The majority of my new music purchases are downloaded from Napster or 7Digital.

Theoretically I shouldn't need the new Pro-Dub licence if I want to play these from a Denon. Cortex or D2 but there is a problem.

Napster files are in .wma format which is not recognised ( as far as I know ) by any of the three, as well as having DRM protection.

Some 7Digital files are in .mp3 format but still protected.

The only way I know to play them from a mass storage device is to, quite legally, burn them to CD-R then rip them to a hard drive in a preferred format whereupon they become unprotected and useable.

Result - change of format requiring Pro-Dub licence which is a crazy way to have to do things, in my opinion.

Or is there an answer to this problem I'm not aware of?

I see your concern and wonder, is there a decent online publication stating the general details of the licence, how it works, who is in scope, who is out of scope, etc in plain English?

Preferably with an FAQ section, containing answers to questions such as these - that clearly we're going to see plenty of in the future.

http://www.mcps-prs-alliance.co.uk/musicfo...ges/ProDub.aspx

That's it at the moment lol

When I click that I get a new page come up saying "Bad request"

Perhaps it cleared the floor

I know already what the general provisions of the licence will be. Apart from that, logic tells me that any format shift[b] will require the licence. And that's the only concern of MCPS/PRS/PPL.

The formats chosen by download sites are nothing to do with PRS/MCPS nor are copy protection methods.

There is no answer to this currently and I'm willing to bet money that this specific point will not be covered by Pro-Dub FAQs. Why should it be - it's not their concern?

One might consider that it should be possible to play legal downloads, using a mass storage device, with no need for any conversion. Unfortunately, in most instances, it isn't.

soundtaxi is software amongst many that strips drm and converts but yeah you would still need a licence as its format shifting as you say.

I am betting they will not be bothered where the files come from (well initially)just that you have a licence as i mentioned before the TV licence people only want to know if you have a licence they don't want to investigate if the telly is stolen goods or not. They will investigate the people without a licence first is my guess

Stripping DRM from an .mp3 file then transferring it to a hard drive as .mp3 is not format shifting. Strictly speaking, stripping the DRM is not legal but the DRM is negated by burning the file to CD, which can then be transferred to a hard drive, which is format shifting but needs a licence!

Confused? Anyone would have a perfect right to be!!

Nik (UKHero) has raised virtually same point several times and requested clarification. Hopefully, everyone will have all the answers once the details are released.

A pound to a penny says that question has not been/will not be addressed. It's not their province.