Beastie Boys' New Album Silently Installs DRM Code 1035
nfsilkey writes "After more than five years, the Beastie Boys have released a new album. It seems that the retail disc is bundled with a copy protection autoinstaller which silently silently puts itself onto the listener's computer. Many listeners are up in arms and some are venting their frustrations on the band's website."
Heh (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Heh (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Heh (Score:5, Interesting)
Asside from the Windows bashing, the parent post has a good point (and btw, this "virus" isn't windows only...) it is a virus... If I don't know it's installing, and it disables some sort of functionality of my computer (even if that functionality can potentially be used for wrongful doings), then it is a virus, and should be dealt with as such...
I havn't hit the record store yet to pick up my copy, but, does it have a BIG ass warning on the back? If so, then, that will be thier leagal loophole. And if that is the case, are music disks (not actually a CD because of the error bits tossed in here and there) going to start coming with EULA's that you have to "agree to" by breaking the seal? Heck, why not encrypt the cd, have it access a server on the net where you put in your geographical location, favorite color, age, job position, mothers maden name, and your address, and they send you a floppy disk that has a program that checks for the original cd, then sets an "ok" flag in some directory, that will allow you to access the second digital key (each time you want to play the cd) from the internet, makes you take two steps backwards, turn clockwise twice, then hold the left mouse button, the - on the keypad, F2 and F10 all at the same time in order to listen to it.....or just buy your copy, support the artist, then fire up any P2P software, download the files, and burn them onto a cd that you can listen to whenever, and wherever you are.
Let's keep this rant going...
The more complex the copy protection they put on to "deterr" piracy, the more of a one-upmanship contest it becomes, and the bigger the contest, the more people that play...and the more that try to crack it, the better the odds are that someone else will think the same way the software writer did when they wrote that specific copy protection routine.
Now, I'm not getting on any "high and mighty" bandwagon here...I don't buy all the music I listen to, I do download quite a bit to check out new bands, or to preview how an average band had decided to go with their next album, but if I do like the band (or album to be more specific) I will definately shell out my hard earned cash to buy the original. I've got some cd's that I've never actually put into a cd player (because I already had a downloaded copy) but I still bought the cd.
One last thought I have that you can mull over if you are so inclined is... People say that CD prices should have dropped by now...and to some extent, I agree, but that's my opinion, but there is also a flip side that I realize...SOME of the additional cash that I pay for a cd is going to research new copy protection schemes so that POSSIBLY someone won't be able to rip it and distribute it for free. Sure, I like the sounds of that, but I would prefer if they did more work on these skemes before putting it into production on a retail product. And even if they did manage to get the perfect scheme working that was transparant to everyone (with the exception of the warning that they can use as thier loophole), and would work on any device, and allow me to port to an iPod, backup cd, whatever, then what's going to stop the pirate from hooking the line out of a diskman to the line in on a soundcard and recording the cd and putting it up on a P2P network?
Mod me up, Mod me down, Makes no difference to me at this point, because you've already read what I had to say.
5 bucks says the shift key circumvents this.... (Score:5, Informative)
New Audio CD DRM Defeated by Use of ''SHIFT'' Key [yale.edu]
Google search that found above link, good read. [google.com]
Re:5 bucks says the shift key circumvents this.... (Score:5, Insightful)
In the 1980s. The software industry tried all this copy control nonsense with Commodore 64 software. Many companies did not survive the backlash. The record labels will not learn until everyone stops buying. [dontbuycds.org] Any business that alienates their customers deserves to fail. Vote with your pocket books. Stop feeding the hand that bites you.
Re:5 bucks says the shift key circumvents this.... (Score:5, Insightful)
"Autorun" is one of the most irritating features of Windows. It's easily disabled, but at the cost of losing "notification" when you insert or remove a CD, which means you have to manually prompt for a refresh sometimes. But it's better than some installer taking over every time you insert a program disk to refer to something or copy some files. Trusting to "pressing the shift key" to defeat it on each insertion is about as reliable as using the withdrawal method of birth control; pretty soon your PC is going to get knocked up.
Re:Heh (Score:5, Interesting)
They were hit in the past for sampling from AC/DC's song "Back in Black" for their 1985 single "Rock Hard", which was supposed to appear in their "best of" anthology release, but couldn't because AC/DC refused them permission to sample. It seems a little incongruous for them to be shipping out DRM also.
Re:Heh (Score:5, Insightful)
This practice is in many ways similar to allusion in literature. By making reference to earlier works, one can enhance the depth of one's own work. Ezra Pound said, "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal" and this statement can be generalized to all forms of art.
Re:Heh (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Heh (Score:5, Insightful)
What some people don't realize is that sampling is part of a very old tradition. Many jazz and classical compositions have been enriched by incorporating material from other sources. Often the borrowed material is just as recognizeable as a sampled song, so it's not like this is something that has been hidden.
