REDMOND, Wash., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Bolstering its ability to provide the richest user experiences to consumers, Microsoft Corp.

In a move that would mark the end of a digital music era, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is finalizing plans to sell songs without the copyright protection software that has long restricted the use of music downloaded from the Internet.

By Jefferson Graham Internet retailer Amazon has joined the push to sell digital music without copy protection. The company, which has been talking about starting a digital music store for eight years, said Wednesday it will open for business this year.

Like Steve Jobs of Apple Inc. before him, Jeff Bezos is attempting to force a revolution on how consumers listen to and purchase digital music. Bezos, the chief executive of Amazon.com, said Wednesday that his online store will add digital music downloads to its offerings.

By Edward C. Baig Technology can be hard enough without the daily irritations that drive people to the edge. In our Talking Tech podcast, my colleague Jefferson Graham and I invited viewers to share tech pet peeves.