Sony Intentionally Crashes Customers' Computers 1209
Uttles writes "According to Yahoo!, Celine Dion's latest CD will not play in computer drives. In fact: 'Should the consumer try to play Dion's CD on a PC or Macintosh, the computer likely will crash.' How is this legal?" Since Sony admits that their product is designed to cause damage to your computer system, almost anyone would likely have a good lawsuit against them. Attention Celine Dion and all musicians: crashing your fans' computers is not a good business practice. No matter what your agent says.
Avoiding RIAA affiliated labels (Score:2, Interesting)
To be honest it's been quite productive really. By seeking out smaller labels I've encountered a vast number of truly great artists that I'd never heard of. There really is a vast supply of great music out there by small labels - you just have to look a little harder.
Protesting the RIAA isn't as hard as you might think, just put in a little bit of effort.
Jedidiah
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Why not just use new media? (Score:5, Interesting)
The media wouldn't have a drive for PC's, and if they patent the technology then nobody could release a PC drive. The only recourse would be for for people to run a cable from the device to the PC to capture the music. No matter what kind of 'protection schemes' they create, they'll never get around the fact that the sound becomes analog at some point. At least this way, they make it less convenient to copy the music.
This would go a lot farther than trying to preemptively punish me for being a criminal.
Gee, I wonder why anyone would want MP3s... (Score:1, Interesting)
Earth to Sony...
Re: Avoiding RIAA affiliated labels (Score:3, Interesting)
All the independant music I've seen is punk rock/alternative, which I don't care for.
Shouldn't the CD's be cheaper, then? (Score:5, Interesting)
Shouldn't they at least reward us for our inconvenience? I mean if Sony said "Tell you what, because we've implemented this new 'protection' scheme, we'll knock $5 off the price of the CD."
If they're not doing that, how can the use the word protection? It's certainly not us they're protecting. They should use the word restriction at that point.
Tell you what, if Sony (or any other Music Label) were to take this approach, I'd have a hell of a lot more sympathy for them. I'm not sure it'd end my boycott, but it'd be a start. They took my music rights away, therefore the music has much less value. So why should the prices be the same? That gives them the image of being super evil.
Re:How fast will it be ripped? (Score:2, Interesting)
Essentially, what Sony is doing is very bad for them. They, unintentionally, are essentially promoting the use of Gnutella, etc. If you buy the CD, you can legally download MP3s (though the record companies seem to dislike this concept...?). But after buying a couple 'bad' CDs, why bother? What's the point of buying a CD just so you can download things off Gnutella?
I think Sony, without realizing it, is really shooting themselves in the foot on this one. People are just going to stop buying CDs, and use Gnutella instead. Not only is it cheaper, but it will work better, and they don't risk damaging their computer. (Although I am still a bit skeptical of physical damage claims...)
Re:Clone CD can copy it (Score:5, Interesting)
Not that I think it should be illegal, but you could possibly get sued/imprisoned for trafficking (you helped people find it) in a circumvention device or process.
The fact that the above comment may be illegal should definitely motivate you to fight CBDTPA and fight to have the DMCA repealed/declared unconstitutional.
Re:/me runs out to the store, buy open and return (Score:3, Interesting)
Posts like this should not get +5s.
- A.P.
Gestapo Celiene Dion Policies (Score:3, Interesting)
We've recieved a number of complaints from NetPD when they've seen songs from the album pass through our networks on Gnutella. It's quite extreme the lengths they are going through for such a popular artist.
You'd think they would put more effort into their smaller artists. They are the ones that will be hurt more from copying, not Dion. With millions of fans, she's not going to lose that much from copying; Sure, it's illegial to copy, but apply the same protection to ALL of your artists. Not just your big seller.
Definition of Negligence--Sony guilty (Score:5, Interesting)
Sony by warning the customer is actually admitting that they have a defect product, they know it's defective and can cause damages, and they refuse to fix it.
