"...and ultimately even burned onto a CD..."

Interesting take on Microsoft DRM strategies from Joe Wilcox at ZDNet. Among other things, it cites "[a] research paper [Word doc via Stanford's Applied Crypto Group] published last fall, reportedly by four Microsoft employees, conclud[ing] that DRM technology would likely fail because of consumer resistance to content protection and acceptance of file trading. The researchers concluded 'that a vendor will probably make more money by selling unprotected objects than protected objects.'"