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When Copy Protection Fails
Posted by
timothy
on Wed May 14, 2003 02:06 AM
from the nothing-can-go-wrong dept.
from the nothing-can-go-wrong dept.
StArSkY writes "The Age in Australia has an article today explaining the experiences of a Melbourne guy who purchased the Norah Jones CD tht is 'copy protected.' Unfortunately the only way he could listen to the CD on Apple computers or Intel computers running XP was to copy the CD. This sort of defeats the purpose of the copy protection in the first place. Serious yet amusing at the same time."
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Sounds Familiar (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Sounds Familiar (Score:5, Interesting)
They exist so that each copy of the program is serialized, and they can in theory, identify your identity if you leak the CD key to pirates. Of course, the way to thwart that is not register at all -- unless you have to do that silly Microsoft activation thing.
In the console world, we're a bit more enlightened, and never bother with such asinine methods such as "CD keys".
Parent
Re:Sounds Familiar (Score:5, Informative)
Blah, blah, divisibe-by-seven-section, blah blah
xxxxx-1111111-xxxxx
Explanation [omnitechdesign.com]
Parent
Re:Sounds Familiar (Score:5, Interesting)
Parent
Solution: dont use XP! (Score:5, Informative)
http://www.sonicspot.com/alternatec
Does Australian law prohibit me doing this?
autofs (Score:5, Informative)
Is there a linux solution like this? An alternate iso9660 driver, that lists audiotracks as wavs?
As little googling would have tould you, there are several such filesystems for linux. I myself use audiofs. It's as easy to use as "mount -t audio /dev/cdrom /cdrom". Actually, if the cd does not have an iso9660 filesystem, the "auto" filesystem can detect it automatically.
Parent
That isn't too bad. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:That isn't too bad. (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, the exact opposite is starting to happen, to an extent; that is, record companies are starting to build in "added value" to CD's to entice you to actually buy the CD instead of just downloading the tracks. Here in Canada, The Tragically Hip [thehip.com] did something involving cheaper concert tickets [thehip.com] for people who bought their latest album; Wilco [wilcoworld.net] put an EP's worth of .mp3 files [wilcoworld.net] up for download for people who could enter a code from the packaging of their last album [wilcoworld.net]. This is another odd, unforeseen consequence of .mp3 sharing; record companies have to earn their money when they sell albums and are doing all sorts of stuff, like bundling DVD's with CD's (J5 [jurassic5.com] did that with their last album), or using contests, on-line content or other swag to actually separate you from your buck.
Parent
How did he copy it? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:How did he copy it? (Score:5, Funny)
how did he manage to make a copy?
Bah, that's easy...
tweezers, a really small magnet, and lots of time are all you need...
Parent
Re:How did he copy it? (Score:5, Funny)
No one likes a gloater.
Parent
Simple solution. (Score:5, Insightful)
IFPI (Score:5, Funny)
I had to do a double-take on reading the name of that organisation. Needless to say I was greatly disappointed when I reread it. That h just looks so similiar to an r.
I had my credit card out to join and everything.
cheap web site hosting [cheap-web-...ing.com.au] from 3 rocks a month.
Re:IFPI (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
I´ve said it before, and I´ll say it again (Score:5, Insightful)
The best (or worst, depending of if you are an exec of a user) the record companies can do is to make their products a little bit more inconvenient to make copies of. They do this by making it more difficult (but never ever impossible) or time consuming to make copies. That is all.
To call it 'protection' is like wrapping your wiener in toilet paper and calling it a condom. It's stupid, it doesn't get yhe job done and it's only uncomfy. (I think, haven't tried it.)
Re:I´ve said it before, and I´ll say it again (Score:5, Funny)
I call them 'listening protected'
Parent
Same with software (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, guess what -- that disc is copy protected. So, in order to excercise my authorized right under the EULA, I have to defeat the copy protection...