Re:Celine Dion, eh? (Score:2, Interesting)
I had this experience with the game Tiberian Sun... I bought it a while back, I installed it on my computer, and it constantly gave me "Disc not found errors"... I thought the CD was defective, so i got a replacement (you could only return software for the same item)... same problem... I check the support page, and it said "This game will not work with computers equiped with CD burners" - supposedly to prevent piracy... The idiots didn't realize how many poeple who actually would BUY the game wanted to play it on a PC equiped with a CD writer. I ended up sellinng it to a friend for $25
Sony of Japan appears to "get it", sort of (Score:2, Interesting)
What drives me crazy about these stupid "copy protection" mechanisms that simply prevent playing on a computer is that it is COMPLETELY USELESS! Come on people, it's DIGITAL. It only takes one person with a good quality sound card, or the means of circumventing the "protection" and the world can be flooded with MP3s. It solves NOTHING, except that nagging problem you had with satisfied customers.
Re:What a bunch of crap (Score:4, Interesting)
It's rather easy for a "combination of bits" to crash your computer, especially from a trusted, local source (CD-Drive). It's not their computer you're crashing, it's their OS.
Do you remember the infamous screensaver override program? The one that hacked Windows 9x screensaver passwords by exploiting the autorun capability? That is just one example.
It seems to me like this stuff is just dangerous. I mean, if it "crashes" your Operating System, by definition, your OS has malfunctioned and is not working correctly. When that happens, bad stuff, REALLY bad stuff (a la Firmware overwrite) COULD happen.
It has been often said that, in order to stop pirates, the recording industry could employ teams of virus programmers (they could afford them), to create uber-virii, which they could then distribute through file-sharing programs.
That approach, as illegal and horrifying as it may seem, is probably actually more "legal" (common-sense legal, not this crazy "copyright" legal) than Sony's plan. I mean, you've bought the Damn CD, and you should have rights to play it in a CD player. Any CD player. Whereas if someone got their computer crashed due to the uber-virus, they wouldn't really have a recourse (They didn't own the files, after all).
Just my 2 cents.
Re:Clone CD can copy it (Score:5, Interesting)
How could a product that existed in time before this method of copy prevention become illegal? Sounds to me like Sony is using a method that could already by bypassed even before it was ever even used. This whole computer cd player prevention doesnt seem to be a "protection" method anyway. I view encryption or protection as a higher level technology designed to keep people out. Not a design that uses existing equipment anomalies in hopes that they will not be able to read it. What if they put the output level redicuously low on the cd and you could barely hear it unless you used a special Sony addon to your headphone jack? Would connecting your own extra amplifier be a violation or a circumvention device? They are using a method of prevention that violates a generally accepted standard, not an encryption scheme.
Why break the Redbook standard? (Score:5, Interesting)
- Encode the source material into high-quality MP3.
- Decode the resulting MP3s back into
.WAV format.
- Use the WAV files to create the master.
- Press copies of the master and distribute to retail.
This way there is negligible quality loss, and even perfect CD rips will still sound like ass when re-encoded into MP3. More importantly, the CD does not lose functionality!Nathan
Re:Dearest Michael (Score:3, Interesting)
The reason that major news organizations such as CNN, Newsweek, etc., all preface "Osama Bin Laden" with the phrase "alleged terrorist" instead of "terrorist" is that if you publish something you cannot prove, as a news organization, you can be held liable for the result.
Sort of. The reason they do that is to protect themselves from libel, as in calling someone a criminal who has yet to tried in court of law. That can be very damaging to someone's reputation.
When Slashdot publishes as fact the point that Celine Dion's CD is cause for a no-lose lawsuit against Sony, that could be a potentially bad situation. What's the source? Is it opinion? It's stated as fact!
There's a reason that they are called "legal opinions". There no such thing as a "legal fact".
Be that as it may, this is totally different from protecting oneself from libel. Guess what -- the first Amendment gives you the right to say just about anything you want, including factually untrue statements, as long as you are not damaging another person or entity. Is Michael representing himself as a lawyer? No, he is not. He's stating his opinion. Who is he damaging here? Someone might believe that he's a lawyer and file a lawsuit? Without getting any further legal advice from a real lawyer? Doubtful.
Yeah, I can just imagine that courtroom scene: "Your honor, I was visiting a geek web site, and one of the editors said that this was a no-lose case! Well, no, it isn't a web site about legal issues. Well, no, he wasn't a laywer. Well, no, I didn't talk to any qualified attorneys, I just filed the case myself. Well, yes, the site does have a history of posting editorials about various stories."
