I know, I know. You’re as sick of this as I am, maybe more so. But The Inquirer amplified this weekend’s follow-up story in The Business, in which Tony Glover tried to defend his original report and only made it more muddled. And then Gizmodo picked up the Inky’s story, also without questioning it. Sigh. Both of those sites have many more readers than this one.
So, let’s see if we can put a wooden stake through this story, once and for all. Glover’s follow-up story hinges on this paragraph:
Alistair Baker, Microsoft’s UK managing director, told The Business: “Microsoft’s digital rights management [DRM] software generates a licence key to give the DVD content owner total control over how the content is viewed. This could mean watching a film only once, or over a limited period.”
He didn’t follow-up with Microsoft to see if he was drawing the correct conclusion from Mr. Baker’s remarks, so I put in a call myself. I got this reply from Marcus Matthias, Product Manager of the Windows Digital Media Division:
Alistair Baker’s comments broadly addressed the capabilities of WM DRM. These capabilities are focused on digital distribution within the PC ecosystem and networked devices, and more importantly, for content in the Windows Media format. They do not extend to today’s DVDs which use MPEG2. As to how this applies to next generation DVDs, it doesn’t — there’s no connection with WM DRM. To address the original premise of the story, Microsoft has no plans to create a cheap, disposable DVD.
This is confusing technology. I got a few technical details wrong in one of my earlier posts, which I’ve since corrected following some discussions with the people who actually designed the Windows Media software. The HD DVD format will use Advanced Access Content System (AACS), not Windows Media DRM, which will be used for downloading content and streaming it over a network.
Anyway, I don’t know how much clearer it gets. No cheap, disposable, pre-recorded DVDs. No story.
Ed Bott 
Ed Bott has earned his bragging rights. He has done the research and he stuck his neck out in defence of journalistic integrity.
Out of the millions of recycling blogs and egoistical streams of consciousness on the web, his is the first blog I started reading entry by entry for the sole reason that Ed Bott seems to be determined to be diligent with his research and generous in attributing credit to sources.
I really don’t like to waste my precious time reading lies, because if I do I would rather watch Fox news 24/7.
We need more evolved people like Ed Bott, even if it means we have to put up with some bragging rights from time to time.
If this is too difficult for some people to understand , or too tempting for some people not to pass up a chance to take a cheap shot at this blog like the some readers have done , may be it is because they share the same crass values as Ed’s targets.
I find that when somebody attacks or defends certain values, it is because they have something in common with a cherished idea or person.
Same deal goes for some followers who defend their disgraced gurus.
To say that a leader reflects the quality of the followers is my understatement of the day.
So Ed Bott I hope you will continue to do what you do best and not let some losers or mama’s boys discourage you from exposing more sloppy ‘journalistic’ reporting because I am counting on reading more exclusive exposure of false gurus through your blogs.
By the way, can you please tell me which blogger/writer/journalist has the same high standard of journalistic integrity and conscientiousness as you do and how do I find them? There should be a search engine or website for this kind of stuff so that I don’t have to wade through all those baloney just to find some gems.
May be you can reveal which blog/writing/website goes into your indispensable folder in your NewsGator Outlook Edition ?
P.S. I am serious about my questions so I hope you will answer them.
Quote of the day “There are a lot of talented people in this world. But there is not enough decent people” (Dr Laura) 🙂
Lorenzo, thanks for the very kind words. Your question is an excellent one, and I’ll try to address it in its own post, with the kind of detail it deserves.
Hi Ed — the whole DVD-Hoax and the media-reaction is a bad joke: but after all, your name was mentioned and brought back some memories from years ago 😎 Greetings from Munic!
(and yes, my english is as bad as ever, as you might remember, it takes some beer to make it better (and I’m clean & sober right now))
Giesbert
This whole DVD debacle just shows that ‘news’ moves far too quickly than the facts on the internet, especially in the blogosphere. Some people in the blogosphere only care about being the first to break a story without checking their facts and sources. This is my biggest beef with the ‘news’ aspect of the blogosphere.
I had the same problem about the ‘story’ of the Judge in Michigan who supposedly ruled against the RIAA, ruled that children can’t be sued and ruled that parents are not liable for the actions of their children. Unfortunately, all three statements were wrong. Because one person, albeit a lawyer, gave their opinion on what the rulings meant, various internet ‘news’ sites picked up the story and it evolved into something totally different from the original rulings. Fact checking, source checking and responsibility are lacking in the blogosphere.