I don't know a lot about the current state of dLoaded music. My main focus has been on building my library of my existing CD's and vinyl. What I know of dLoaded music in from the old school halcyon days of original Napster.

I have done a little poking around to see what it's like now, and in one of my pokes I dLoaded a Neil Young album from new Napster and paid for it, mostly just as an experiment to see the quality and how slick/non-slick it is now. I wasn't all that impressed as it came in .wma format and isn't all that high quality anyway...but that is exactly the things I wanted to know...but I have it all the same. This was 6 months ago or so.

So fast forward to the present. My library is coming along and I thought I would now include my bought experiment and at least listen to it again. Fb2k wouldn't play the .wma files at all (I guess it needs a plugin) and Winamp 5.33 said it needs a security update to play them.

I don't intend to dLoad any more .wma files (except under extraordinary circumstance), and I will probably get the CD and do it the right way eventually....so this isn't too big a deal. Having said that, I don't want a bunch of hassle just to play 1 album worth (having said THAT, I did pay for it) of .wma's. So before I start installing things and jumping thru hoops, I thought I'd get a little background. I intend to get into dLoading more as my library project approaches completion, and I have been following the whole DRM thing....although since I haven't been in the dLoad loop for quite awhile I have some catching up to do. I'm not real clear on the overall concept of it all, and I haven't been that impressed with what I've found so far.

I guess what I want to know is:
1. What is this security update for Winamp all about? Is there any reason not to install it?
2. Why do I need it if I purchased it properly.

Any assistance appreciated.

AFAIK the WMAs you bought from Napster are protected by DRM - Digital Restrictions Management (some people call it Digital Rights Management). Most players are not able to play WMA DRM at all, others might need to download licences from internet.

So I would suggest you not to buy anything crippled by DRM. Get a real CD, which is usually cheaper and you can do whatever you want with it. It has much higher quality then WMA too.

Winamp, Media Monkey, J. River Media Center, WMP 11, Windows Media Center Edition -- many Windows based players -- support WM-DRM. The "security update" for Winamp's WMA support will just allow you to access your WM-DRM content. foobar2000 can't/won't license the WM-DRM bits.

Yes, get a real CD for full flexibility. DRM should be isolated to all-you-can-eat "subscription" style music services.