Comments on: Microsoft: this is not how you should do DRM

By: Eddie

Eddie — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:08:16 +0000

I had the same issue, even when I played the file in media player for a while. I could see media player was connecting for license but could not sync the donloaded file to my sony mp3 player.

In the end the issue was the time and date on my mp3 player differed to that of my PC. When set the same It worked.

By: Gazza

Gazza — Thu, 04 Dec 2008 14:45:47 +0000

I’m having the same problems but I haven’t had the ‘Upgrade’ message you finally received. When I try to play the file on my PC it plays no problems but still won’t sync afterwards.

I’ve followed all the BBC instructions but none of it works and still not had any response from them about it.

By: Review - Samsung YP-Q1 digital media player - blog - James Cridland

Review - Samsung YP-Q1 digital media player - blog - James Cridland — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:21:41 +0000

[...] also had awful problems synching BBC iPlayer content to this device – not Samsung’s fault, and one that Microsoft should be ashamed of. The lack [...]

By: Zarate

Zarate — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:11:09 +0000

Microsoft, just don’t go there : D

And DRM is just plain evil. I’m not even going to enter into the philosophical debate, just try to watch anything DRM’ed from a Linux box. Even if I wanted to pay for it, I wouldn’t be able to watch it.

Try call ITV/broand provider support also. They usually say “it doesn’t run on that weird Windows Ubuntu you have, only XP and Vista”.

By: Dan Sumption

Dan Sumption — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 10:12:40 +0000

I got that “…requires a component of Windows Media Player to be upgraded” at the worst of times. I’d been used to using iPlayer, with downloaded content, on the train. Then at home I upgraded my laptop to Windows Media Player 11. Next time I got on a train, ready to settle down with 3 hours of downloaded telly, I fired up iPlayer and got the “upgrade” dialog. Seems that when you Microsoft update the Media Player, they don’t bother to update the DRM components at the same time. As I’d brought very little reading material with me, that was quite a dull train journey.

Then there was the time I (rashly?) tried to watch ITV online. I clicked and clicked and clicked on the “pick a live channel to watch” button to no effect. It was only after a dozen-or-so clicks that I noticed the badge hidden on another part of the page, saying “Install Microsoft Silverlight”.

Microsoft and media playback… just don’t go there!

By: Matthew Keenan

Matthew Keenan — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:21:44 +0000

Funnily enough, I just had a similar experience attempting to watch the free catchup on channel4.com, demands to install a workaround extention in Firefox, then ActiveX controls wanting attention, then components of Windows Media Player needing upgrading, a good joint effort between Channel 4 and Microsoft on customer non-experience.

By: Lucy

Lucy — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:57:02 +0000

You forgot to mention sowing the ground with salt.

Oh, and while they’re at it, they can find the person or persons who designed Vista’s Radioactive Hoola Hoop of Death and sack them too.