This practice is in many ways similar to allusion in literature. By making reference to earlier works, one can enhance the depth of one's own work. Ezra Pound said, "Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal" and this statement can be generalized to all forms of art.
... which completely undermines the use of copyrights and "intellectual property" in the arts in the first place. Think about it: Much of the idea of the copyright revolves around this notion that men are completely unaffected by previous works--as if their art is somehow independently conjured through the power of the artist's superior intellect.
What bullshit. No man is quite literally an island. We are all affected and shaped, by our language, culture, body of sciences, collection of arts and so on. To say that the artist is the sole "owner" of the resultant art is utterly insulting and ultimately counterproductive.
-Grym
Re:Heh (Score:5, Funny)
Are you sure? According to the blurb, it "installs 'helpful' copy protection software on MacOS and Windows as soon as you insert the CD into default systems."
Looks like maybe the days of "it's okay, nothing will ever infect my machine, since nobody bothers to write things like this for macs" are coming to an end.
Here comes the death of "security-through-smugness"
Re:Heh (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Heh (Score:5, Informative)
If it did install something, it was done in some extremely sneaky fashion. I didn't notice it installing anything, and it would have somehow got around the fact that I was an unprivileged user.
it's a Mac OS 9 vulnerability (Score:5, Informative)
So that's why most MacOS X users will not have their machines infected--they aren't running Classic at the time they insert the CD.
Doug Moen.
Re:it's a Mac OS 9 vulnerability (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Heh (Score:5, Insightful)
Is there any reason to have autorun "on" in the first place ? One of the first things I do when I set up a system is disable it. I would like to choose which app to use, not rely on the OS to decide. I saw a previous story about the new Velvet Revolver CD having copy protection. I came home after buying it, popped it into my CDR, and burned it to MP3 for my car player. I would have never known it was copt protected until I saw the story. BTW I have never had a DRM disk that would not burn in CDEX [n3.net]
The Liner Notes (Score:5, Interesting)
Hey! Buy this great CD! It rocks! It jives! It's phat. It's good, and reeeaaalll bad! Stick it up the establishment, throw down your oppressors and ROCK!!!!
.
.
.
4. A II 3 e vii) THE USER AGREES, IN THE EVENT OF SECURITY SYSTEMS ON MUSIC SYSTEM BLOCKING THE INSTALLATION OF SAID MUSIC PROTECTION SOFTWARE, TO SUPPLY AS NEEDED ALL PASSWORDS, ENCRYPTION/ DECRYPTION KEYS, USER NAMES, OPERATING SYSTEM DETAILS, CREDIT CARDS NUMBERS AND ALL OTHER INFORMATION NECESSARY TO INSTALL AFOREMENTIONED ON THE AFOREMENTIONED MACHINE OF AFOREMENTIONED USER, HERETOFORE AFOREMENTIONED.
4. A II 3 e viii) IN THE SITUATION THE SAID MUSIC PROTECTION SOFTWARE IS NOT COMPATIBLE WITH THE OPERATING SYSTEM, APIS, REGISTRATION DEVICES, OR OTHER SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE FEATURES OF THE COMPUTER ON WHICH THE SOFTWARE IS TO BE INSTALLED THE USER AGREES TO REMOVE ALL SOFTWARE FROM THE COMPUTER, INCLUDING OPERATING SYSTEMS, AND AGREES TO INSTALL THE PRESCRIBED OPERATING SYSTEM SOFTWARE WHICH CAN BE PURCHASED VIA WWW.MICROSOFT.COM. ANY NECESSARY SOFTWARE PURCHASES, SYSTEM UPGRADES, OR OTHER CHANGES IS THE SOLE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE USER. THE PUBLISHER WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ASSOCIATED COST.
.
.
.
Yeah! Rock on!
I'd like to thank my girl, my wife, my manager, and most of all God who made all this possible.
Illegal? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Informative)
Two words...
Spy-Ware
That said, if it's a stardard EXE I don't see how it would run on linux. [linux.com] :D And since Linux doesn't have an autorun annoyance... I mean feature, we'd have to consciously install it.
Once again, the solution is... Don't use M$ Windows [microsoft.com]. (Sorry Mac people, I have had no recent experience with a Mac to make a comment on it.
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Funny)
anyway, who is Ian $ez? Tell Ian that part of the whole point i$ that it doe$n't matter how the arti$t feel$ about copy protection. The label$ have been in the court$ and in front of the pre$$, repeatedly talking about the right$ of the arti$t; how well doe$ that rhetoric $tand up when we learn that the arti$t has no right to avoid $uch protection?
Where i$ the recording indu$trie$' re$pect for arti$t$' right$ in $uch a ca$e?
