Amazon.com Inc. said Wednesday the company will launch a digital music store later in 2007 with millions of songs, free of copy protection technology that limits where consumers can play their music.

The Seattle-based company said music company EMI Group has licensed its digital catalog to the store.

Amazon's copy-protection-free MP3s will allow customers to play their music on virtually any of their personal devices -- including personal computers, Apple Inc. Macintoshes, Apple's iPods, Microsoft Corp.(MSFT)'s Zune music players -- and to burn songs to compact discs for personal use.

InformationWeek/Reuters