Yahoo Music to offer refunds, what about MSN?
Yahoo Music is offering refunds to anyone who bought songs from the service. Is it time for MSN Music follow Yahoo's lead?
Yahoo announced last week that it would no longer issue authorization keys for the digital rights management, or DRM, software on its songs. This meant that anyone who bought songs from the service would still be able to hear their songs through its service but would be unable to move them to other devices or computers.
This did not play well with Web users. Now Yahoo Music plans to issue refunds and is trying to go one step further. If a customer would prefer music over a refund, Yahoo is looking for a way to give the customer copies of the purchased songs in the DRM-free MP3 format, according to a Yahoo representative.
Yahoo Music is transferring customers of Yahoo Music Unlimited to RealNetworks' Rhapsody service. These are both subscription music services, so Yahoo users who choose to make the move are unaffected. But those who purchased songs would be out of luck after September 30.
The question now is, has Yahoo Music raised the bar? Is it time for Microsoft to pony up with a refund for MSN users?
MSN Music shut down and announced that it would stop issuing DRM keys, only to change its mind last month and say it would continue issuing keys for another three years. As noted by Michael Spiegelman, Yahoo's senior director of music, Microsoft just delayed the withdrawing of support for songs.
A Microsoft representative could not be immediately reached.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an advocacy group for Internet users, has called on both Yahoo and MSN to issue refunds.
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg.
- Topics:
-
Consumer content
- Tags:
-
Yahoo Music,
-
MSN,
-
DRM,
-
Electronic Frontier Foundation
- Bookmark:
- Digg
- Del.icio.us
I think I burned a CD of them and ripped them to solve the problem. Now I'll just hang on to the CD and drop the DRM digital part. Less work for me to track.
Otherwise, it would be trivial for Apple to issue a patch that unlocks everything anyway.
Losing the DRM restrictions via burning to CD really isn't a good option since the CD won't improve the recording quality of the original file and importing it again will result in either a much bigger file (if using a lossless codec) or a worse recording (if using a lossy codec).
Yup look up the "DMCA" a.k.a the "Digital Millennium Copyright Act"....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act
It changed the whole way Copyright law is carried out for you all in the United States. Brazil's on the other hand is sweet. It
Glad to know yahoo is taking notice of this nonsense.
I understand the piracy problem but honest, paying customers shouldn't suffer.
The only reason why Amazon has DRM free music is because of Job's pressure on the record lables. The labels realize that there will be narrowing choices for music online since the only ecosystem that is easy to use from end to end is Apple's solution. All of the others failed to live up to consumers' expectations, and therefore have fallen by the wayside and closed up shop.
As soon as the labels open all of their music in all of their stores, consumers will continue to suffer with the draconian DRM rules.
"How do I secure a refund for the songs and
albums I purchased from Yahoo Music Unlimited?
Thank you."
Just so you know, they make you sign in and confirm your birthdate and other information before even allowing you to pose a question to billing help, and they even ask permission to access your billing records, which I gave.
Nonetheless, here's the response to my rather straightforward question about refunds for burnable downloads:
--
"Hello [],
"Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Music Unlimited. It will try to resolve this for you as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there was not enough information in your email for us to provide you with a detailed answer. If you still need assistance, please write back to us explaining the exact issue that you are concerned with so that we can assist you as soon as possible.
"We look forard to your prompt reply.
"Thank you for contacting us about your concern.
"Regards,
"Roger"
--
So, if they are indeed offering refunds, noone told "Roger" in billing.
Yahoo does seem to be suffering some rather serious problems across the brand. I wonder if we are witnessing the end of was once a great company?
I will update if and when I ever actually get a refund. But I'm not holding my breath. Thumbs down on Yahoo!
-CMWillman