July 24 - 2:55pm EDT   All ability to copy or transfer tracks bought through Yahoo Music will end with the month of September, an announcement indicates. Beginning on October 1st the company is shutting off the delivery of DRM keys for tracks, a move which should leave the music playable locally, but difficult if not impossible to copy to a portable player, second hard drive, or compact disc. The deadline follows months after the closure of Yahoo Music sales, which have since been replaced by a partnership with Real's DRM-free Rhapsody service. [full story]

June 19 - 8:30am EDT   Microsoft today changed its policy on MSN Music content and extended the lifespan of music bought from the defunct music service. The company has removed its August 31st deadline for shutting down its digital rights management (DRM) servers and now says owners of purchased music from the online store can authorize PCs and portable devices until "at least" late 2011, letting users transfer music to new or reformatted devices for another three years. [full story]

April 23 - 10:45am EDT   Microsoft late yesterday stirred controversy by telling former customers of its shuttered MSN Music service that it will shut down its license activation system for the service by the end of August. Although it allows customers to play any purchased songs on existing operating systems and computers, any music transfered to a new PC or OS install after the cutoff date will no longer be authorized to play. [full story]