Rich Fiscus
24 Jul 2008 22:12
Yahoo Music Unlimited has now officially become limited. In February they decided to partner with Rhapsody and stop selling music through their own premium service. Now they're planning to pull the plug on the DRM servers after the end of September.
That means as of October 1 people who purchased music through Yahoo Music Unlimited will no longer be able be able to listen to it if they upgrade to a new computer, or simply have to re-install Windows.
You may recall that Microsoft made a similar decision regarding the DRM servers for the MSN Music service, but decided to change their minds and maintaing the license servers until 2011 when confronted by their angry customers.
It's almost as though Microsoft and Yahoo are trying to point out just what's wrong with using DRM in the first place. When you no longer have access to the music you purchased with the understanding you'd be able to play forever there's something wrong.
As Corynne McSherry of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) pointed out today, it's ironic that the more money someone gave Yahoo, the more they're being punished.