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Microsoft, Nokia ready to play - August 6, 2007

Microsoft's PlayReady DRM system for mobile devices, unveiled with great fanfare at CGSM in February, will get its first real-world workout with Nokia, which agreed Monday to include the technology in its S40 and S60 platform devices.

PlayReady marks Microsoft's first stab at domain-level DRM. The system is designed to allow users to move content they purchase through their mobile phones to other devices registered with the service provider. It also allows the service provider to apply use rules to contents, such as "play on another device but don't burn to a disc."

Domain-level DRM is intended to address the problem of non-interoperability among devices running different DRM systems. But PlayReady could create its own interoperability problems.

Microsoft is not a member of the Coral Consortium, a group of technology and content companies that has been working for years to define a standard for domain-level interoperability among different DRM systems. Most of the technical work involved is done and the group is hoping the standard is ready for prime time later this year.

PlayReady is essentially a proprietary take on Coral's idea, which rather defeats the purpose of what Coral set out to accomplish.
The New York Times today (via International Herald Tribune) also speculates that the Nokia deal could shift the conflict over the use of DRM in general to the mobile market.
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