The New York Times reports on NBC's recent decision to publish their television shows on Microsoft's video store for use on their Zune media player. NBC was once a content provider for Apple's iTunes but after months of negotiations, NBC and Apple parted ways last August. Apple had claimed the split was due to pricing but NBC later said it also had to do with Apple's unwillingness to "take concrete steps" to prevent piracy.
NBC Universal's president of digital distribution J. B. Perrette provided some clarification about what these "steps" were and how Microsoft has agreed to add software to their Zune to prevent playback of pirated materials:
The software would attempt to block playback of content downloaded illegally through filesharing networks, and remains in development at this time. Perrette acknowledged that the steps would meet resistance but insists it is necessary to sustain their business over the long term.
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