months wow i guess that means DRM, not from sony surely!
  
  would you ever consider purchasing hardware from a company that believes ripping content you own to your portable, as you know when there is sufficient user base the DRM switch will be turned just like sony(The MPAA) is doing with the ICT in HDMI DRM HDCP?
  
  http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/200...authorized.html
  
  Originally posted by fta link: After several years of litigation and nearly 30,000 lawsuits, making a copy of a CD you bought for your own personal usage is still a concept that the recording industry is apparently uncomfortable with. During the Jammie Thomas trial this fall, the head of litigation from Sony BMG testified that she believed that ripping your own CDs is stealing.
  

  Tor: anonymity online HIDE your IP from the spies, post and browse anonymously! http://www.torproject.org/
  
  
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.

  25.12.2007 05:17 #3