IP: Anti-rip CD system bypassed

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> Sender: rberger () imap ultradevices com
> Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 12:45:48 -0700
> From: "Robert J. Berger" <rberger () ultradevices com>
> Organization: UltraDevices Inc.
>
> Anti-rip CD system bypassed
> By Tony Smith
> Posted: 01/08/2001 at 12:40 GMT
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/54/20766.html
>
> Macrovision's SafeAudio technology, designed to prevent PC-owning
> music fans from ripping CD tracks onto their hard drives, has been
> bypassed.
>
> Commercial CDs protected by Macrovision's technology went on sale to
> the public in the US and elsewhere last month, part of a test
> programme to ensure listeners aren't upset by the company's system.
>
> SafeAudio essentially corrupts the data on the CD. Hi-fi CD players'
> error correction systems can cope with the bursts of noise added to
> the music, so the listener remains - allegedly* - unaware there's
> anything they're hearing anything but a perfect sound
> reproduction. The error correction system treats the noise as just one
> more result of the inherently noisy environment, thanks to high disk
> speeds, grubby disk surfaces and frequent laser mis-reads, that all CD
> players are. Listen to an audio CD with error correction switched off
> and you'll hear little more than hiss.
>
> PC CD drives, on the other hand, require the mediation of a controller
> application, which treats all this extra noise as corrupt data and
> trigger a read failure. That, reckons Macrovision, renders SafeAudio
> discs unrippable. Every time you try to do so, you're told that the
> data has been damaged and the copy has been aborted.
>
> The bypass, highlighted by European Web site CD Freaks, converts the
> disc tracks to .wav files in RAM and mounts them as readable
> volumes. At that point any .wav app can handle the rip. The bypass
> uses a custom VXD virtual device driver file. ®
>
> *Macrovision claims that return rates on SafeAudio-encoded CDs are no
> higher than unprotected discs, but we're still not too happy about a
> technology that explicitly messes with a recording's fidelity. Doubly
> so, since it appears record companies don't seem too keen on actually
> telling consumers they're buying a SafeAudio CD.
>
> --
> Robert J. Berger
> UltraDevices, Inc.
> 257 Castro Street, Suite 223 Mt. View CA. 94041
> Voice: 408-882-4755 Fax: 408-490-2868
> Email: rberger () ultradevices com  http://www.ultradevices.com



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