Before long... (Score:5, Funny)
Been there, done that (Score:5, Funny)
CD-RW Drives are the Problem (Score:5, Informative)
The way the protection works is by adding tracks (containing corrupt CD-R data) after Track 1 (containing the audio data). This is fine for AudioCD players because they only read Track 1. Standard CD-ROM drives also have no problem, because they ignore the data they can't understand (I think it's a form of corrupt extra session data).
CD-R/CD-RW/Combo drives however attempt to find these extra sessions/writeable areas and when they fail, assume the CD is corrupted and eject it.
What a fantastic copy control scheme, huh? Can't read the disk with a burner, but you can certainly copy it by doing a CD-ROM -> CD-RW copy. And then you can play the burnt copy. Ingenious.
I also wrote to EMI and to News Limited (in response to an earlier story they ran) about my troubles, but neither cared (possibly because I hadn't purchased the CDs in question, they were radio use only).
Boycott, with a twist (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course, we should boycott artists and record companies that use copy protection (playback protection?). But we should do it in a way that causes the most inconvenience for the stores and record companies:
The store is obliged to pay the refund when the product doesn't work. A "copy protected" disc is not a CD, even if it's (misleadingly) sold as one.
I heard that the latest, copy protected, Robin Williams album was sold in more than 100.000 copies in my country. No more than 10 discs were returned. Let's make that number higher!
RETURN defective crap. It will work. (Score:5, Insightful)
I took it home, and...you guessed it. It wouldn't play with WMP 8, Real, or WinDVD in any of 4 drives I tried on two machines. I did find some old shareware player that would play it, but it was a crap player, and I couldn't stand the jumpiness, digital blocking, and other fine artifacts whilst I watched.
So, I trotted it's little shiny ass right back to Walmart, stood in line for 20 minutes, and, after reading the "no refunds on opened CDs, DVDs or Software" about 412 times, I got to the front of the line. I handed the 17 year old girl my DVD, which she inspected closely.
"Yeah, it's been opened," I said. "It's ok. I just need a refund." "Uhhhh, sir? We don't really...ummm...do refunds...on...ummm...opened...uhhh...stuff like this."
I grinned, and said, "That's ok. Just need my money back, thanks. It doesn't work." I was thinking to myself, how do I explain DVD copy protection to this girl without making her head explode or having her gnaw her arm off to escape?
"Well, I can't really...ummm...give a refund on this. Would you like to exchange it for another one?" "Nope," I said with a smile. "Just my money back. Thanks."
She pointed to the tiny sign about no refunds on DVDs and said "Well, we have a policy..." I interrupted her with my best Fargo-esque Minnesota accent, "Hey, you betcha. Y'know...Yeah, I see your big sign right there...yeah, that one. Hey, that's great. 'Satisfaction Guaranteed' Wow. That sign's gotta be 12 feet tall, huh? Dontcha figure that sorta makes this little one here not really all that important?" She stared at me blankly (We're in Portland, not Minnesota, and I don't think she got it.)
"Yeah, ummm...I'm gonna have to call my manager." "Not a problem," says I, with a chorus of groans from the people in line behind me...So, the manager shows up, and she's gotta be at LEAST 19, with a cool ring of keys around her wrist. GOTTA be important stuff, huh? The clerk hands her the DVD with a conspiratorial look at me..."it's been opened..." she whispers quietly to the manager.
So, after a 5 minute diatribe about the horrors of this copy protection crap, she just shook her head, "We can't return this." At which point I pulled out my cell phone (which was off), punched 911 so she could see me, and said, "Are you suure? I've got nothing else to do tonight."
So, I got my money back.
Return your DEFECTIVE DVDs and CDs. If we don't, all we're doing is encouraging them!
Parent
Copy protection is currently impossible. (Score:5, Insightful)
Copy protection only works in systems that have been designed from the ground up to be copy protected.
Any video or audio that is decodeable on a PC can be hijacked from that same PC.
