Ohmigod, this is *so!* funny! ----- Forwarded message from Barry <t.toner at NTLWORLD.COM> ----- To: HANDS at MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU > > LONDON (Reuters) - Technology buffs have cracked music publishing giant Sony > Music's elaborate disc copy-protection technology with a decidedly low-tech > method: scribbling around the rim of a disk with a felt-tip marker. > > Internet newsgroups have been circulating news of the discovery for the past > week, and in typical newsgroup style, users have pilloried Sony for > deploying "hi-tech" copy protection that can be defeated by paying a visit > to a stationery store. > > "I wonder what type of copy protection will come next?" one posting on > alt.music.prince read. "Maybe they'll ban markers." > > Sony did not immediately return calls seeking comment. > > Major music labels, including Sony and Universal Music, have begun selling > the "copy-proof" discs as a means of tackling the rampant spread of music > piracy, which they claim is eating into sales. > > The new technology aims to prevent consumers from copying, or "burning," > music onto recordable CDs or onto their computer hard drives, which can then > be shared with other users over file-sharing Internet services such as Kazaa > or Morpheus MusicCity. > > SONY AGGRESSIVE ANTI-PIRACY PUSH > > Monday, Reuters obtained an ordinary copy of Celine Dion's newest release "A > New Day Has Come," which comes embedded with Sony's "Key2Audio" technology. > > After an initial attempt to play the disc on a PC resulted in failure, the > edge of the shiny side of the disc was blackened out with a felt tip marker. > The second attempt with the marked-up CD played and copied to the hard drive > without a hitch. > > Internet postings claim that tape or even a sticky note can also be used to > cover the security track, typically located on the outer rim of the disc. > And there are suggestions that copy protection schemes used by other music > labels can also be circumvented in a similar way. > > Sony's proprietary technology, deployed on many recent releases, works by > adding a track to the copy-protected disc that contains bogus data. > > Because computer hard drives are programmed to read data files first, the > computer will continuously try to play the bogus track first. It never gets > to play the music tracks located elsewhere on the compact disc. > > The effect is that the copy-protected disc will play on standard CD players > but not on computer CD-Rom drives, some portable devices and even some car > stereo systems. > > Some Apple Macintosh users have reported that playing the disc in the > computer's CD drive causes the computer to crash. The cover of the > copy-protected discs contain a warning that the album will not play on > Macintoshes or other personal computers. > > Apple has since posted a warning on its website at: > http://kbase.info.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/kbase.woa/wa/query?searchMode > -Assisted&type-id&val-KC.106882. > > Sony Music Europe has taken the most aggressive anti-piracy stance in the > business. Since last fall, the label has shipped more than 11 million > copy-protected discs in Europe, with the largest proportion going to > Germany, a market label executives claim is rife with illegal CD-burning. > > J.J. Meddaugh - jj at bestmidi.com > > > Yahoo! Groups Sponsor > ADVERTISEMENT > > > > > Visit our list's home on the web! http://winamp4TheBlind.cjb.net > To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > winamp4TheBlind-unsubscribe at yahoogroups.com > > > > Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. > > ----- End forwarded message ----- -- Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV/3 | I choose you to take up all of my time. Email: davros at ycardz.com | I choose you because you're funny and kind | I want easy people from now on. | --the Nields
