Fighting Music Piracy with Glue 610
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."
Bad Idea (Score:-1, Insightful)
First of all, if you're going to make something *only* play out of a single player, do it RIGHT. Don't have the item on media that ANY CD player can use. Put it on something proprietary. Put it on something that can't be digitally extracted.
It seems like a waste of money to have to buy an ENTIRE PLAYER just to listen to a CD, but if they're going to do it, why not just encode the music onto flash ram, or a rom or something? That way, the device could be the size of a keychain.
The whole point of a CD is being able to play the same media on different devices. If they plan to limit that freedom, then at least take advantage of what you CAN do when you don't have that technical limitation.
Idiots.
Wire cutting (Score:5, Insightful)
Environment (Score:3, Insightful)
Don't think a Sting preview will be released this way.
Are there plans to reuse or recycle the returned CD walkmans?
Re:Wire cutting (Score:5, Insightful)
So don't review it (Score:5, Insightful)
Presumably other artists' CDs are put through the reviewers' own systems, set up the way they like them. Just say a fair comparison is impossible without putting these new CDs through that same system.
Of course, if you're feeling vindictive, you could always slate them instead...
Cheers,
Ian
self destruct mechanism (Score:4, Insightful)
Reviewing these CDs... (Score:4, Insightful)
Doesn't that just strike people as being stupid? How will they get a subjective review of the audio quality? Are the music companies trying to hide poor audio quality from the reviewers by making them review the music through sub-optimal equipment?
This is just a sad example of how paranoid the music companies have become...
Re:Bad Idea (Score:2, Insightful)
Here goes my piddling little amount of karma, but this has to be said:
Did any of the moderators who modded this up and thought to mark it "Insightful" actually read the article?
Not getting at the poster, but the comment does completely miss the point - I thought the whole idea of moderation was to keep things on track. Too often it seems to be a mechanism for ensuring that scum floats to the top, as moderators just "follow the herd"...
One question (was Bad Idea) (Score:2, Insightful)
How does the resource/effect ratio compares to say DRM?
Epic invested $3.99 and covered 95% of their area. DRM would be more like $3.99G / 97%.
Most geeks would love to crack this mom-and-pop security. Just for the fun of it. My first try would probably involve of three tiny needles. A second, a couple of mikes. A third,...
Most reviewers would just do the review and return the player afterwards.
IMHO Epic plays quite fair.
Why not digital? (Score:5, Insightful)
I imagine building a custom player with built-in earbuds and only one album on it would be cheaper than this dumb glue thing.
Circumventing at any cost? (Score:3, Insightful)
A lot of times these methods result in getting a much lower quality piece of software/media than if it were simply bought. A lot of times (mostly with software) the result barely works at all.
So is it really worth it to copy some of this stuff at any cost? I can't help but think that sometimes it would cost less time and aggravation to just go out and buy the damn software/music CD/DVD. And don't give me that "information wants to be free" crap either. There comes a point when it's just not worth the time or effort to circumvent copy protection just because you can.
Re:Wire cutters and some speaker wire... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Wire cutting (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:So don't review it (Score:3, Insightful)
Record companies are filled with drooling fuckwits.
Re:really hard to circumvent? (Score:1, Insightful)
b.) You really have to worry about people that seriously thought this was for the general public, even after all the crap the industry has been pulling.
c.) Cutting wires, etc would be obvious when the player is returned to the record company.
Though with c, (and yes I know the back can be opened and the CD removed, as per the article)
what type of glue is it? Can it be pulled off, and replaced (eg super glue remover). What about inductive pickups over the headphone wires, etc.
Obviously not a foolproof method.
These players are intended to be given to radio jocks, etc as a preview, the players are just to stop them from trying to play it early, because, if they play it early, the player can be seen to be tampered with, and the record company will never give them a preview again (While those that played by the rules will get them).
Serious reviewers with strong ties with the industry, or who are well respected by the industry, will get a plain CD to listen in their personal sound setups. They get this treatment, because they have demonstrated that they will not leak the music, but will give a review/opinion on the piece that will help generate hype and/or broaden the market.
Maybe I'm missing the point... (Score:4, Insightful)
Isn't that why they do it?
Nothing really matters.... (Score:3, Insightful)
I can't help but wonder if the publicity around the stunt won't generate more press than the releases alone, after all, they just successfully told half a million slashdot readers that there's a new Tori Amos and Pearl Jam album coming out.
Re:Circumventing at any cost? (Score:3, Insightful)
Not so. Not in general. Back in the Amiga days, quite a few cracked games could be installed on hard disk, while the "simply bought" game couldn't. Sometimes the crackers did actual bug fixing. Today, in the copy-protected CD days, any CD-R can be played by the disc changer in my car, while there are "simply bought" CDs that can't. The industry has reached that point were the copy is not only cheaper, but also more useful than the original.
Not a high-tech issue, not even a tech question (Score:1, Insightful)
This is just one case where record companies are trying hard to fight a real problem. Before flaming please read:
How would you like it if you would get thousands of complaints on your work before you published it, or before you even finished it? Record companies have a very hard time keeping music from leaking into the public before the release date. The music in these walkmans may not even be finished. It is sent in to the critics because it has become a habit in the industry. Not sending a copy could even result in getting no review because the critic missed the release.
