tape/marker defeats ANY and ALL DRM schemes on music CDs (fwd)

["David J. Farber" <dave () farber net>]

===== Forwarded message from Barry Ritholtz <ritholtz () optonline net> =====

\From: Barry Ritholtz <ritholtz () optonline net>
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: tape/marker defeats ANY and ALL DRM schemes on music CDs
Date: Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:46:34 -0500

hey Dave


How astonishing is this: You can very easily defeat ANY and ALL DRM  
schemes on music CDs with a small piece of opaque tape, or a black  
magic marker.

How does this work? By obliterating part of the data track with a  
black marker pen. The trick is to identify where the data track  
starts, not too difficult because of the track gap, so as to not  
impair the audio portion."   It turns out that the tape/marker  
renders the data track unreadable, forcing the PC to simply skip to  
the music section of the disc.

Gartner offers this remarkable observation:

"After more than five years of trying, the recording industry has not  
yet demonstrated a workable DRM scheme for music CDs. Gartner  
believes that it will never achieve this goal as long as CDs must be  
playable by stand-alone CD players. The industry may now refocus its  
attention on seeking legislation requiring the PC industry to include  
DRM technology in its products. Gartner believes the industry would  
be better-served by efforts to develop solutions that use DRM as an  
accounting/tracking tool, rather than as a lock. This approach would  
enable them to move to play-based business models not tied to  
hardware, and to track their digital assets without complicating  
users' ability to move legitimately acquired content to whatever  
devices they choose."



So much for DRM . . . Nice work, Sony!




Barry L. Ritholtz
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Big Picture: Macro perspectives on the Capital Markets, Economy,  
and Geopolitics
(with a dash of music and film thrown in!)
http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments






Sources:
Sony seeks treatment for severe chronic pain
John Paczkowski
GMSV, November 21, 2005
http://blogs.siliconvalley.com/gmsv/2005/11/sony_seeks_trea.html


Gartner: piece of tape defeats any CD DRM
Anti-piracy technologies 'easily defeated', reports analyst
Tom Sanders in California
vnunet.com 21 Nov 2005
http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2146367/garnter-piece-tape-defeats-cd






===== End forwarded message =====

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