The only way to protect your data is to control the hardware. The only reason DVDs are hard to copy is because you can't get a DVD-r that has the same capacity.
the MPIAA is in a much better situation compared to the RIAA considering cd audio is already good enough, that consumers don't really feel the need to switch to a higher quality version of the CD. Where on the other hand, DVDs are much better than VHS tapes, and have the added benefit of being harder to copy.
Why oh why (Score:5, Insightful)
I guess my point is, they should really stop alienating their customers. I have never seen a business model that treats their customers so badly. People are still going to buy your albums! We made copies of cassette tapes, we're going to make copies of CD's and were giong to make copies of MP3's. Get over it, it's how it works. You're still going to make so much money! Get over it, ok?
They're probably spending more money fighting this stupid war on whatever than they are going to save. All they are doing is making people resent them and want to steal from to the point where smart people are going to keep cracking their stuff and become passionate about distributing it all. Another day, another enemy for the RIAA. Because of their actions, I would wadger that they have made many people angry to the point where they don't want to buy their albums, where they want to steal their albums and frankly, it's a war they will not win. You cannot go to war with your consumers. They are your friends!
Think about it, what other business would do this? If you walked into a store and they started accusing you of stealing and would only sell you things in such a way where you were oblivious to most of what it contained and treated you like shit all around, who would come back? I'm getting to the point where I'm going to want to steal all their music, just to spite them.
In short, they need to settle down and just accept the market as it is. They choose a digital format because it is VERY cheap to make, thus increasing profits one billion fold and yet cannot cope with the fact that this cheap medium will also allow people to send a "free" album out to someone from time to time.
And lets face it, I would bet most albums people download etc are albums they probably would not buy in the first place. How many play lists of people have you seen that have tons of songs you know they would never buy anyways?
Anyways, the main point is that the customer just BOUGHT the album, WTF are you doing? They B-O-U-G-H-T it!
AHHHH!!
Re:Why oh why (Score:5, Interesting)
Oh, poo, it appears that the guilty-until-proven-innocent idea the RIAA was operating under was just demonstrated to be wrong, at least among macintosh users. (Granted its a population subset, but the RIAA has 0 data to the contrary....) But the apple music store makes those nice record labels obsolete minus their functions "discovering" (pronounced: "manufacturing" c.f. avril lavigne) artists and "producing" songs. (long live daniel beddingfield....)
Go buy a mac. Apple _is_ fighting for your digital rights.
Parent
A Roman Emperor once said (Score:5, Interesting)
Analogically speaking, EMI just messed up the gladiator games.
Unrest will ensue.
(Gee, I wish I knew the EXACT quote and which Roman Emperor said it....)
When Copy Protection Fails? (Score:5, Funny)
I've just been forced to download the Blur CD too. (Score:5, Insightful)
I purchase the CD and try to play it at work on Windows 2000 and it just isn't recognised... WinAmp insisting that no audio CD was in the drive.
So to listen to the album on my PC I just downloaded the bloody thing from alt.binaries.sound.mp3.complete_cd
Not illegal in any way since I now own the original... but bloody stupid and makes me realise that the only way I may now enjoy EMI releases at work will be to download a copy... which really defeats everything their system is trying to stop.
'Tis a mad, mad world.
RIAA announces new DRM measures. (Score:5, Funny)
After your music purchase an RIAA representative (probably a student trying to pay off $97 trillion) will sit with you at all times to ensure your compliance with our terms and conditions.
"We hope you enjoy your music purchase and continue to support your record industry"
p.s. Squeal little piggy!
The solution for RIAA and others is simple (Score:5, Insightful)
Ok, it costs a lot to make a CD. You need to spend a time in the studio. (expensive) You need to make sure it souds right. (not so expensive, I guess) And you need to promote it (expensive).
Then why in the name of all holy cows does the anniversary Dark Side of the Moon cost the same as the newest girl/boy band CD?
You don't need to record it, you don't need to promote it. (Have you seen much Pink Floyd on MTV lately?) You just remix it and press it. Voila! You have a great CD that people will buy, even though they have at least 2 versions already of that album!
