Puretracks is a new Canadian-based service that steps in to fill the void left because the iTunes and their ilk were wary of our border. Like the others, Puretracks lets you download select singles or buy a CD in one shot and they also graciously grant you the rights to make 'limited' copies.

Ever clueless, the National Post report calls this the "first legal online music service" completely missing the simple fact that making personal copies of songs, whether off my vintage vinyl or from the copies on my hard drive, has been perfectly legal in this country since the 1970's -- whether or not you use them for music or for saving your high-school essays, every blank CD you buy includes a small tariff that goes directly to the entertainment industry.

And just before you click into Puretracks to revel in the reams of Celine Dion (which, incidentally, is priced 20% above the $0.99) there's something else you should maybe know: Puretracks is a trojan horse for Microsoft DRM.

Sure, you can download and burn your CDs of hip hits, but in doing so, as soon as you download MediaPlayer 9 and click install, guess what ... your kindness to "do the right thing" under this guise of legality has resulted in the theft of your home computer: The decision on what you can play or copy on that machine, from that moment on, is no longer your decision to make, it will be made for you, by Microsoft.