With minimal notice from the public, Microsoft has been preparing one hell of DRM (digital rights management) solution directly into the Windows OS.

The company is bringing its trademark approach of embedding new technology into it’s existing offerings to the idea of creating a secure digital rights management system. The results, a digital rights management system that may finally make some copyright holders stop whining, but may make people contemplate switching to Linux or the MacOS even more.

While the management of digital audio delivery online is something that Microsoft been aiming to control for sometime since the inception of Windows Media, it seems Microsoft has been building some new features into the windows operating system which further assist in giving copyright holders security.

For example, with “Secure Audio Path” Microsoft incorporates some features which your typical user may not appreciate at all. The technology scrambles the audio output from a PC’s soundcard, thus eliminating the ability to record the audio at that point. What is the downside? Anyone using their audio output on their soundcard to connect to a high powered stereo will wind up not so pleased at the audio which results from this new “development” in security. This technology is already present in the "WindowsME" or Windows Millennium edition of the Windows OS.

Existing users of Windows Media Player have already seen some of what Microsoft has in mind for their future digital rights management solution. The player features an advanced level of security found in a lot of competitive DRM solutions. Some of these features include the ability for a limited amount of playback time and the ability to force users to obtain licenses in order for digital media playback to be enabled. While these are necessary evils in the ever growing digital entertainment revolution, changing some of the hardware capability of the end user’s system may be going a bit to far, at least in the minds of the end users I am sure.

One thing is for certain however, whatever Microsoft has in mind to enforce for their digital rights management solution they are already working on implementing. Most likely, the resulting DRM solution is something that the average user will certainly not be aware of at all.

The fine lines of privacy vs. piracy are growing thinner as I write this.