Thu, 8 May 2008
Many people were and are still upset about NBC yanking their content from Apple's iTunes store. The feud has been going back and forth, with rumors flying it may return, or may not, or whatever the case may be on that particular day. In the meantime, NBC has pimped their shows out to just about everyone ELSE, including Amazon's UnBox service, Hulu.com, cell phone video streaming... you name it.
NBC is now teaming up with Microsoft to sell their shows on the Zune (Microsoft's MP3 player) video store. Not really that big of a deal, except that NBC is demanding Microsoft install some kind of filter on their Zune devices which will somehow block the device from playing any video file the filter believes is "unauthentic." Never mind the consumer's legal right to rip their own DVDs, for example. If NBC doesn't like it, it won't work. Why Microsoft is bending over and taking this isn't a big mystery (they're desperate, and have already kowtowed to Universal Music's demand to give them a cut of sales... a "pirate" tax, if you will), but it seems to me to set a pretty dangerous precedent. EDIT: According to the NYT article, Microsoft is apparently denying they agreed to do anything more than "discuss" the issue with NBC.
Category:general
-- posted at: 11:37am EDT
Comments[9]
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I agree that the Zune marketplace is no iTunes marketplace, however the iTunes marketplace has been open for five years, the Zune marketplace a little under 17 months. Like I said before the Zune keeps getting better and better. Just give Microsoft a little time and they will hammer out all the details with the networks and studios and eventually have all the same content as iTunes. and Casey so far i\'ve bought two episodes of The Office, an episode of South Park, and an episode of Beavis and Butthead
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I have to be honest... I freaking hate NBC since they removed the office episodes from itunes. I am one of the office geeks that downloaded every season and bought every DVD too. I also gave them for gifts probably 20 times. I also bought all of the office merch, but since they pulled everything from itunes it is hard for me to even watch NBC. I do only for the office. Pretty much still pissed about it.
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Good thing I can download the episodes for free in HD and do whatever the hell I want with them (including putting them on my iPod Touch). SCREW YOU NBC! Also, as someone who purchased every single episode from iTunes as soon as they were posted last year, AND bought the season 3 dvds, I was quite upset when NBC stopped making them available. I would much rather pay $1.99 and download it preformatted for my iPod than have to procure them from less legal means, but one does what one can. And who the hell owns a Zune? I have yet to see a single one on the UW-Milwaukee campus.
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I\'ve had a Zune, pretty much since it came out and it just keeps getting better, Seriously if anybody out there is looking to buy a new mp3 player the Zune has all the features of the iPod and iTunes except for the fact that they now have The Office episodes, I have already bought two episodes and the picture quality is great.
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