Following rumors and scares to the contrary, Microsoft has released a statement regarding their beloved (if not so by the community) Zune. According to Microsoft, they will not be turning the Zune into a copyright cop, denying that it is their goal to control content on your media player.

In the same breath, the spokesperson also stated that Microsoft is very anti-piracy and does have money invested in anti-piracy efforts – which is why it is so easy to believe the earlier stories. Interestingly enough, they admitted to “playing both sides of the copyright fence”. With their growing amount of services and business partners that rely on software as a service, it is clear they want to “rent” content rather than sell it. Whether or not they deny it now, it's possible it will become true in the near future.