While Microsoft's Zune will address piracy issues by limiting shared music to three plays or three days, such action could violate Creative Commons licenses set up by artists who want to retain their rights but allow free distribution of their work. Zune's built-in limiations could cause a problem, according to Medialoper blogger Kirk Biglione.

He wrote: "Microsoft will undoubtedly claim this limitation is designed to support artists and prevent piracy. There's just one problem. Not all artists want their music protected by DRM. Furthermore, not all artists benefit from having their music protected by DRM. While it may come as a surprise to Microsoft and the major labels, independent musicians frequently promote their music by posting unencrypted mp3 files on their websites in hopes of finding an audience. If Zune is really all about community, as Microsoft claims it is, then it would allow music to spread virally, instead of [with] DRM."

Mr. Biglione also quoted from the Creative Commons FAQ, which says: "If a person uses DRM tools to restrict any of the rights granted in the license, that person violates the license." In addition, he noted a blog entry by Cesar Menendez, Microsoft's Zune Insider, who wrote: "There currently isn't a way to sniff out what you are sending, so we wrap it all up in DRM. We can't tell if you are sending a song from a known band or your own home recording so we default to the safety of encoding."

On Tuesday, however, Mr. Menendez published a new post in which he explained: "We don't actually 'wrap all songs up in DRM:' Zune to Zune Sharing doesn't change the DRM on a song, and it doesn't impose DRM restrictions on any files that are unprotected. If you have a song - say that you got 'free and clear' - Zune to Zune Sharing won't apply any DRM to that song."

He added: "The 3-day/3-play limitation is built into the device, and it only applies on the Zune device: when you receive a song in your Inbox, the file remains unchanged. After 3 plays or 3 days, you can no longer play the song; however, you can still see a listing of the songs with the associated metadata.

"So, to answer the direct question, Zune doesn't have 'viral DRM.' And mea culpa on telling everyone that we impose DRM."

He did not, however, address whether or not the Zune's built-in 3-day/3-play limitation could constitute a violation of a Creative Commons license.

Thanks to reader Michael McKinney for the link.

4:03 PM EST: Updated article with new information from Mr. Menendez, which was published on his blog approximately 30 minutes prior.