From the PlaysForSure website: "When your device and music service are compatible with each other, all you have to do is choose the music that’s compatible with you. Look for the PlaysForSure logo on a wide selection of devices and music stores."
Even they more-or-less admit it is. I love the assumed "music service" bit.
Open your eyes and ears and learn to tell when someone is telling a joke. Yes, it's DRM. But because, as you put it, it is "...fairly sucky DRM for that matter", and because everyone and their dog have cracked the thing, it is as close to being both DRM and DRM-FREE at the same time as you can get.
If the file refuses to play on a portable device (or the device refuses to play the file, either way round) because the device only plays 'Plays For Sure' media, then it must contain DRM.
If it didn't contain DRM, then it would play on any device.
Just because the DRM is easily removed does not make it stop being DRM. the Playsforsure format can be used as a form of DRM, as states wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playsforsure
And if the movie studio is going to use playsforsure to restrict you from copying the movie file to different computers then it is DRM.
Lizard: Your analogy, "If it didn't contain DRM, then it would play on any device" is just wrong. Does an AAC file contain DRM? No, it does not. AAC is not DRM. You can ADD DRM to AAC, like Apple does, but that doesn't mean AAC contains DRM. Now, does every PMP out there play AAC files? No, they do not.
Paul: Go to Wikipedia (since you quote from it, you should know where it is) and look up "joke".
Yoshi, the phrase "Yes they are" in the context of this forum does not contain enough information to unequivocally identify it as a joke, without either knowing you personally or hearing your tone of voice or seeing your face. There are plenty of dweebs that make such statements of fact here without a shred of irony. So stop being a dick and move on.
You must not have noticed but there are quite a few ill informed people and I was just trying to be helpful by providing a pertinent link to the subject on hand. Many times people make comments that look like they could be a joke but are in fact the result of a poorly informed person.
Oh, and from wikipedia, "The desired response is generally laughter; when this does not happen the joke is said to have 'fallen flat'."
This is one of the internet's conundrums. What is a joke and how can you tell? There are no finite facial expressions to use. Is it a yes or an ironic yes?
Precision in language sometimes helps. In the fullness of hindsight a more effective response might have been something like "effectively the same thing" or "with DRM that bad it's hard to tell the difference" You never know how someone can necessarily take something though.
Also framing a good response can take way more time than is available. It's just one of those things you have to mush through.
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This does have a somewhat schizophrenic Clash-of-the-Marketing-Departments Feel to it. "DRM free" and PlayForShure are not exactly the same thing.
Yes they are.
Well, no. No they're not, at least not in the meaning of the term used by everyone except microsoft.
This website itself has on multiple occasions equated Playsforsure with DRM. And fairly sucky DRM for that matter.
http://www.engadget.com/2006/03/16/is-drm-sucking-the-life-out-of-your-mp3-player/
http://interviews.engadget.com/2006/09/25/the-engadget-interview-viodentia-creator-of-fairuse4wm/
From the PlaysForSure website:
"When your device and music service are compatible with each other, all you have to do is choose the music that’s compatible with you. Look for the PlaysForSure logo on a wide selection of devices and music stores."
Even they more-or-less admit it is. I love the assumed "music service" bit.
Oh. My. God.
Open your eyes and ears and learn to tell when someone is telling a joke. Yes, it's DRM. But because, as you put it, it is "...fairly sucky DRM for that matter", and because everyone and their dog have cracked the thing, it is as close to being both DRM and DRM-FREE at the same time as you can get.
Fairly straightforward.
If the file refuses to play on a portable device (or the device refuses to play the file, either way round) because the device only plays 'Plays For Sure' media, then it must contain DRM.
If it didn't contain DRM, then it would play on any device.
Just because the DRM is easily removed does not make it stop being DRM. the Playsforsure format can be used as a form of DRM, as states wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playsforsure
And if the movie studio is going to use playsforsure to restrict you from copying the movie file to different computers then it is DRM.
This is taking WAY too much time to explain.
Lizard: Your analogy, "If it didn't contain DRM, then it would play on any device" is just wrong. Does an AAC file contain DRM? No, it does not. AAC is not DRM. You can ADD DRM to AAC, like Apple does, but that doesn't mean AAC contains DRM. Now, does every PMP out there play AAC files? No, they do not.
Paul: Go to Wikipedia (since you quote from it, you should know where it is) and look up "joke".
Yoshi, the phrase "Yes they are" in the context of this forum does not contain enough information to unequivocally identify it as a joke, without either knowing you personally or hearing your tone of voice or seeing your face. There are plenty of dweebs that make such statements of fact here without a shred of irony. So stop being a dick and move on.
@yoshi
in yo FACE!
just joking.
@DorianGray
Hey, come take a look at this picture I found...
@Yoshi Welcome to the internet.
You must not have noticed but there are quite a few ill informed people and I was just trying to be helpful by providing a pertinent link to the subject on hand. Many times people make comments that look like they could be a joke but are in fact the result of a poorly informed person.
Oh, and from wikipedia, "The desired response is generally laughter; when this does not happen the joke is said to have 'fallen flat'."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke
This is one of the internet's conundrums. What is a joke and how can you tell? There are no finite facial expressions to use. Is it a yes or an ironic yes?
Precision in language sometimes helps.
In the fullness of hindsight a more effective response might have been something like "effectively the same thing" or "with DRM that bad it's hard to tell the difference" You never know how someone can necessarily take something though.
Also framing a good response can take way more time than is available. It's just one of those things you have to mush through.