EX-VOLE, Jesper Johansson has been left so exasperated by Microsoft's digital restrictions management (DRM) software, he feels driven to become a penguin.

Last week, Johansson told on his bog how he'd been driven to distraction by the DRM on his home entertainment system.

His post began, "I'm turning off, disconnecting, and throwing out my Windows XP Media Center PC. For two years it has been the DVR unit in my home, as well as just a convenient way to view movies. However, the DRM zealots have finally rendered it completely useless."

It seems Comcast's On Demand video wasn't working, for Johanssen. Disconnecting the Media Center PC and plugging the cable box straight into the TV, "resolved the problem admirably," he notes.

Then he tried to troubleshoot his Volish Media Center PC, and that's when things started going pear-shaped and finally got ugly.

After much fiddling about and an update of Media Centre which crashed Internet Explorer, Johanssen commented:"How wonderful! Microsoft's "security update" (i.e. DRM update) has caused a Denial of Service (DoS) not only in Windows Media Center, but in Internet Explorer. Want to crash someone's IE instance? Just [refer] them to the DRM Update page."

With his Windows XP Media Center PC transformed into a boat anchor by the Volish DRM updates, he wrote "So, now I am trying to decide what to use instead. I'm contemplating whether LinuxMCE may be worthwhile?"

His bog entry ends with this obviously heartfelt and utterly charming rant:

"Is it just me, or is DRM of movies and music the poster child for an inappropriate security v. usability tradeoff? How many billions has the industry spent on DRM schemes that the bad guys break in weeks? How many perfectly legitimate users has the industry annoyed and driven away? How many lost DVD sales has it caused? How many lost sales of Microsoft's Media Center software and Windows Vista has it caused because the DRM sub-system randomly decides that you must be a criminal? And, how many bootleggers has it stopped? Based on my last jaunt through a night market somewhere in the Far East the answer to the last question seems pretty clear at least."

Quite.

The fact that the tale of a bogging ex-Vole mulling a move to Linux should entertain the media, moved Mr Johannsen to update his bog with the following: " Imagine the articles if they realized that, right at this very moment, a whole slew of current Microsoft employees are probably using Linux at home."

We hope he lives in a deep burrow. µ