Sheesh, and you call me a troll.
Re:You aren't making sense (Score:1, Interesting)
Deal with it.
Reasonable person test (Score:3, Interesting)
Would a reasonable person expect a CD purchased (or received as a gift) to destroy a computer that has successfully played hundreds of other CDs? Of course not, they won't even read the disclaimer, and if they do they will interpret "may not play in computers" as "it may play in computers, why don't you give it a try" not as "will cause temporary or permanent damage."
In other words, that disclaimer is worthless at best, and an active inducement to try playing it in vulnerable hardware at worse.
As for your example, there's the same issue with the reasonable person test. Bigots may think they can identify homosexuals at a glance, but they can't and that policy is both unenforceable and arbitrarily enforced against innocent parties.
Time for a boycott. (Score:2, Interesting)
We have the economic weapon. Let's use it!
Re:I've been waiting for this (Score:2, Interesting)
As with any big corporation, everybody's just trying to justify their next [quarter|year|whatever] budget. Sony Music saw this as a great way to "protect their revenue stream" (blinders, but that's beside the point) and therefore justify the size of the bureacracy at the top of that group; meanwhile, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to find out that SEL is busy trying to find a way for their hardware (Vaios, PC Links, etc) to work around it so they can justify the size of the bureacracy at the top of that group.
This is the same exact reason you haven't seen serious, concentrated efforts at providing consumers with downloadable digital music -- who gets the money? It better be in my group, or else why should I spend part of my budget helping you out?
My point is, don't attribute the fact that you can play Sony music on Sony electronics to malice -- it's bureacracy (read:idiocy), and it's not going away any time soon.
(And, by the way, I'm not for a minute suggesting you rethink your Sony boycot. I don't think the concept as implemented here on Slashdot would work, but if someone finds a way to organize the masses of unwashed geeks, I'll be right behind.)
Goedel, Escher, Bach (Score:4, Interesting)
/Brian
Shit, now I am scared (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Celine Dion, eh? (Score:4, Interesting)
I've already had it happen to me... the newest Einstürzende Neubauten compilation is copy protected. I wrote a long diatribe to Mute Records telling them why I didn't buy it. Their reply: "It was the band's decision." The RIAA is not wholly at fault.
[TMB]
Re:You aren't making sense (Score:2, Interesting)
The high reliability is due to the fact that the audio part fully complies with the Red Book standard - not a single bit is changed in the audio data stream - i.e.: no uncorrectable errors are used to protect the audio data. This gives the highest audio quality for your protected music.
sveinhal
Re:No PS2 now (Score:2, Interesting)
Same goes for Windoze. Everyone here is M$ bashing, but I bet more than 50% of the hits on slashdot are MS IE. Bah.
I'm boycotting Sony since one of their VP had his talk about stoping MP3 by all means (at the provider, at the PC,
If you want to, just do it. Don't expect others to follow, and dont act only if they do, 'cause they won't.
Not in Canada! (Score:3, Interesting)
That's just being dishonest.
If he's Canadian, he's paid for it (assuming it's CDs he copied, onto cds). If he's really honest, he can just go see the band live, where they will see a penny for their toils.
I hate to say this, but I'm going to keep banging this point into people's heads. Others should do this, too. Yes, I know it doesn't really apply to your post. In Canada, it is perfectly legal for me to possess copied works, because the government decided that they would worry about paying the artist. How about they do that isn't my problem, but for the time being, I can copy music without guilt - because I've paid a tax^h^h^hlevy on the CDs. Nothing like turning music into a public good to solve this peer to peer problem, eh. Nevermind how stupid and unworkable that is to independant artists. Or once the public is made aware of this abolution in droves, or the big kicker: If someone defends a peer-to-peer music sharing program under this law in court. That would make napster LEGAL in Canada. Oh, baby. The RIAA would riot.
This of course doesn't apply in the land of the DMCA, not to worry, we're holding (held) tribunals on what we're going to do to hop in line like good little empire citizens, too.
Why does hardware/software let itself be crashed? (Score:2, Interesting)