consumer rights and copy protection

[allaboutrock]

seeing that we're all about music here.
 
 i had a question for you all. how do you feel about this new trend to copy protect cds by the music industry.
 
 i'm personally infuriated beyond belief that i can't transfer the audio files from the new APC cd that i LEGALLY purchased onto my iPOD.
 
 what do ya'll think?

[Bags]

That hasn't happened to me yet, but the first time I can't put music which I bought on my iPod, I will throw an out and out hissy fit.  It's gonna be scary.
 
 And yet, I understand the impulse to copy-protect the music.  I'll admit to sharing CDs (though I do make my friends by the other albums by a band if they like what I gave them).  Although, the friends I copy an album for would never have bought that album otherwise.  It's in fact creating a chance that other albums will be purchased.
 
 I dunno.  I find all this stuff pretty tough.

bilge

[Jaguär]

Kind of bugs me BUT....there are ways around it for anyone who knows what they are doing. More like more wasted money by the music industry.     :roll:    
 
 That doesn't bother me so much but what does bug the shit out of me is when a disc isn't PLAYABLE in your computer or other devices. Not everyone uses all the same sort of devices anymore to listen to their music. For one, it has not been cost effective for me to upgrade or fix my ailing stereo componet system so I usually either listen to them in my car or through my computer, which has a very nice set of speakers. Though I haven't had the experience yet, I know of lots of people who couldn't listen to particular CDs by using their computers, which are now more than just office tools. To me, that just defeats the purpose of making a computer the new all-in-one home entertainment/work/communication center. And it also makes me not want to buy particular CDs that play that game. Why should I when I can't even listen to the blame thing that I've paid to legally own!?    :mad:

[Herr Professor Doktor Doom]

There was one CD, can't remember which one now, which when I tried to play it, it tried to install its own special player.  The installation failed and it fucked up my computer's other settings.    :mad:

[Jaguär]

Originally posted by Doctor Doom:
  There was one CD, can't remember which one now, which when I tried to play it, it tried to install its own special player.  The installation failed and it fucked up my computer's other settings.     :mad:  

Now that is low! Sounds like it changed all your settings to make that one the default player. I hope it was a promo or some other kind of freebie because no one should have to be put through something like that after they've paid to own the disc with the music.

[markie]

Was there a warning on the disk that you could not rip it? How is it protected?
 
 As I understand it protected Cds are much rarer in the US than the rest of the world. IMHO it is another step to push people into downloading music (probably illegally) online. I mean if you pay $18 and cant do what you want with it, why not just take the "free" version that you can do what you want with.

[ggw]

Don't but copy protected CDs.
 
 Send the label an e-mail and tell them you would have bought it, but declined due to the copy protection.
 
 If it wasn't prominently noted on the package that the CD was protected, take it back to the store and ask for your money back.

[myuman]

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  If it wasn't prominently noted on the package that the CD was protected, take it back to the store and ask for your money back.

Yeah... and that will fly really well.  Maybe Walmart (they'll take something you used for a year back)... but Best Buy, Tower, etc.... I don't think so.

[allaboutrock]

The CD came as a gift actually, and I only noticed it was copy protected when I tried dowload it onto my iPOD.
 
 I actually sent EMI a couple emails telling them about my problem and letting them know that I think that it infringes on consumer rights.
 
 Lets see if they even get back to me...
 
 And I do agree, this is going to cause a backlash, people are going to by CDs less and download illegally more.
 
 I'm certainly pissed off enough to give up music at the moment  

[ggw]

Originally posted by myuman:
   

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  If it wasn't prominently noted on the package that the CD was protected, take it back to the store and ask for your money back.

Yeah... and that will fly really well.  Maybe Walmart (they'll take something you used for a year back)... but Best Buy, Tower, etc.... I don't think so. [/b]

When the initial copy protected CDs were released, Best Buy did take them back.  I'm not aware that policy has changed.

[markie]

Originally posted by ggwâ?¢:
  ]When the initial copy protected CDs were released, Best Buy did take them back.  I'm not aware that policy has changed.

As ever GGW is right.....
 
 Here is a UK case
 
 http://news.com.com/2100-1023-276036.html?legacy=cnet
 
 As long as consumers create a backlash, the industry wont get away with it.
 
 Despite it being a present, taking it back to the store would be a fine idea, for principle, if nothing else.

[imaginarycolors]

Yeah, I think if u want to put it in the iPod, get the MP3s and copy protection can be described in one word: douchie!

[Joymonster]

I just tried it and it does work...
 
 Simple Flaw in CD-Copy Protection System?
 
 
 LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - 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.
 
 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."

[kosmo vinyl]

this proves just how brain dead the music industry is...  and   how good their spin is.
 
 praising a seriously flawed copy protection scheme.
 
 i'll bet more than one corporate it dept will have something to say about any media which install it's own driver into memory.
 
 it should be treated like the virus it is... and stealthly loading sw on to a personal computer could be seen as an invasion of privacy and illegal.   i think class action lawsuits have become a frivolus knee jerk reaction in the us.  but in this case there could be a good reason.