BMG Moves to Protect Songs

In a step toward greater consumer acceptance, BMG Entertainment said the digital song files it sells online could soon be copied to selected portable players. Starting Wednesday, the company has deployed a new version of anti-piracy software by InterTrust Technologies that enables songs to move securely between their owners’ computers and their portable devices. EMI, Warner Music Group and Sony use software by Microsoft and Liquid Audio that allows their scrambled digital files to be played on some portable devices. Relatively few consumers have been buying the major labels’ downloadable files, in part because they are more expensive and harder to use than the unauthorized, free songs available elsewhere on the Internet.