3 Count: DRM Destruction

Have any suggestions for the 3 Count? Let me know via Twitter @plagiarismtoday.

1: Xbox’s Online DRM Under Fire as Some Users left Unable to Play Games for 4th Day

First off today, Andy Robinson at VGC reports that Xbox’s digital rights management tools (DRM) are coming under fire as many legitimate customers find themselves unable to play their games over the past four days.

Microsoft’s DRM requires users to purchase and launch some games. However, Microsoft itself is experiencing an outage in some of their servers, resulting in customers being locked out from many of their games. The problems began on Friday and continued into Monday, despite repeated claims from Microsoft that the problem was resolved.

In an update to the story, Microsoft has announced that they plan to fully resolve the issue with an update that will be released over the next few days. Though some games will load without DRM, according to a third-party service Does It Play, most require some form of online check upon booting.

2: French Montana Threatened With Copyright Suit Over Hot Boys Lyrics

Next up today, Bill Donahue at Billboard reports that the rapper French Montana is facing a potential copyright infringement lawsuit over his 2021 song Handstand.

The threat comes from the New Orleans-based rap group the Hot Boys, which featured the rappers Lil Way and Juvenile among others. However, it was the member Turk who actually sent the letter, alleging that two lines of French Montana’s song were lifted from the 2000 Hot Boys track I Need a Hot Girl.

In an interview with TMZ, an attorney representing French Montana believed that the lines were correctly licensed and that they are working to rectify the problem.

3: Copyright Owners and ISPs in Sweden Ally to Simplify Web-Blocking

Finally today, Chris Cooke at Complete Music Update reports that, in Sweden, the entertainment industry and the nation’s internet service providers (ISPs) have entered into an agreement that they hope will streamline the site blocking system within the country.

Initially, the local ISPs fought back against the idea of site blocking. However, once the copyright holders prevailed in the courts, they began collaborating with the ISPs to make the system as simple as possible.

With the new system, requests will continue to go through the courts, but both sides have agreed to share information early on, which should make things faster once a judgment is reached. The hope is that this will accelerate the process and reduce the complexity of it while maintaining court oversight.

The 3 Count Logo was created by Justin Goff and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License.