In case there was any doubt that Microsoft is heavily into DRM, the company put it on paper via a letter from entertainment go-to exec Blair Westlake to top media execs including NBCU’s Jeff Zucker, News Corp.’s Peter Chernin and Disney’s Bob Iger as well as the heads of major labels. In the letter first reported by Daily Variety, Westlake formally informed the execs of what you have to imagine has been said before—Microsoft is willing to work with them to provide a copyright-protection system that works. Or, as he calls it, “industry-leading notice and takedown.” The occasion was the opening of user-gen Soapbox to the public. Copyrighted clips already are popping up there and the last thing Microsoft wants is YouTube’s baggage without its traffic. Filtering, the method long promised by YouTube, isn’t part of the MSFT equation—yet.
A “person at a major studio” tells Variety “they’re pleased to see Microsoft proactively reaching out, noting it’s a preferable approach compared with many other online video operators.”