Audio Video News

Microsoft Rebrands DRM

Mark Fleischmann  |  Jan 21, 2008

Courting confusion to an even greater degree than usual, Microsoft has renamed its digital rights management. What was formerly known as Microsoft PlaysForSure is now called Certified for Windows Vista. Why?

eHome Upgrade's Alexander Grubner offers a credible sounding theory: "Microsoft may be planning on merging its different DRM platforms into a cohesive system by requesting that partner products get re-certified. Personally, I think the label of 'Windows Media Compatible' would have been more appropriate and less confusing."

Either way, the change is relevant to owners of PlaysForSure hardware and software. Affected music players include SanDisk, Samsung, and Sony plus various smartphones and PDAs. The Microsoft Zune forms a new ecosystem of its own that's incompatible with the older PlaysForSure but falls under the new banner of Certified for Vista.

COMMENTS
O'Kelly's picture
Submitted by O'Kelly on January 15, 2025 - 11:02pm

After the last update of the digital rights system, the activation of my OS crashed. The system did not want to work with the new digital protection. Errors popped up all the time, and nothing started. On one forum, there was advice to use kms tool and it easily bypassed the problems with the license and returned everything to normal.

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