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"As the war wages on between Microsoft's Consumer Media Technology group and the creators of FairUse4WM, so continues the march of memos and software updates being passed around to Redmond's partners in the business who are making use of the ailing PlaysForSure DRM scheme. After Microsoft fought back by readjusting the individualized blackbox component (IBX) in an attempt to shut down FairUse4WM, the DRM-stripping appsters created a second version (1.2), which circumvented that protection. Well, we have our hands on yet another Microsoft memo on the topic -- this time much more vague -- reasserting their commitment to patching this issue by dedicating \"teams working around the clock\" to it. Ouch. We suspect future memos may come watermarked, or... wait for it... DRMed, so don't be too shocked if the trail turns cold on communiques. War is hell, people.---copied from source---From: Windows Media License Agreements [email removed]Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2006To: Windows Media License AgreementsSubject: Status - Windows Media DRM circumventionMICROSOFT CONFIDENTIAL [This was highlighted in bold red letters, ha! -Ed.]Dear Windows Media DRM Licensee,As you may know, on August 28 2006 Microsoft released an update of the individualized blackbox component (IBX) of Windows Media DRM to address a circumvention of the Windows Media DRM system. Unfortunately, a new version of the tool that circumvents Windows Media DRM technology on Windows PCs has surfaced, breaking the content protection that our content partners apply to their intellectual property such as music or video content. As we did with the initial circumvention, Microsoft will use the built-in renewability features of Windows Media DRM to deploy an update to address this circumvention. We have teams working around the clock on this project, and this update will include incrementing the Security Version of the individualized blackbox component, which should ease deployment and make it easier to detect the update remotely. We will continue to work closely with you to inform you of our progress and help you update your systems as needed. As always, we appreciate your feedback and ongoing support.If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding this circumvention or related updates, please contact [email removed].Kind regards,Windows Media Licensing DepartmentMicrosoft Consumer Media Technology------------------------------"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2006/09/08/microsoft-now-patching-for-fairuse4wm-1-2/>