Anti-Copy Music CD's?

[VaBeachGuy 12]

This reminds me of the copy protection they came out with about a year or two ago and touted so highly. The first day it was on the market someone figured out that if you take a magic marker and cover the outer edge of the CD (or was it the inner edge?) it would completely cover the copy protection, thereby "disabling it" and allowing the CD to be copied. I forget who it was that developed it, it may have been Sony but I know they spent millions of dollars to develope it and a kid with a thirty cent marker disabled it LOL

 

No matter what the music industry does to "protect" discs someone will develope a way to defeat it.

 

A Princeton graduate student said on Monday that he has figured out a way to defeat new software intended to keep music CDs from being copied on a computer -- simply by pressing the Shift-key.

 

For the rest of the story click the spoiler or visit Yahoo.com

 

Click for Spoiler:

In a paper posted on his Web site late Monday, John Halderman said the MediaMax CD3 software developed by SunnComm Technologies Inc. (OTC BB:STEH.OB - news) could be defeated on computers running the Windows operating system by holding down the Shift key, disabling a Windows feature that automatically launches the encryption software on the disc.

 

 

Halderman said the protection could also be disabled by stopping the driver the CD installs when it is first inserted into a computer's drive.

 

 

Computers running Linux (news - web sites) and older versions of the Mac operating system are unable to run the software and are able to copy the disc freely, he said.

 

 

The CD in question, Anthony Hamilton's "Comin' From Where I'm From," was released by BMG's Arista label in late September. Music retailers praised the release, which BMG touted as a breakthrough in the industry's efforts to prevent music piracy.

 

 

"SunnComm's claims of robust protection collapse, when subjected to scrutiny, and their system's weaknesses are not only academic," Halderman said in the report.

 

 

A spokesman for SunnComm was not immediately available to comment on the report. A spokesman for BMG, a unit of Bertelsmann AG (news - web sites) (BERT.UL), said the company viewed the software as a "speed bump" to prevent mass piracy of the disc.

 

 

"We were fully aware that if someone held down the Shift key the first and every subsequent time (they played the disc) that the technology could be circumvented," BMG spokesman Nathaniel Brown told Reuters, adding the company "erred on the side of playability and flexibility."

 

 

Halderman, who has previously done research on CD copy-protection techniques and their effects on consumer sentiment, called the latest protection attempts into question.

 

 

"CD copy-prevention schemes that (depend) solely on software, as SunnComm's does, will be trivial to disable, and alternative strategies that modify the CD data format will invariably cause public outcry over incompatibility with legitimate playback devices," Halderman said.

 

 

The music industry has blamed piracy and online file sharing services for a prolonged slump in CD sales. Software like that from SunnComm has been seen as a way to slow down the tide of CDs being ripped into digital format and uploaded to the file sharing platforms.

[Red Shirt Volunteer 0]

I haven't bought a new CD since I picked up the latest Radiohead disc. It's really good, but kind of irritating in that it's the one and only CD I have that I have to turn on my stereo to hear. Grrrrrr. I've got everything else on my hard drive since WMP combined with DFX (when it's on) and my sound card produce waaaaaaaay better sound than my stereo. Why must the music industry mess things up so much?

[ARMS 0]

I buy, i copy, i take the disc back.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

ARMS, once it's opened, you can't take it back unless you're exchanging for an undamaged copy. At least, that's how it is where I live.

 

Anywho, I've bought several "copy protected" CD's that "shouldn't" play on a PC nor be copiable. They play in my PC and I can copy them. Go figire...

[ddillard 2]

I just find it amazing that the music industry is convinced that they will be able to stop this by adding a small program to the cd. Hopefully someday they will wise up and jump on the bandwagon and start finding a way to use it to their advantage.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

ARMS, once it's opened, you can't take it back unless you're exchanging for an undamaged copy.  At least, that's how it is where I live.

