[Gllug] Copy-protected CD's

[Ian Baillie]

Hmm...

I remember setting up a new iMac at work.  I put in an audio CD, which didn't 
appear on the desktop, and caused the machine to freeze.  I had to force a 
reboot, which the machine refused to do, and wouldn't allow me to eject the 
CD either.  This was very annoying, as I had just installed the system on the 
Mac and then put a CD in to test the speakers.  After an hour on the phone to 
Apple, they ended up sending an Engineer out to remove it.  I then tried it 
in a PC and an iBook, and eventhough they wouldn't read the CD, you could 
eject it.

CD's should carry a label if they can't be played on a home computer, as this 
is a legitimate use of the product.


Ian



On Wednesday 10 April 2002  2:42 pm, you wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Apparently one of the ways copy protection is done is to put a data
> partition on the CD (as in multi-session) with mp3 type files and a player
> that will play these files. As per usual multi-session disks when you play
> this on a "normal" CD player it ignores the data partition, when you load
> it up on a PC it ignores the CD part and you have access to the
> mp3-type-files. Apparently the CD part is actually not availible at all to
> a PC.
>
> On a side note from the looks of things copy protection is not working so
> well for the record companies. For a start the makers of CD hardware are
> getting pissed off. There has been no copy protection device that has
> actually worked perfectly and within the release in the shops of a copy
> protected CD the files are waiting for download on mp3 sites. In fact, the
> fact that there is a challenge seems to be an incentive to rip the CDs.
>
> Also, copy protected CDs are not (legal?/liked?) in some parts of the world
> so a CD copy protected in one part of the world is not protected elsewhere
> and the Internet is International so someone somewhere will be able to rip
> the CD and make it availible to all.
>
> At the very least one can plug a cable from the output of one device to the
> input of another and make a copy (not perfect but good enough if you are
> going to make an mp3).
>
> As always, (think PC games copy protection schemes) the only ones who
> really lose out are the people who genuinely buy the product and have to
> jump through hoops to enjoy it.
>
> Allen Baranov


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