Fighting Music Piracy with Glue

Scott Granneman writes: "The New York Times (Free Blah-di-blah) is reporting that Epic Records, in an effort to prevent reviewers from creating mp3s or even playing the preview CD in anything they don't control, is not disseminating the new Pearl Jam and Tori Amos CDs inside Sony Walkman players that are glued shut. Oh yeah ... the headphones are glued to the players too, to prevent any authorized output. A low-tech answer to a high-tech issue."

From the article

[alnapp]

"I brought this discman home with me, and I found a way you could go in the back of the CD and, like, pop it open. So I got the actual disc out."

So, they can't even use glue properly, its not wonder everything else has failed.

nothing new

[malus]

according to my girlfriend, a RABID Tori Amos fan, this is nothing new. She's apparently always done this.

Not that it matters, though, as I've had 7 tracks from Scarlet's Walk for well over two months now...

Re:Oh yeah right

[Fuzzums]

then you can take a look at each others walkman collection ;)

Other ideas to ensure they're not distributed

[Brento]

Use those greeting cards that play a tune when you open them.

Pay Tori to personally visit each reviewer with a guitar and play her songs.

Distribute the songs in Ogg Vorbis format. (rimshot)

Wow!

[morie]

I'm gonna start reviewing CD's. Can't make a living with my reviews, but sure can use the extra income from the unglued diskmans I sell.

Re:Ed.

[OrangeSpyderMan]

No, no, you don't understand. All Slashdot [posts/drivels]* are [reviewed/skimmed over]* by a group of [editors/blind chimps]* before appearing on the site - so they're all [high quality/riddled with mistakes]*, and guaranteed to be [of interest/reposts]* by the time they reach your [desktop/wastepaper basket]*

*Delete as applicable

And of course the headphones...

[leomekenkamp]

...would just have to be glued to your ears to prevent someone else from listening to it.

Re:Wire cutters and some speaker wire...

[Salsaman]

I'm sorry, your post is in violation of the DMCA. Please turn yourself in to the authorities immediately.

This idea should be taken to it's logical end ...

[YeeHaW_Jelte]

... by glueing the earphones to the ears of the reviewers. Disposable reviewers will be needed, though.

Re:Wire cutting

[mpe]

I guess they must be assuming journalists are not engineers, as otherwise they could just cut the headphone wires and them connect them to their favourite input.

Thus making wire cutters illegal under the DMCA :)

Hammer = Copyright Circumvention Device = Banned

[femto]

So is hitting the walkman with a hammer an offence under the DMCA...?

Re:Wire cutting

[isorox]

Thus making wire cutters illegal under the DMCA :)


I always use my teeth to strim wires - are they illegal too?

Re:Hammer = Copyright Circumvention Device = Banne

[Anonymous Coward]

"So is hitting the walkman with a hammer an offence under the DMCA...? "

Not if the disk inside is Tori Bush..er, Amos.

Re:Ed.

[lyonsden]

I thought it was apropos that the origional posting came from the morons-morons-morons department.

Re:Read the story!!!

[xigxag]

The problem is rouge reviewers putting the music on the internet

I hear ya brother! Those damn ladies' makeup magazine writers are the worst! Freaking Cosmo!! [thedent.com]

Oh.

Never mind.

Re:Bad Idea

[Stephen VanDahm]

"Put it on something that can't be digitally extracted."

8-tracks, baby!

The future of music reviewing...

[Cl1mh4224rd]

"In an effort to prevent reviewers from creating MP3s or even playing the preview CD in anything they don't control, music labels are now disseminating a prewritten review of the CD, along with a bill for $17.99."

Re:nothing new

[Cl1mh4224rd]

Epic Records: What happened to the walkman?
Reviewer: I didn't want to meet Tori Amos.

Gravity

[LinuxGeek]

In this case, I'm sure that a decent lawyer could successfully argue that gravity could be used to circumvent the 'glue lock'. My reading of the DMCA text leads me to think that any device or method used for circumvention is illegal. Dropping the unit would be a method. Hmm, guilty of dropping the unit? Then jail time for you. I would not want to accept such a liability for a simple review.

Been done before

[spakka]

I noticed that certain pages in my friend's twat magazines were glued together, presumably to prevent unauthorised copying.

Re:Wire cutters and some speaker wire...

[Cl1mh4224rd]

A deep feeling of sympathy for the battered and bruised music industry?

No one's gonna mess with the "little guy" who's just protecting what meager possession he has, right? ::cough::

The latest in IP circumvention

[spongman]

wire-stippers.

what is the world coming to?