I don't give a rat ass anymore about RIAA...
Listen to something else... (Score:5, Insightful)
Spend your CD money on world, jazz, classical, flamenco, folk, blues, celtic, indie or anything else outside the mainstream - but just stay away from the popular artists. There's a vast world of great music out there to be discovered - help out the artists, broaden your horizons, and give the big music companies a kick in the pants. Furthermore if they see their cd sales drop, but cd sales in general rise they're not stupid enough that they won't draw conclusions.
EMI says 1 + 1 = 3 (Score:5, Insightful)
"Once there, he tried to listen to his new acquisition, using his Titanium laptop which runs version 10.2 of Apple's operating system. There was no response, with the disc not being recognised.
One can't blame Marovitch for not trying - he tried to listen to the disc on a workstation which runs Windows 2000 and then on one which runs Windows XP.
In both cases, he got no joy. The disc was not picked up by the system. "
from EMI
"As the technology was created to be played through its own embedded player on the CD itself and not any other player that is currently available to the PC/Apple, it will cause anomalies if played in any other manner."
Now
Re:He copied a cd? (Score:5, Informative)
I'd be interested in hearing from an Aussie on this though.
Parent
Re:He copied a cd? (Score:5, Informative)
Other than that the copyright owner can license their intellectual property however they want (which will ordinarily prevent a copy being made).
That is - the guy who did this has likely committed a civil offence (but not a criminal offence).
Parent
Re:He copied a cd? (Score:5, Interesting)
AFAIK in Finland you are even allowed to share your own legal music with your friends/family. As you can imagine, because of the p2p networks there have been serious discussion in who really is your friend (eg. the guy living in the States that you have never seen, but you know him by IRC, is he your friend?). It will be interesting to see how things will end up.
Parent
Australian Copyright Law (Score:5, Informative)
Our copyright law is rather anal. Contrary to popular belieft you can't copy something for personal use at all. No exceptions.
For you to copy ANY music requires permission from the songwriter, the musicians and the distributor as they each hold a copyright for a seperate part of the article (music, lyrics and the sound recording itself).
That being said, if someone infringes someone's copyright it's a civil action rather than a criminal action (except when its a for-profit). We also have something similar to the DMCA except it only enables civil suits (ie, if I remove DeCSS from a DVD the DVD company come sue me if they feel I'm doing anything nasty).
For more information see the Copyright Council's web page [copyright.org.au] and also their fact sheet [copyright.org.au] on music and copyright.
Parent
Re:Australian Copyright Law (Score:5, Interesting)
Look at the internet censorship one.. or our "dmca".. or traffic, drug, petty theft laws.. hell, you pretty much need to kill someone here to do more than 3 months jail time
Parent
Re:Australian Copyright Law (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Australian Copyright Law (Score:5, Interesting)
Living in a country founded by criminals is a lot more fun that one founded by puritans
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Re:Australian Copyright Law (Score:5, Funny)
Rephrase... "Living in a country founded by criminals is a lot more fun than one run by criminals" ;)
-T, from Enronimerica
Parent
Oldf joke (Score:5, Funny)
Remember, it's an ollllld joke.
Parent
Re:He copied a cd? (Score:5, Informative)
The Oz Copyright Council [copyright.org.au] says otherwise. When it comes to fair use, we are teh suck.
choice quotes:
and:
(emphasis mine)
FAQ
Is it legal to copy albums onto CD if you own the albums?
Owning an album is not the same as owning copyright in the music, lyrics and sound recordings that are embedded in the album. If you are not the owner of copyright you will need permission to copy music from an album to CD even if you have bought the album you want to copy.
Am I allowed to make a copy or compilation of music on a CD for private use?
There is no special exception which allows copying of CDs or cassettes for private use. In most cases you will need permission from the owners of copyright in the music & lyrics (usually the music publisher) and the owners of copyright in the sound recording (usually the record company).
Can I download music from the Internet and copy it onto CD?
