IP: Copy-protected CDs quietly slip into stores

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

> From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
> To: <farber () cis upenn edu>
> Organization: INFOWARRIOR.ORG
> X-Note: Message (c) by Originator.
> X-Note2: I hate MS, but Love OE GUI
>
> ....yet another attempt by the unelected captains of industry to subjugate
> the average consumer's livelihood......presuming everyone is guilty until
> proven guiltier......I've not bought a CD in over a year, and it's not
> because of Napster, but how corrupt that whole business industry is. I
> really feel sorry for the artists that are getting screwed while the studios
> and recording companies clean up......
>
> Rick
> infowarrior.org
>
> http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6604222.html?tag=tp_pr
> Copy-protected CDs quietly slip into stores
> By John Borland Staff Writer, CNET News.com July 18, 2001, 1:15 p.m. PT
>
> For the last several months, consumers in ordinary record stores around the
> world have unwittingly been buying CDs that include technology designed to
> discourage them from making copies on their PCs.
>
> According to Macrovision, the company that has provided the technology to
> several major music labels, the test has been going on for four to six
> months. Although it's not disclosing just which titles have been loaded with
> the technology, at least one has sold close to 100,000 copies, the company
> said.
>
> The technology, which inserts audible clicks and pops into music files that
> are copied from a CD onto a PC, highlights what could become a critical part
> of the major music labels' efforts to stem digital piracy.
>
> Although the labels can do little to stop consumers from "ripping," or
> digitally copying, the hundreds of millions of old CDs already on the
> market, they are looking for ways to protect new releases, which constitute
> the bulk of their annual sales.
>
> But the tests also take aim at the basic consumer practice of copying CDs to
> a computer for personal use without ever trading the songs with others.
> Although this is a familiar--and legally protected--task in the world of
> cassette tapes, the legality of creating music collections on a personal
> computer is more cloudy.
>
> If the Macrovision tests prove successful and the technology is widely
> adopted, the ability to create personal music collections on PCs, or to
> create mixed CDs from purchased CDs, may significantly diminish. Analysts
> say this is particularly likely if the labels finally start selling
> protected downloads online.
>
> "I do see this as the future if labels have gone down the path of secure
> digital downloads," said P.J. McNealy, an analyst with GartnerG2. "But I
> would be surprised that the labels would not communicate this to consumers."
>
> Clicks and pops Record companies have toyed with protecting CDs against
> copying for several years. But the technology is a difficult one, because
> anything added to a CD risks degrading the sound on an ordinary CD player to
> the point where audiophiles--or even ordinary consumers--start complaining.
>
> Previous efforts have largely foundered. A BMG Music trial in Germany was
> scrapped after many consumers said the copy-protected discs would not play
> on their CD players. An album release by country artist Charley Pride
> earlier this year misfired when unprotected versions were released in some
> markets, allowing songs from the CD to seep onto file-swapping networks.
>
> The most high-profile effort, the cross-industry Secure Digital Music
> Initiative (SDMI), has all but scrapped its plans to add digital
> "watermarks" to recorded music, after disagreements between labels, consumer
> device manufacturers and technology companies derailed the effort.
>
> The Macrovision tests are based on a technology acquired from Israeli
> company TTR Technologies. Rather than blocking copying altogether, the
> technology introduces some digital distortion into a file. Macrovision says
> this is all but inaudible when a CD is played through an ordinary CD player,
> but when a song is copied into digital format on a PC's hard drive, the
> distortion shows up as annoying "clicks and pops" in the music.
>
> The company said it and the labels are in large part testing to see if the
> changes in the audio are audible to consumers. Reports so far have turned up
> no significantly higher number of CD returns or consumer complaints, a
> spokeswoman said.
>
> The company would not say which CDs or labels have been involved, citing
> nondisclosure agreements with the music labels.
>
> "They don't want to influence the listener's potential experience," said
> Macrovision spokeswoman Miao Chang.
>
> BMG Entertainment confirmed that it was interested in the technology but
> stopped short of confirming that any of its CDs in the market include the
> copy protection.
>
> "BMG is interested in copy-management technology, and we will be conducting
> tests on some available technology including Macrovision," a BMG spokesman
> said.
>
> Other major labels would not immediately comment on the issue.
>
> Can they do that? The tests highlight the questionable legal status of what
> is now a widespread practice of making digital copies of CDs, if only for
> home MP3 collections or to transfer to MP3 players.
>
> The Audio Home Recording Act, a law passed in 1992, says that copyright
> holders can't sue people who are making personal home copies of music. But
> lawyers note that the act does not require copyright holders to make this
> power available to consumers.
>
> "There's no affirmative obligation to make this available," said Leonard
> Rubin, a copyright attorney with Gordon & Glickson. "They just can't sue you
> if you do it."
>
> Moreover, legal precedents have clouded the issue of whether a PC is
> actually protected by this law. In the course of a case that gave Diamond
> Multimedia the right to create and distribute MP3 players, judges ruled that
> a personal computer was not deemed a "digital recording device." Although
> the ruling helped protect the legality of MP3 players, it called into
> question whether copying a CD to a hard drive is in fact protected by law,
> even solely for personal use, some lawyers said.
>
> The upshot of this is that consumers may not have much recourse if the
> ability to rip new CDs begins to go away.
>
> "There might be consumer expectations here," McNealy said. "But there is no
> legal right."



For archives see: http://www.interesting-people.org/