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After news that NBC had asked Microsoft to develop content filtering technology to keep infringing files off the Zune spread like wildfire, Cesar Menendez, a Microsoft employee working on the Zune, said there was no agreement between the television network and the technology company to implement any such plan.

We think some folks in the industry were expressing hopes for how the entire industry, not just Microsoft, would come to look at content distribution, and some speculation has ensued.

In other words, a bit of wishful thinking on NBC's part.

Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn did tell Saul Hansell, who wrote the original New York Times article, that the companies had agreed to research filtering technology. Meanwhile, while Zune users will have to pay for downloads of 30 Rock and The Office, iPhone users can watch those shows for free. In other words, still no good reason to buy a Zune. (Illustration by Guy K)