More CD Copy Protections Coming: No More CDs Here
from the wait-a-second... dept
For all the talk here on Techdirt about file sharing, I don't use any file sharing programs. I still prefer to have the actual CD. While I would like to be able to use file sharing apps to hear new songs in figuring out what to buy, the legality question is still very much up in the air, and it's not worth messing around with those apps until it's settled. A few months ago, I finally got around to the big project of converting my music to MP3s so I could listen to it on an MP3 player. Last week I bought a new CD online -- and it was the first time I've received a CD that had copy protection on it (it points it out in tiny print on the CD -- if I'd known beforehand, I wouldn't have bought it). Since I started converting my collection to MP3, I no longer listen to CDs -- even if I still like to have them for the backup and the full liner notes. It's just more convenient to have everything on the MP3 player. So, here's a CD that is more or less useless to me. I legally bought it -- and yet I'm unlikely to listen to it at all, because I can't turn it into MP3s. If anything, this only makes me more interested in finding the same songs on a file sharing program -- and less interested in ever buying a CD again. How is this possibly beneficial to the recording industry? With that in mind, it's amazing to see that EMI is following Sony BMG's lead in making more CDs copy protected, and they even admit that it's not to stop piracy, but just to annoy the legal purchasers: "Executives at EMI and Sony BMG said the point was to rein in copying by the everyday music fan, not to stop determined bootleggers." That "everyday copying" is to make it so we can actually listen to the music we bought in a way that's convenient. Since the "determined bootleggers" are getting the content on file sharing networks anyway -- there appears to be absolutely no benefit whatsoever to putting copy protection on CDs. The only thing it does is give people less incentive to buy CDs.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
napster
The last time I bought CDs, long time ago, was because I found some songs on napster that I wanted to buy. Haven't bought a CD since napster shut down. (The free service, I dont know what it is now)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
hallo
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Why did you bother keeping the CD?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: No Subject Given
There is not a word to describe the jerks who run the music industry in this country.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
I agree with...
Send some AOL discs while you're at it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
can't convert it
solution
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Shiny plastic discs...
I've not been in a CD store in probably five years...and i'm speaking as a *producer*...
I think the shiny plastic disc should immediately go the way of the dido....it's wasteful, environmentally harmful, and its physical distribution system is monopolized and corrupt.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Corrupt audio discs
http://ukcdr.org/issues/cd/quick/
Return the disc, complaining that it doesn't play in a standard player as required by the "Compact Disc" mark, and is thus *not* a CD as advertised.
The only way the retail chain will care is if they don't get your sale.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Corrupt audio discs
Best Bet -- grab AudioGrabber, or CDDA and encode away.
Audiograbber has successfully ripped copy protected CDs that my Car CD player will not even play.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Corrupt audio discs
I actually do use AudioGrabber already, so I tried it out. It actually does get most of the songs -- but not all of them (and, actually, not the one song I really bought the album to hear).
What silly lengths to go through just to listen to the music I legally bought.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Corrupt audio discs
This is getting silly though, copy protection that makes it harder to listen to the actual cd.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Corrupt audio discs
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
No Subject Given
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
linux?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
the right ripper is irrelevant in some cases
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: the right ripper is irrelevant in some cases
BTW: I have an older LG burner, but I rip my CDs with a generic Matshushita 52x CD-ROM.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Download it
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
My First Time
I figured it was only fair to buy the CD if I liked to artist. At the concert of Eleanor McEvoy, I bought her "Early Hours" CD. I figured it would support the artist more if I bought it there, as opposed to some online shop. She signed the CD personally, the last thing on my mind was that I would not be able to play the CD, and that I would not be able to bring it back to some shop...
After I ran into the no-play-on-CDROM problem, I figured I'd solve it with Audiograbber or something, but none of these programs helped. Next, I tried to download the music, since I have the right to, but I couldn't find the music online.
Now this CD is NOT by BMG/Sony/EMI: it was a CD by Market Square Records, and it carries the "Compact Disk" label. I didn't notice it at first, but it does mention the SA-CD technology, but it explicitly also say it has normal "Stereo CD". The lesson here: don't trust the copy protection labeling.
I simply will not buy CD's anymore. Not a single one.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Nine Inch Nails CD Protection
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Copy Protection
[ link to this | view in chronology ]