Re:From the article

[Oggust]

Not if they used proper glue. (Well, maybe you can dissolve it, but not without melting the player around it.)

Seriously (no really!) though, isn't this a textbook example of a DMCA violation? Isn't this just what that law was written for? How come this menace of a reviewer is still walking the streets?

/August.

Re:not new...

[gfxguy]

And if it will prevent just one 12 year old from downloading music they would never buy anyway, then it will all have been worth it.

Re:From the article

[Anonymous Coward]

So, is that a violation of the DMCA?

Re:Wire cutting

[gfxguy]

Yes.

Only, your mouth is already illegal since you can speak copyrighted IP outloud.

We'll expect you to say goodbye to your loved ones and turn yourself in immediately.

Re:Not the first time this has been done.

[turgid]

Kid A was sent out encrypted? Ah, that explains it then.

When I said they could stick their CDs,

[Anonymous Coward]

... they obviously misunderstood.

Re:Other ideas to ensure they're not distributed

[jeremyp]

Better idea: she uses a different instrument for each reviewer. That way, when a ripped off mp3 appears of her playing her new album accompanied by a trombone you can figure out which reviewer leaked the song.

(Don't ask me how Tori Amos plays a trombone and sings at the same time - I'm an ideas man).

Re:Wire cutters and some speaker wire...

[AndroidCat]

So don't break the case or clip the wires -- use those telephone induction pickups from Radio Shack (one on each headphone).

Of course, I haven't shopped at Radio Shack in years. Odds are, someone has declared them to be terrorist tools or something...

Re:Wire cutting

[Anonymous Coward]

"...they must be assuming journalists are not engineers..."

Hey, here on Slashdot journalists aren't even journalists.

Re:not new...

[Nick Number]

They introduced a high-tech protection scheme that prevented any duplication. The new discs were extremely unpopular among computer users of the day since they wouldn't play in LP-ROM drives.

Sniff -- They *are* using glue properly.

[Anonymous Coward]

> So, they can't even use glue properly, its not
> wonder everything else has failed.

Actually, they *are* using glue properly, and that's the problem!

Of course, that explains the RIAA's policies towards their own customers. Valenti must have been drunk or doped up when he compared using a VCR to rape. Go figure.

Why just cut the wires?

[alispguru]

1. Open player with your favorite screwdriver/utility knife.

2. Remove CD. Rip, mix, burn.

3. Replace CD in player.

4. Back over player and headphones with your car.

5. Return electronic crumbs to Epic Records in plastic bag, claiming you "dropped it".

Problem solved...

Has nothing to do with copy protection

[nhavar]

It's pearl jam and tori amos, the record companies are just admitting that with a walkman that's as good as it's ever going to sound. Plus they're sending a nice little signal that if you listen to such music don't bother the people around you with it (use headphones). :)

Re:Ed.

[linuxelf]

But, since they are not disseminating music on devices designed to prevent authorized output, the original post was correct, no?

Re: Chemical means vs. Mechanical means

[Snork Asaurus]

Um, isn't that what they make Dremel tools for

IANAL, but I think that under the DMCA, wouldn't the Dremel tool would be considered a circumvention device (the same goes for sledgehammers and big rocks) and therefore illegal? Stores like Home Depot would pull them off the shelves for fear of being ruled contributory infringers.

workaround

[lo_fye]

cut headphone cord
expose the 2 wires
attach standard line-out connector
plug into line-in on soundcard
Voila!

Re:From the article

[Virtex]

Yes, it is a violation of the DMCA. It means that humans can now be declared as circumvention devices. In other words, being human is now illegal, and you can be thrown in jail for 20 years for it.

If anyone asks, I'm not human. But I think my coworkers already knew that.

Re:Wire cutting

[poot_rootbeer]

In fact the act of strimming wires has been illegal for years -- regardless of what body part you use to do it.

You pervert.

Re:From the article

[ScoLgo]

Please see the 'Corporate Agenda - Volume 14, Section VII, Sub-section Eight, Paragraph 2'...

..."An alleged human should never be considered as a 'Circumvention Device' under the DMCA as long as said alleged human is a member of the 'Consumer' class. However, should an individual stop being a member of the 'Consumer' class, they can then be considered to be a 'Circumvention Device' under the DMCA as well as a 'Dirty Communist Hippie' under the McCarthy Act. Said individual should, at that time, be prosecuted to the full extent of our^H^H^Hthe law(s)."

Even Better

[Bios_Hakr]

3. Replace CD with crappy Kenny G. CD
4. Write review about PJ's new stuff being really "mellow".
5. Return CD player to company.

It'd take them months to connect the review to the player. The look on their faces, as they opened the player, would be classic.