 

Anywho, I've bought several "copy protected" CD's that "shouldn't" play on a PC nor be copiable.  They play in my PC and I can copy them. Go figire...

You don't even really have to buy the CD, just go to the public Library (if you're in the US) and borrow the CD like you would a book.

[fredbroca 0]

I even heard that the cds that they make with the protection did not have good sound quility go fig.

[Goose 0]

Stardate:213770.9

 

 

 

Yeh the RIAA think they can stop us.They cant.Resistance is FUTILE!!!!!!!! They were saying that they are getting people to stop.BULLS!T!!!!!!!!There are still over 3,000,000 users on Kazza.Yeah your really stopping us.

[Stormtrooper_HK554 0]

I've never copied music on my pc,before.I still go to the mall and buy my music,or cut on the radio.

[cptwright 1]

i do actually still prefer to buy my cds. just something about having the original. i have downloaded music, quite a bit actually but it was mostly old stuff, or just to see if i like something then go out and buy it.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

i do actually still prefer to buy my cds. just something about having the original. i have downloaded music, quite a bit actually but it was mostly old stuff, or just to see if i like something then go out and buy it.

I too prefer to buy a CD if it's an artist I like. For instance, I but all of Alabama's stuff and buy Elvis CD's as well. That's about it though. But I wouldn't buy other CDs one way or the other, so if I download a song of some other artist they aren't losing money from me because I wouldn't buy their music anyway lol.

[cptwright 1]

i have over 350 cd's and a lot of them i bought for just one song, many of those i wound up enjoying the whole disc. i love music, and movies. my mom and step dad are deaf so i grew up in a quiet home, and music was my escape. my wife thinks im nuts for my passion about movies and music, but then againshe thinks im nuts anyways. B)

[removed 0]

ill buy the cd if it is one of my favorite bands, but if i just like one or two songs from a band, ill just download them, or copy it from a friend.

[SoCalTom 0]

One of the ways to defeat the copy protection on CDs is to press the "Shift" key as the CD tray closes, or so they said on TechTV. Once the CD is playing, release the "Shift" key.

 

There have been several means of copy protection used by the record companies; however all of them seemed to screw up the music tracks by adding unwanted distortion. The distortion ranged from barely noticible to downright nasty.

 

I don't blame the RIAA for trying to cut down unauthorized piracy; but every time they try something different, they shoot themselves in the foot. The only thing to cut down piracy is to lower the retail prices of CDs. Make CDs affordable to everyone, and piracy will disappear into the sunset.

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

i have over 350 cd's and a lot of them i bought for just one song, many of those i wound up enjoying the whole disc. i love music, and movies. my mom and step dad are deaf so i grew up in a quiet home, and music was my escape. my wife thinks im nuts for my passion about movies and music, but then againshe thinks im nuts anyways. :blink:

Eh, you're not nuts, I love movies and music too! :lol: (and of coarse STAR TREK & STARGATE :lol: )

[Captain Jean-Luc Picard 1]

I don't blame the RIAA for trying to cut down unauthorized piracy; but every time they try something different, they shoot themselves in the foot. The only thing to cut down piracy is to lower the retail prices of CDs. Make CDs affordable to everyone, and piracy will disappear into the sunset.

I couldn't agree more. :blink:

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I don't blame the RIAA for trying to cut down unauthorized piracy; but every time they try something different, they shoot themselves in the foot. The only thing to cut down piracy is to lower the retail prices of CDs. Make CDs affordable to everyone, and piracy will disappear into the sunset.

I couldn't agree more. :blink:

Nothing is going to stop piracy, I've been online since 1983 which was before the internet even existed so trust me software, music, DVD and game piracy will exist forever. For every person that comes up with a new way of protecting their media there are 10,000 people making ways to copy the protected material.

