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From the PC World article (http://www.pcw.co.uk/articles/print/2154785)linked to in the article:
It’s a different matter with the new generation of digital videos and music files. The major movie studios and recording companies have simply said that without copy protection there will be no high-resolution movies or CD-quality music. As a result, Microsoft has extended and improved upon the existing DRM in Windows XP.

From the article:
...so Microsoft will totally control the premium- content distribution channel. Not only will they be able to lock out any competitors, but because they will then represent the only available distribution channel they'll be able to dictate terms back to the content providers whose needs they are nominally serving in the same way that Apple has already dictated terms back to the music industry: Play by Apple's rules, or we won't carry your content.

You're damned if you do and damned if you don't. The first says that content providers are demanding copy protection while the second says that Microsoft is using copy protection to dominate those very same content providers and that to do so they are willing to cripple Vista's performance and and its attraction to customers.
I know for a fact that the Dolby Digital Surround Sound 5.1 encoder in Ulead Video Studio 10 Plus wouldn't work as of the end of October, but I also know that Ulead (now Corel) promises a fix. I don't believe either Corel or Microsoft is suicidal.