Now, I don't pretend to have any particular love for Apple's music thing - or the DRM that comes with it - but at least with iTunes it is possible to share music without breaking the law.

See, we at the Malex Media Network thrive on people being able to tell their friends about us. And what better way to tell others about a neat artist than sharing some of that artist's music with your friend? (I don't think there's an answer to that one, kids!)

So, with the copyright nazis on the prowl, how can we possibly encourage people to share our music with one another without fearing for their very sanity?

Enter the Creative Commons!

If you pay attention, you'll notice that most all of the stuff we have available on our site is made available under one of the various Creative Commons licenses - which generally state that it's cool to share the stuff with anybody as long as you don't pretend you made it and you don't try to restrict their rights to use/copy/share it.

So a perfect solution is at hand! If people aren't allowed to share by default, let's expressly and specifically grant them that right!

So what's the problem? Microsoft, of course! That's right, Microsoft has thought long and hard, and has finally come up with yet another way to make the world worse!

Their new Zune media player will be quite an amazing thing. Not only does it allow you to listen to music and watch videos in your pocket (does this sound familiar to anyone else?) but it also allows you to wirelessly share any track with anybody in the room!

The catch? Any song that you get from another Zune will 'magically' delete itself after three playthroughs or three days. (Presumably whichever comes first.) And the really mind-numbing bit is that it doesn't matter if the song was supposed to be a free download originally or not!

I can picture the following conversation right now:

"So, Larry, have you heard of Malex?"

"Why no, Bob, who is Malex?"

"Malex is an electronic music composer! Check out his latest album!"

"Sorry, Bob, but my Zune will delete my copy of Malex's album before I've had a chance to fully appreciate it."

"Well gee, Larry, that's too bad! I guess you could go contribute to the Malex Media Network's server overcrowding by downloading your own copy before dropping it into the abyss that is your Zune!"

"Thanks, Bob! I think I'll do just that!"

Well? Madness!

Here are some excerpts from the original article by Kirk Biglione:

"Zune’s wireless music sharing is turning out to be one of those features that seemed better when it was just a rumor. ...recipients of shared songs will only be able to listen to them three times or for three days..."

"Zune accomplishes this amazingly stupid feat by wrapping shared music in a proprietary layer of DRM, regardless of what format the original content may be in. If Microsoft’s claims are to be believed, this on-the-fly DRM will be seamless and automatic - which must be some kind of first for Microsoft."

"What Microsoft has created is a new form of viral DRM. Zune will intentionally infect your music with the DRM virus before passing it along to one of your friends. After three listens the poor song dies a horrible DRM enabled death. Talk about innovation."

"Microsoft will undoubtedly claim this limitation is designed to support artists and prevent piracy. There’s just one problem. Not all artists want their music protected by DRM." (Editor's note: That's us, in case you're somewhat brain-dead.)

Now, for a very simple (and to the point) excerpt from the Creative Commons FAQ:

Q: What happens if someone tries to protect a CC-licensed work with digital rights management (DRM) tools?

A: If a person uses DRM tools to restrict any of the rights granted in the license, that person violates the license. All of our licenses prohibit licensees from "distributing the Work with any technological measures that control access or use of the Work in a manner inconsistent with the terms of this License Agreement."

Now, for the people who really, really missed it: I think this is a really, really bad idea.

I'm sitting here in my studio working on a new album, and these suits are trying to break down every connection I make with my audience! As far as I'm concerned, Microsoft is taking a directly anti-MMN™ stand by encouraging our users to break US copyright law!

I hope this ticks you off too, since everybody hurts after a stunt like this.

ttyl

--Alex Markley