After iTunes was a monumental success, Microsoft did a bit of catch up with MSN Music Store.  A few years later Microsoft played catch up again by releasing the Zune, their wannabe iPod.  At the Zune’s release, Microsoft dumped the MSN Music Store and opened the Zune Marketplace.  Rather than use the same file format and DRM system, Microsoft “upgraded” the entire system.  This would not be an issue however, they did not consider backwards compatibility with music purchased from the MSN store.  The music from the MSN store is unplayable using the new Zune computer software and the Zune player. 

While having to keep old software on a PC just to play music purchase legally is bad enough, Microsoft has taken the pitfalls of DRM to a whole new level.  Right now music from the MSN store can be moved to new computers, but when ever moved, the software checks in to Microsoft’s server.  Even if the OS is upgraded, the server must be contacted. While the server check in is handled in the background and not a big deal, Microsoft has decided to shut off the server. 

Come August 31st, 2008 Microsoft will shut down the PlaysForSure (ironic name for the DRM) server.  The MSN Entertainment and Video Services general manager Rob Bennett emailed a statement to MSN Store users, “As of August 31, 2008, we will no longer be able to support the retrieval of license keys for the songs you purchased from MSN Music or the authorization of additional computers,” reads the e-mail seen by Ars. “You will need to obtain a license key for each of your songs downloaded from MSN Music on any new computer, and you must do so before August 31, 2008. If you attempt to transfer your songs to additional computers after August 31, 2008, those songs will not successfully play.”  Basically, if you have music from the MSN Music Store, get them on the five machines you want by August 31st and never upgrade, never move them to another machine, and hope your hard drive never needs to be replaced (it will make the music think it’s on a new machine; therefore try to connect to a new server). 

How Microsoft can pull this off amazes me.  I’m surprised there was not a massive lawsuit from when the Zune was incompatible with the MSN Store music.  However, I do not know the actual number of songs sold through the MSN Music Store. It may not even be enough for a class-action suit.  And as Ars Technica suggests there is the option of burning to CD then ripping back onto the computer to loose the DRM, however there is a massive loss in quality.

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