Posted by Wordsmith on 07/16/06 17:21

ben.mathew@gmail.com wrote:
> This is a warning about using Yahoo's music download service. The
> feature
> allows users to download songs for $0.99 each and play it on your PC,
> presumably forever. This feature is not advertised at all on the Yahoo
> Music
> site. They heavily promote their "Unlimited" subscription service.
> Needless
> to say, there is very little documentation about their download
> service.
>
> I purchased approximately 40 songs from this service. The music played
> fine. However, the hard drive on my PC crashed. I had to replace the
> hard drive. I was able to recover the songs from my portable device
> (mp3 player). However, they are unplayable on the PC because the new
> hard drive makes the the digital rights management (DRM) software
> think this is a new PC.
>
> The other music services from which I had purchased songs quickly
> resolved
> my problem by providing new license for the new hard drive. MSN music,
> buy.com, Wal-mart and Napster either restored the licenses online or
> with a quick phone call. Let it be noted that these other services
> allow
> users to copy songs to other PCs as a backup.
>
> With Yahoo Music, restoration was impossible and a nightmare. After
> several
> email exchanges, tech support concluded that their service has no
> provision for
> sending replacement licenses like other services. They sent me to
> billing
> to initiate a refund. Billing says they have no way to issue refunds
> for
> songs that were downloaded, and sent me back to tech support to get a
> new license file. Tech support said they didn't know what billing was
> talking about and sent me back. At billing, they finally concluded
> that
> they can't issue a refund. This confusion within Yahoo about their
> policy on restoring downloaded music is frustrating.
>
> I protested that hard drive failures are common occurrences (very
> likely to
> fail within 3-5 years) and Yahoo Music has no protection against this.
> Yahoo
> seems to have no provision to copy songs to a different PC. Therefore,
> your
> downloads are only good for a couple of years. Your downloaded music
> will be
> unplayable and your money wasted.
>
> In short, users should be aware of Yahoo's policy that differs from
> that
> provided by most other services and the limited useful time period of
> the music on a single PC.

CDs, if one cares for them (not leave them in the sun, step on them,
etc.), last longer than a couple of years. Old technology isn't always
useless.

W : )

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