Microsoft Smoked Weed

Filed in archive Companies , DRM , Marketing , Technology on June 28, 2007

Shared Media Licensing's (SML) Weedshare, an early digital music service, has suspended operations. Weedshare was smoked by Microsoft, whose latest version of Windows Media Player was incompatible with Weedshare files. Weedshare was built on top of Microsoft DRM and the WMA format.

There is no information on the issues and attempts of SML to convert or translate Weedshare files to be compatible with Microsoft's latest software.

Weedshare came to market with a unique music offering about five years ago that combined DRM, shareware, and multi-level marketing. Since files were secured, they were freely distributed on the P2P networks. I personally was involved with some of their promotions. Heart was one of their top artists.

Listeners could hear songs three times before being required to pay for them. Files were distributed by retail Weed sites, over P2P, and fans who also received a small commission. I think I earned 65 cents selling Weedshare files. Weedshare required software to be installed on the user computer that tracked account payments, income, and purchases.

I am sorry to see Weedshare go. They had a creative and innovative business model that predated today's social networking craze. But they only met with limited success, as did the concept of superdistribution. The only way for them to go was down as DRM is on the way out.