Microsoft News Tracker

I see it’s been two weeks since I last had an update on Microsoft and their customers’ problems with the FairUse4WM crack of Microsoft digital rights management, so it’s time for another episode of Whack-a-Mole:

• Sept. 16: Microsoft might not be able to stop the anonymous author “Viodentia” directly, but they can hit the US web sites offering FairUse4WM downloads with Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) nastygrams about copyright infringement on works published by Microsoft. Apparently, the ploy is that FairUse4WM violates the copyright of Microsoft’s Media Player 10 and 11. Some of the small website owners are resisting, but they have fewer lawyers than Microsoft so distribution of FairUse4Wm is likely to go underground in the USA at least. It also appears that Microsoft is trying a similar approach overseas, but the laws there are rather more nebulous.
• Sept 22: Microsoft files suit in a Seattle federal court against 10 “John Does” claiming they infringed on Microsoft’s copyrights. There’s also some claim that Microsoft source code must have been stolen. On its face the lawsuit isn’t likely to be effective, but it allows to Microsoft to subpoena people in the USA who have had dealings with “Viodentia” in order to try to track him/her down.
• Sept. 25: Microsoft finally came up with a patch to stop FairUse4WM 1.2 on September 19, it was revealed today.
• Sept. 25: Engadget interviews “Viodentia” and he promises a new version sometime this week.
• Sept. 27: “Viodentia drops another 2,000 pound bomb on Microsoft“. FairUse4Wm 1.3 subverts the latest Microsoft fix and was released via an announcement at doom9.org in the UK.

There will undoubtedly be more episodes in this long running series.