Dave Horvath
8 May 2008 13:42
In response to Microsoft's latest dealings with NBC, it appears that the Redmond based company may be implementing a piece of software on their Zune devices that actively searches on whether or not television shows are legally purchased. If said software discovers that the show was downloaded illegally from a torrent or other P2P type network, it will not play in the Zune.
The copyright package is hasn't been developed yet, but talks between NBC and Microsoft show that they definitely want some type of policing software to guard against illegally obtained episodes of their shows. Regardless of the fact that those shows, obtained from cable and satellite companies, have already been purchased by the consumer through their contract with the respective provider. NBC would like its consumers to pay twice for the same show.
J. B. Perrette, the president of digital distribution for NBC Universal stated that their plan is to create "filtering technology that allows for playback of legitimately purchased content versus non-legitimately purchased content."
A spokesman for Microsoft, declined to discuss details of this effort other than to say that the software company is exploring anti-piracy measures with NBC. He said Microsoft, which suffers from its own piracy problems, is sympathetic to Hollywood’s concerns.