Macrovision Taps Microsoft Product

By Jon Healey

April 24, 2003 12 AM PT

Macrovision Corp. of Santa Clara, Calif., announced plans to incorporate software from Microsoft Corp. into its anti-piracy technology for music CDs.

Macrovision’s technology is designed to prevent songs from being “ripped” onto a computer and copied freely through Internet file-sharing services and the like.

The Microsoft software adds scrambled song files that can be played on a computer and moved to selected portable devices but not duplicated further. The limits are flexible, letting the record label decide how much copying to allow.

Microsoft had announced that another maker of anti-piracy technology for CDs, SunnComm Technologies Inc. of Phoenix, also was using its software.

Technology and the Internet

Jon Healey

Jon Healey writes and edits stories for the Los Angeles Times’ Fast Break Desk, the team that dives into the biggest news of the moment. In his previous stints, he wrote and edited for the Utility Journalism team and The Times editorial board. He covered technology news for The Times from 2000 to mid-2005.

Macrovision Taps Microsoft Product

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