Still More 'Copy Protected' CDs

maniac11 writes: "This story describes new CDs planned on being released by Universal Music Group that sport anti-copying technology. Not much in the way of actual details, but a heads up on a new plan to foil." Same price, worse product -- higher sales! Universal seems to be the first company to commit to downgrading its entire lineup over the next six months or so.

I think it's time

[SpanishInquisition]

for a vinyl comeback

Copy protection isn't ALL that bad..

[keyne]

Lets hope it isn't like those Michael Jackson CDs.. wait a minute.. depending on the music, LETS hope for it ;-)

MP3's reducing cd qualiy

[Anonymous Coward]

Who knew that a lossier product would cause cd's to follow.

Record Industry Morons

[daviskw]

The reason why the record industry is doing poorly is because they sued Napster and shut them down. I used Napster to listen to music I liked but couldn't find on the radio. If I liked a song enough I went out and actually bought the CD that the song existed on. It isn't enough for me to download the song onto the one machine I have dedicated for that task, I wanted to be able to listen to the whole CD and that meant that I bought it.

The music industry shuts down Napster, which automatically makes me angry at the music industry. So I stop buying CD's from the music industry. Not only that, but I also stop buying things I can copy music onto. Like blank CDs and disk drives and such. Those companies loose sales because not only do I stop buying CDs, but also so did two million other people. This means that probably a dozen, maybe two dozen companies suddenly can't pay their bills. They start laying off people and maybe they go out of business and maybe they just scale back but the fact is, they are in a recession. So those dozen or two dozen companies employ something like a quarter of a million people and of those maybe something like fifty thousand are now out of work. Those people now half to scale back on everything if they don't want to loose what they still have. No to mention the 200,000 people that are still working but are now terrified that they are next. But these people aren't the only ones who are scared. People read about it in the newspapers and they begin to think: "I don't think I'm going to buy that new cell phone today. I can afford it, but God, look at the economy." Before you know it we are in a full scale recession. This is because some record executive was afraid he might loose sales on CDs for Twisted Sister or Metallica.

They have their cause and effect really screwed up. They say, "It's all those people out there copying this stuff that's hurting us." It isn't that. Most people I know are fairly honest and if they make copies its almost always for themselves to use on some medium the record company didn't think of. Most people aren't buying music from these companies because they see how much the artists and the companies themselves hate their customers. It is this contempt for their customers that has put them in this pickle. Now they grind salt into their own self inflicted wounds and make it so that you can only copy onto a blank CD. This ought to make there customers happy.

My favorite part of the story

[Baba Abhui]

Sony Music Entertainment recently said the CD of Michael Jackson's new single "You Rock My World" was distributed to European radio stations with protection software after the song started showing up on the Internet.

I think it's funny that the author of the story chose to point out the absurdity of this sequence of events in this subtle way.

What were the record execs thinking? "Hey, everyone who wanted to pirate a copy of this Michael Jackson song already has. In retaliation, let's hurt our paying customers! That will show 'em!"

That's not closing the barn door after the horse has gone - that's setting fire to the barn to teach it a lesson.

You FOOL! What have you done??

[Wraithlyn]

You just violated the DMCA by revealing how to circumvent copy protection! You're going to rot in a cell with Sklyarov! Luckily, my State provided HappyThoughts TM visor immediately went opaque as soon as the offending material was detected so I couldn't see it.

Seriously though, the analog loop trick will work of course, but some hacker will write a digital ripper that bypasses the protection and release it anonymously on the 'net anyway.

"The minority, the ruling class at present, has the schools and press, usually the Church as well, under its thumb. This enables it to organize and sway the emotions of the masses, and make its tool of them." - Albert Einstein, 1932

They expect us to comply, pay damages or go to jai

[Frank T. Lofaro Jr.]

If your idea if winning includes statuatory damages of $250 (MINIMUM) to $2500, actual monetary damages (i.e. whatever they hoodwink the judge into thinking you cost them), and possibly 5 years in prison (NO PAROLE ALLOWED IN FEDERAL PRISON) if you at all financially benefitted (*) from it, yeah, in that case, I'd say we have a good chance of winning.

* In the copyright law "financially benefit" has been redefined to include non-monetary benefits!

See the DMCA [cornell.edu] and how Judge Kaplan interprets it as removing fair use in the DeCSS trial (*) for more info.

(*) The DeCSS defendants have been ORDERED TO PAY COURT COSTS, i.e. ordered to pay the court for their own persecution by the court. It would be like me throwing a rock and you and billing you for the cost of the rock.

Re:Okay, we need to organize something.

[Anonymous Coward]

This from someone trolling Slashdot. Oh, the irony.

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