Microsoft joins music piracy fight

Microsoft has launched its Windows Data Session Toolkit, which it is targeting at the record industry with claims it will stop CDs being copied by computer users.

The new digital rights management software is aimed at helping the major record labels, who have spent the past few years investing serious time and money in fighting to protect their royalties from pirates and peer-to-peer communities such as Napster.

Microsoft claims its latest software will protect CDs from being copied while avoiding some of the unfortunate side-effects of previous attempts, which saw some CDs become unplayable on a number of devices - from Macs and PCs to car stereos and portable 'Discmans'.

Companies using the software will be able to lay down tracks on a copy-controlled CD, safe in the knowledge that it can't be copied and burned by anybody with a CD re-writer.

Windows Data Session Toolkit is already attracting attention within the music industry - according to Reuters, EMI and Universal are "very excited" about the software.