According to the online edition of the Austrian newspaper “Der Standard”, Microsoft’s newest version of Windows, Longhorn, will incorporate technologies to prevent people from stealing copyright-protected media. The big labels are supporting Microsoft, supplying M. with lists of functions they should build into the operating system, so your computer always knows what music you’re allowed to copy and which one you’re not. But Microsoft could take it a bit further. Why only build in functions to prevent copying music, why not simply tell users what music they can listen to? Or, instead of crippling other browsers by making it impossible to view Microsoft-owned sites like Hotmail , simply hard-code a list of preferred Internet-sites into the operating system. I’m sure there are quite a few companies out there who’d love to shell out a few million bucks to make sure only their product is supported by Microsoft. Just combine that with Microsoft’s very own creation, the smart tags, and you’ve got a totally new business at hand.
