The Hollywood factor

As Rosoff's statement implies, many of Vista's digital rights management technologies exist not because Microsoft wanted them there; rather, they were developed at the behest of movie studios, record labels and other high-powered intellectual property owners.

"Microsoft was dealing here with a group of companies that simply don't trust the hardware [industry]," Rosoff said. "They wanted more control and more security than they had in the past" -- and if Microsoft failed to accommodate them, "they were prepared to walk away from Vista" by withholding support for next-generation DVD formats and other high-value content.

Microsoft's official position is that Vista's DRM capabilities serve users by providing access to high-quality content that rights holders would otherwise serve only at degraded quality levels, if they chose to serve them at all. "In order to achieve that content flow, appropriate content-protection measures must be in place that create incentives for content owners while providing consumers the experiences they want and have grown to expect," said Jonathan Usher, a director in the Consumer Media Technology Group within Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices division. "We expect that the improvements in Windows Vista will attract new content to the PC, which is exactly what consumers want."

Yet Usher also pointed out that while Microsoft may provide the DRM technology, it is entirely up to content providers to decide whether their business models should make use of it. "As a platform provider, we provide the technology that allows our partners to test and implement new business models and scenarios," Usher stated. "It remains up to the market to determine the equilibrium that drives any free-enterprise system.