More on the too-much-discussed topic: Record companies have a very hard time keeping people from stealing their products. Whether you like it or not, people are allowed to ask a price on what they do for a living. This is something that seems to be forgotten on /. You speak highly about customers rights and the legality of P2P networks, but we've forgetten something: these 'poor' bastards need to make a living. Don't like it? Don't support it: don't buy it and don't rip them off - that's what it is, don't try to sugarcoat it.
Some bands have said that they don't mind their music being copied. So be it, but they might have given the power to make that decision to the record company. Evil or not, that is how it is. If a band wants their music to be free, they can do it, no sweat, but the music in these Walkmans is made by bands selling their music and trying to make a living. Even a hugely successful band is allowed to sell their music. Don't like giving money to the rich? Then don't, but don't rip them off.
I don't like the rich getting richer, but people are allowed to choose the license they produce under. Some like it GPL and some like it M$ -style. We might like it GPL but we are not the ones to make that decision for others.
IMO (Score:2, Insightful)
Remember off-disk copy protection? Enter word three from paragraph five on page twelve of the manual after looking up a secret code on a code wheel?
I remember cracking most of the games I bought just because I didn't want to deal with that crap. I remember buying Battle Chess and Rail Road Tycoon form my dad, and subsequently breaking both of them so he didn't have to enter codes.
The software industry, though, for the most part, learned it's lesson. Unfortunately, the RIAA thinks it's beyond the reproach of us regular joes. I said it before in a similar discussion, and I keep picturing Princess Leia saying to Darth Vadar "The more you tighten your grip, the more systems will slip through your fingers."
I feel the same way about this stuff. You want to know why CD sales are down? Maybe people are realizing what crap CDs are being put out. Maybe people don't care about the pop bullshit record companies are putting out. Maybe some have realized (like me) that every time a new format comes out you feel pressured to "upgrade". I have over 200 vinyl records and over 200 more CDs, and I simply stopped buying. It's just not worth it. I have a big video collection that I feel is worthless after getting a DVD player - but I'm not going to build a DVD collection, I'm going to rent. I look at my current collections and see thousands of dollars that could have been used much more wisely.
Just my opinion.
Re:Not a high-tech issue, not even a tech question (Score:2, Insightful)
I also notice how most slashdotters, instead of talking about how stupid it is to restrict the ability to listen to music, jump in with suggestions on how to circumvent the copy protection.
For me the problem is that we are being asked to pay more and more to buy products that restrict what we can do with them. Like you said, it's their perogative to release music that way. And it's my perogative not to buy it. Perhaps there are more people with this mindset than you think. Personally, I haven't bought a CD in a couple of years (and no, it's not due to downloading). It's not rocket science to figure out there's more to declining sales than online swapping.
On the other hand (and I've already mentioned this elsewhere so won't go into detail), do you really have a problem with me buying a crippled CD and circumventing the copy protection to make my own mp3s or a copy of the CD for my car or something?
Be vewwy quiet!! I'm hunting Weviewers! (Score:2, Insightful)
If they wanted to find out which reviewers were releasing previews, the easiest way would be to send out a few hundred gold CD-Rs with each one individually steganographically encoded. When the album appears on KaZaa or wherever, look for the codes and backtrack the gold disc. Bad reviewer! No freebie cruises for you!
Re:not new... (Score:2, Insightful)
Wave of Future (Score:5, Insightful)
Well, my TiVo has recordings of copyrighted media inside of it, and it's likewise pretty hard, though not impossible, to get it out in perfect digital fidelity for archiving on other devices or to play on different players.
I expect to see more of this in the future as hardware prices continue to slide. Media will become more and more locked into a particular device one way or another. Your next CD player could well require an Access card in it to enable it to play the latest CDs.
great way to prevent art (Score:2, Insightful)
Only superficial pop dance tunes have the instant effect. It's kinda like sugar. You get a rush, but afterwards you feel thirsty and want something more substantial. Any great work of art will require time to absorb, so preventing listeners from hearing only ensure the quality of the music degenerates. No wonder the current crop of corporate engineered bands aren't selling as well as they would like. They bitch about how they've invested in an artist, but they are the ones forcing those bands to rehash the last album. Plenty of musicians have been bullied and pushed away from exploration.
Or as U2 said it. Crap music kills the music industry. Not listeners.
Re:Nothing really matters.... (Score:3, Insightful)
The second album, on the other hand, is done under pressure and under contract, and usually written a lot faster.
What about Quality? (Score:5, Insightful)
This is not realistically a DMCA issue... (Score:5, Insightful)
The DMCA is a bad law, and I know you guys are half joking, but blowing it out of proportion like this I think does our cause disservice. Actually understanding what it makes illegal, and being able to hold intelligent conversations about it's implications -- that's what helps us.
Re:From the article (Score:2, Insightful)
Actually we are serfs to non-human entities who are nevertheless granted legal status, are techically immortal, and can never go to jail.
Can you guess?
Bingo, the Corporation.
You are not free to move about the world, so Where Do You Want To Go Today is misleading at best.
Some prevention (Score:2, Insightful)
Does the glued in stereo-jack magically prevent you from splicing a jack onto the other end?
Just one question. . . (Score:3, Insightful)
How is this in any way important, interesting, vital, relevant or worthy of consideration on any level whatsoever which is not petty, braindead, boring and totally fucking Prozacked up the wahzoo?
This question has been brought to you by the ever-present, effervescent,
-Fantastic Lad