Microsoft is in denial. They deny that Zune will become a “copyright cop” but Zune has the toughest DRM of any player and Microsoft is only stating that they have no agreements in place. This does not mean that at some time in the future they cannot change their mind and implement some kind of filter to at the minimum disable play of the offending track but may go as far as to disable a Zune player “infected” with unlicensed content.

That would suck cause I have a nice personalized collection of music I just found here and there. People leave music in the strangest places and over the last ten years I have found it all over the place. Kinda like you might find a cassette tape laying out on the sidewalk I keep running into mp3 files of my favorite tunes that someone just dropped on the internets. I keep saving them cause I may find the guy that owns them and if he can identify them as his I’ll give them back. If not its finders keepers right? I hate to think my Zune won’t play cause I found some free music online.

Microsoft has already signaled a willingness to secure content on the desktop and now Zune and I’m sure this all means they’ll have plans but at some other time when they see fit.

Microsoft denies putting ‘copyright cop’ in Zune | Beyond Binary - A blog by Ina Fried - CNET News.com

The New York Times suggested Wednesday that future versions of the Zune might come with a tiny cop capable of catching digital lawbreakers.

And no, I’m not talking about some sort of bundled action flick.

In a blog, the Times’ Saul Hansell said that, as part of Microsoft’s deal to get NBC TV shows, it had agreed to look into the possibility of adding technology into the MP3 player that would scan a user’s collection for unauthorized content.

The blog cites Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn as saying that the software maker is exploring antipiracy measures with NBC. Microsoft issued a statement on Wednesday denying that there was any agreement to filter content.

“Microsoft has no plans or commitments to implement content filtering features in the Zune family of devices as part of our content distribution deal with NBC,” the software maker said in a statement.

Sohn echoed the sentiment. “We’ve agreed to work with these guys on a number of issues, but we have no plans or commitment to put filtering technology as part of this arrangement with NBC,” he told CNET News.com.

Microsoft launched its Zune video store this week with about 800 TV show episodes, including content from NBC, which earlier pulled its content from iTunes in a dispute over pricing and other issues. Despite the apparent coup with NBC, Microsoft is still lagging Apple badly on the sales front.

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