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June 05, 2003

Microsoft/AOL Lock-in

Tristan Louis lays out how the Microsoft-AOL/TW detente could eventually lead to a Microsoft lock-in: you wanna see the movies, you gotta buy the platform. It plays nicely into what I've been trying to say about why Applied DRM is scary: No matter how good DRM sounds in theory ("Artists can negotiate deals with their audience...") if Microsoft offers the only/dominant platform for securing content, then the content owners make their stuff work only with the Microsoft platform. It's win-win...so long as you're Microsoft or Jack Valenti.

Posted by D. Weinberger at June 5, 2003 08:36 AM

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