The fact that material is made available on the Internet (for example, as an MP3 file) does not mean that it may be used freely. Material on the Internet may still be protected by copyright. If this is the case, and the copyright owners have not given permission to download and record their work, you will infringe copyright by reproducing the music, lyrics and sound recording onto CD. Sometimes, copyright owners grant express permission to use their work. You should look for such permissions on the site from which you are downloading.
Can I make backup copies of my music CDs?
Making a backup copy of a CD will involve making a reproduction of the music, lyrics and sound recordings on that CD. The right to reproduce the work is one of the exclusive rights of the owners of copyright in those items. You may not legally make a back up copy of a CD when the CD contains material that is protected by copyright unless you have permission from the owner of copyright or a special exception applies to your use.
Parent
Software backup is allowed as "fair dealing" (Score:5, Interesting)
It's actually quite interesting if you read it. The law makes exemptions for "fair dealing" and then goes on to specifically mention some things that are included in "fair dealing". However the wording (to me at least) doesn't indicate that the list is an exclusive.
I think you'd have every chance to stand up in court and argue that making a backup copy of a CD you own is "fair dealing".
The reason that hasn't happened is because in the real world the record companies have no interest in stopping you doing that anyway. There is no money to be gained and they don't want to cause a weakening of the copyright law by creating a precedent that expands "fair dealing".
Parent
Re:He copied a cd? (Score:5, Interesting)
You can't copy CDs for personal use in Britain as it's not one of activities listed in the fair use laws -- an activity has to be explicitely exempted for it to be free from the restrictions imposed by the copyright laws. See The UK Campaign For Digital Rights [ukcdr.org] for more info, particularly the FAQ [ukcdr.org]
Parent
Re:He copied a cd? (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Broken merchandise and returns? (Score:5, Interesting)
I don't have a laptop, unfortunately, or I'd try this... Go to a big music store with your laptop (some time when you've got a lot of free time). Bring along a printout of the Redbook standard (the one that they have to comply with if they want to put that little Phillips 'Compact Disc' logo on the disc).
Buy a Phil Collins CD that you know is copy protected. Bring it over to the service desk. Open the CD in front of them, stick it in your laptop, have it fail to play, and insist that it's broken and you want another one.
Go get another one, open it, and do the same thing.
Repeat until you've opened the shrinkwrap on every copy of the CD, forcing the store to either re-wrap them or (more likely) send them back to the manufacturer as defective (at the manfacturer's cost).
Then go on to Norah Jones. ;)
-T
Parent
Even simpler... (Score:5, Informative)
From what I understand, Royal Dutch Philips is actively looking for CDs labeled as proper Red Book compliant, non-broken CD-DA CDs but which are copy-limited, and therefore broken. If that Phil Collins and/or Norah Jones CD has the logo, but does not conform to the Red Book standard, Philips needs to be let know so they can SUE. And they have specifically said they WILL sue if cases like that are brought to their attention.
If the CD DOES NOT bear the CD-DA logo, you can't do this. But if it does...you can put a world of hurt on the music industry strictly by bringing this to their attention.
Parent
Re:He copied a cd? (Score:4, Informative)
That's not as funny as you think in the light of this. [copyright.org.au] Copying CD's without the copyright holder's permission is illegal in Australia.
Parent
Relevant links! (Score:5, Informative)
"Mr. Wirtz said future Philips machines will likely be able to both read and burn the protected CDs -- a proposition that may land the company in the crosshairs of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA."
Philips moves to put 'poison' label on protected audio CDs [theregister.co.uk]
"Netherlands giant Philips Electronics has lobbed a grenade into the audio copy protection arena by insisting that that CDs including anti-copying technology should bear what is effectively a plague warning. They should in Philips' view clearly inform users that they are copy-protected, and they shouldn't use the "Compact Disc" logo because they are not, in Philips' considered view, proper compact discs at all."
Looks to me like Philips are the team to root for!
Parent
Shameful! (Score:5, Funny)
But far, far worse than any of those crimes....
Parent