Vista Protection Plans Could Attract Piracy

Microsofts plan to protect high definition movies and music against acts of piracy, via Digital Rights Management (DRM) and their Vista Copy Protection System, has been rejected by experts who believe it could have the opposite effect.

Peter Gutmann, computer science lecturer at the University of Auckland described Vistas latest protection specification as the longest suicide note in history. He believes the protection plans could end up being the biggest incentive to acts of piracy.

Latest reports revealed that Vista will downgrade the quality of all movies and music if they are not output via approved connections on the PC. In defence Microsoft said that if picture quality was degraded it would still be better than the current DVD quality.

Experts suggest a balance of necessary protection is the only solution to problems that may be caused by the consumer-hostile technology that Microsoft is planning to support.

By Lisa Malyon