Microsoft’s Ridiculously Ingenious Plan

We all know that Microsoft is always just ahead of the game, but none of us thought they were this far ahead. One of Microsoft’s patents was uncovered today, labeled, “Off-line Economies for Digital Media.” It outlines a semi-complex method for Zune owners to get paid for transferring songs to other Zunes, as well as give a percentage to the copyright holder. This process would technically do the most ridiculous concept I’ve ever been forced to comprehend, make illegal music legal. By giving the copyright holders their percentage, you would have technically “bought” the song. Supposedly, it works via encrypting the song file when it is shared Zune to Zune. After three uses of the file, the buyer would either have to pay for the music or lose access to the file. Assuming the buyer does pay for the file, the seller, The Zune Marketplace, and the copyright holder get shares. Due to that process, the buyer would have legal possession of that file regardless of whether the file was pirated or ripped from CD.

One issue I have with this idea is that people will essentially be paying twice or even more for the same unit. Imagine you and a couple friends are out to lunch at a burger joint. For some reason, only one of you buys fries. Say your friend without fries wants to share yours, and you have no objections. After he eats those first three fries, the waitress walks up and says, “If your friend wants anymore of your fries he will have to pay for them.” Ponder that for a while will you. Sure, from a market stand-point it is getting away with murder, but murder is still murder. That aside, I will carry my Zune everywhere trying to push my music because I want free Zune Marketplace money.