Your music collection has been scheduled for demolition
MSN Music DRM license servers announced for shutdown, threatening purchased songs
The market's verdict: -4.7% on MSFT in the week after.
What actually happened
On April 22, 2008, Microsoft emailed MSN Music customers to say the store's license servers would go dark on August 31, 2008. Anyone who had legally purchased DRMed songs would never be able to authorize them to a new PC or a rebuilt system again. The suggested workaround was to burn everything to CD and re-rip it, at the customer's own expense, in the year 2008. After the backlash, Microsoft reversed on June 18 and kept the servers alive until at least the end of 2011, which mostly demonstrated that the countdown was negotiable and the ending was not. Bought, paid for, and eventually switched off.
This one is officially acknowledged.
They did it more than once
Twice is a coincidence. Three music stores dying with your purchases inside is a business model.
Links
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Context
- Wikipedia (wikipedia)
- Ars Technica (publication)
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Impact
- Ars Technica (publication)
↳ caused by MSN Music license server shutdown notice
Timeline
- Apr 22, 2008 Announced Microsoft announced it.
- Jun 18, 2008 Walked back License servers kept alive until at least the end of 2011.