 

Right or wrong, it's here to stay. If the problem grows beyond TPTB's control then they need to look at more innovative ways of selling, distributing and presenting their products. Otherwise they will spend millions upon millions of dollars to stop piracy only to see their efforts foiled 1 day after they put their protected product out to the public (as has been done on just about every occasion so far).

[Captain Holland 0]

I've been online since 1983 which was before the internet even existed so trust me software, music, DVD and game piracy will exist forever.

Actually the internet has been around since 1969, but it has only recently become popular.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I've been online since 1983 which was before the internet even existed so trust me software, music, DVD and game piracy will exist forever.

Actually the internet has been around since 1969, but it has only recently become popular.

Yeah but I mean for the general public. The internet up until the early 90's was primarily used as a network by colleges to share research and the like. What we know as the internet today though is something entirely different. Go back to the early 80's though and people other then universities were communicating on BBS's and some forerunners to today's AOL like People Link and a couple others.

 

So while I mis-spoke by saying "existed" for all intents and purposes it didn't exist as far as every day people are concerned.

[cptwright 1]

i have over 350 cd's and a lot of them i bought for just one song, many of those i wound up enjoying the whole disc. i love music, and movies. my mom and step dad are deaf so i grew up in a quiet home, and music was my escape. my wife thinks im nuts for my passion about movies and music, but then againshe thinks im nuts anyways. :lol:

Eh, you're not nuts, I love movies and music too! :blink: (and of coarse STAR TREK & STARGATE :lol: )

yeah ive got about 160 dvd's so far. and counting rather quickly. ive got season 1 & 2 of stargate sg1 on dvd, hopefully getting 3 for my birthday this week.

[SoCalTom 0]

I don't blame the RIAA for trying to cut down unauthorized piracy; but every time they try something different, they shoot themselves in the foot. The only thing to cut down piracy is to lower the retail prices of CDs. Make CDs affordable to everyone, and piracy will disappear into the sunset.

I couldn't agree more. :blink:

Nothing is going to stop piracy, I've been online since 1983 which was before the internet even existed so trust me software, music, DVD and game piracy will exist forever. For every person that comes up with a new way of protecting their media there are 10,000 people making ways to copy the protected material.

 

Right or wrong, it's here to stay. If the problem grows beyond TPTB's control then they need to look at more innovative ways of selling, distributing and presenting their products. Otherwise they will spend millions upon millions of dollars to stop piracy only to see their efforts foiled 1 day after they put their protected product out to the public (as has been done on just about every occasion so far).

Oh, I agree. There is nothing to stop piracy. As long as someone wants something, there's going to be someone that will get it in one way or another, legal or not. However, the RIAA attacking a 12-year-old girl is going too far to stop file swapping.

 

Don't get me wrong, but a lot of people think that, just because it's on the Internet, it's free. ("Why is it illegal? I pay $50 a month for Internet access! It should be included with that!" Which is what I have heard working in retail.)

 

I have mentioned in other forums and newsgroups that, if someone devises a way of protecting copyrighted material, there'll be 10,000 behind him cracking the code. It's inevitable. There are too many people on the Internet that, when put together, can do almost everything.

 

I believe that the RIAA saw some numbers, got scared, and started a massive crackdown. There has always been pirates and there always will be. But the general thinking has been: "If we crack down on a few, the rest will go away." It just doesn't wash.

[VaBeachGuy 12]

I think the whole law suite thing is to scare the mainstream. That's all it will accomplish anyway. If they scare John and Jane Q. Public away from file sharing then their profits will level off and begin to soar again. They know they won't be able to kill the pirates, especially since the internet is international.

 

This is one of those situations where I can see both sides of the coin. The industry needs to be more innovative and embrace the technology but I understand that singers and groups, as well as the rest of the industry are in that business to make money. If people get their product for free then they won't be able to continue in that line of business for very long. There needs to be a way for the file sharing technology to be utilized so the artists can still make money from their talents. Either that or they give the music away and devise other ways of making money, which I don't see happening any time soon.