Microsoft media player tracks music, DVDs users play

The Associated Press (on Yahoo!) reports that “Microsoft’s new version of its popular Media Player software creates a list of the digital songs and movies each computer user has played – a potential treasure-trove for marketing companies, lawyers, even snooping spouses.

The company is notifying customers about the tactic after inquiries from The Associated Press. Microsoft says it has no plans to sell the data collected by Media Player, which comes free with the Windows XP (news – web sites) operating system. The company said last month it had sold more than 17 million copies of Windows XP.”