Wal-Mart to Shut Down Music DRM Servers
- Filed under: Tech News
- Date: Sep 30,2008
Apparently not one to read the news, Wal-Mart has decided to repeat the PR mistakes of Microsoft and Yahoo! and shut down the DRM servers, putting those few fools, er, customers who purchased DRM-laden music prior to Wal-Mart’s move to MP3s and particularly to MP3s-only in April of this year in an untenable position.
Don’t get me wrong: I love the fact that Wal-Mart has moved to all DRM-free MP3s for its music. That’s not the point. I’ve seen a few comments around the blogosphere assailing those who have railed about Wal-Mart doing this.
No, the point isn’t so much that Wal-Mart’s doing this. Yes, people who would take the obvious step of burning their tracks to CD and ripping them back will lose quality. No, it’s not that. It’s not even that one might assume that a corporation as large as Wal-Mart would be able to keep DRM servers running forever.
No, the point is that this is just another example of the horrors (I admit succumbing to hyperbole here) of DRM. No DRM, no problems such as this.
Yet another reason I love Amazon MP3 — all DRM-free since the beginning. And another reason I steer people clear from iTunes … sure, if you have an iPod, it’s the easiest way to buy songs, but it’s full of DRM, unless you buy DRM-less music, which is still sold from iTunes in AAC format, rather than the more universal MP3 format.
Here’s the email, as supplied to me by an unlucky Wal-Mart customer:
From: Walmart Music TeamPrepaid Credit Cards
Date: Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 7:42 PM
Subject: Important Information About Your Walmart.com Digital Music Purchases
To: xxxxxx@yahoo.comImportant Information About Your Digital Music Purchases
We hope you are enjoying the increased music quality/bitrate and the improved usability of Walmart’s MP3 music downloads. We began offering MP3s in August 2007 and have offered only DRM (digital rights management) -free MP3s since February 2008. As the final stage of our transition to a full DRM-free MP3 download store, Walmart will be shutting down our digital rights management system that supports protected songs and albums purchased from our site.
If you have purchased protected WMA music files from our site prior to Feb 2008, we strongly recommend that you back up your songs by burning them to a recordable audio CD. By backing up your songs, you will be able to access them from any personal computer. This change does not impact songs or albums purchased after Feb 2008, as those are DRM-free.
Beginning October 9, we will no longer be able to assist with digital rights management issues for protected WMA files purchased from Walmart.com. If you do not back up your files before this date, you will no longer be able to transfer your songs to other computers or access your songs after changing or reinstalling your operating system or in the event of a system crash. Your music and video collections will still play on the originally authorized computer.
Thank you for using Walmart.com for music downloads. We are working hard to make our store better than ever and easier to use.
Walmart Music Team
2 Responses for "Wal-Mart to Shut Down Music DRM Servers"
[...] Wall-Mart/Yahoo & Friends deactivates DRM from their songs…. This has the potential to completely force DRM off of every type of music, including that of the Apple iPod store(s). Here is an article from Student technews that contains a sample letter from an “unlucky Wal-Mart Customer” that explains what now must be done to retain their legally purchased music… [...]
This is a huge strategic blunder on Walmart’s part. Seriously, why don’t these companies hire a DRM consultant? They’d save themselves bad pr from millions of outraged bloggers.
Basically, their customers better not get new computers, because without those DRM keys you won’t be able to transfer the music YOU PAID FOR to your new device.
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