Microsoft refutes a Times article on Zune's 'copyright cop'

A New York Times article purporting that Microsoft is working with NBC Universal to create a "copyright cop" -- or anti-piracy filter -- for the Zune that will prevent playback of unauthorized videos, was refuted by Microsoft today.

In the article which appeared on a Times blog, Saul Hansell, a Times reporter, quotes J.B. Perrette, president of digital distribution for the movie studio, as saying there are two reasons why NBC chose Microsoft's Zune over Apple's iTunes for content distribution.

One reason given by Perrette is that Apple insists on paying the same wholesale price for all videos, so that Apple can charge $1.99 for each film. The other is that Apple presented NBC with a flat out refusal on a request to include filters in the iPod.

"Microsoft, by contrast, will accept NBC's pricing scheme and will work with it to try to develop a copyright 'cop' to be installed on its devices," according to Hansell's story.

Hansell also said that Adam Sohn, a spokesman for Microsoft, declined comment on the issue except to say that the software company is exploring anti-piracy measures with NBC.

But in a blog post on the Zune site yesterday, Cesar Menendez, a member of Microsoft's Zune team, responded by denying that content filtering is part of its content distribution deal with NBC.

"We have no plans or commitments to implement any new type of content filtering in the Zune devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC," Menendez wrote. "We think some folks in the industry were expressing hopes for how the entire industry, not just Microsoft, would come to look at content distribution, and some speculation has ensued. Again, no plans are in place toward this end."

This morning, Hansell updated his NYT article with a link to Microsoft's blog post, along with some new commentary of his own.

"It's worth noting that Mr. Perrette told me that Microsoft committed to explore filtering; he didn't say it committed to implementing those filters," according to Hansell's update.

"Here is what Mr. Sohn, the Microsoft spokesman, told me yesterday when I asked him about what Mr. Perrette said: 'I don't think they are wrong, but we are not going to characterize those discussions.' Later he added, 'We have agreed to work with NBC across a range of topics, and protection of copyrighted material is certainly one of them,'" Hansell wrote.