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Informative)
It's probably Ian Rogers [student.com], the webmaster for the Beastie Boys' web site [beastiemania.com] for a very long time - starting in 1994. I worked with Ian a bit when I was running the original Foo Fighters site, he's actually a really nice guy (Foo Fighters and Beastie Boys used to share the same management, Gold Mountain Entertainment, now GAS or something like that).
With how the industry works, I'm sure he had absolutely nothing to do with this, but instead it was label decision as has already been pointed out. It's another perfect example of how disconnected the music industry is from its fans (at least those in non-english speaking countries - the software doesn't exist on the US or UK releases).
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Informative)
Just some odd trivia I thought I'd throw out. Was going to try for funny, but can't think of a way to make it funny. Oh well.
Mycroft
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Informative)
"Not that its exactly hard to disable the 'autorun annoyance'"
It used to be easy to do this in Windows, but the control to do this seems to be missing. It is true you can hold the shift key down, but if there is a way to disable autorun altogether anymore it is pretty well hidden. Fuck Windows, anyhow.
Well in answer to my own question, to disable the autorun in Win2k ya gotta edit the registry [microsoft.com], which is pretty much what I thought you'd have to do. So Joe Sixpack probably won't be doing it so easily. I would say that yes, it is hard. It woudl especially be hard if you did not know how to look for information on disabling the feature, which would require that you knew it was called "autorun," know to search the microsoft knowlege base, and know how to use the registry editor without killing your machine.
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Insightful)
By reading this you acknowledge my right to use your computer to research how better to write future comments. Oh yeah you have to give me your stuff too if you break our agreement. By reading this sentence you have broken our agreement. The next bag of potato chips you open signifies your compliance to turn over all properties that can be used to drink out of.
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Insightful)
The EULA's power stems from how a computer works. Because a computers' processor has registers, it must copy the cd over and over and read/write it in order to play the CD. This essentially requires you to have their permission to copy.
No it doesn't. The supremes have ruled that copying a copyrighted work is perfectly fine so long as it is required to actually make use of said work (other conditions notwithstanding). If I own a copy of some CD, I can play it - this isn't really debatable. If the CD contains an EULA, I can ignore it, as I already have the right to use it under copyright law. You could make a similar argument for software, but I am not aware of any specific precedent.
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Funny)
Well that seems fair.
When you read this reply to your post, you have agreed to put all your money in a paper bag, put your underwear on your head if it is not already there, slather yourself with Marmite, and run naked down the center of the street throwing your money to passers-by.
That is all.
Re:Illegal? (Score:5, Informative)
One of the comments in the cited links says that the copy protection is only for discs sold outside the US and UK.
Re:Illegal? (Score:4, Interesting)
as far as i can say is you install something on my computer or network you need to beaten and left for the flies to eat.. if you dont let me know and give me an opt out...to me this a virus because its on my machine with out my permission.
I ask the store clerk about the protection i got a blank stare. like a deer in the head lights.
I also told them why
Funny thing is there is also a new Meat Loaf album as well for sale i told the clerk the store has lost a sale.....
To date there have been 6 CD'S i wanted to by but there protected as well thats 6 sales lost
so as this carries on i guess i will stop buying music
So i can use my car deck mp3 player ect. or were i feel i want to listen to my music.
I dont mind buying to suport the artists but protection systems are a waste of money then anything else and shooting them selves in the foot to boot
Re:TCPA is not DRM (Score:5, Insightful)
If I want to enforce a control technology on your computer, I need some way to keep users from modifying the very program enforcing my policy choices, I need TCPA or some other hardware control technology that keeps my program from being modified.
In one sense, this is security, I know that any sowftware runnign under TCPA/Palladium won't be changed by any virus and will only be given decryption keys only if its unmodified by any virus or worm. But at another level, it is *the* enabling technology to let anyone install *arbitrary* digital control technology, creating *arbitrary* hoops for me to go through on my computer before I can access the data it controls access to.
Can you say ripe for abuse?
My name's Mike D. and I want respect... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:My name's Mike D. and I want respect... (Score:5, Funny)
They did it like that [ttrtech.com]...
They did it with the wiffle ball bat [wiffleball.com]...
If you don't buy my record, I got my advance (Score:5, Funny)
Apparently it is the new style.
Beasties (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Beasties (Score:5, Funny)
Beasties: Hell no, dude. We DEMAND you put some evil copy protection on the album!
Record exec: Isn't that horribly unfair towards the customers, guys? Come on, have a heart.
Beasties: Oh yeah? Well fuck you, fat Record Exec. We've got the right to party! *BLAWW* *BLAWW* *BLAWW*
Record exec: *Aaaargh* Oooooverrr my deaaaad boddyyyyyy... custooooemmueua *AAAARGH* cstmrrrrs muuust beee pa... pah.... pahmpppered.. *groan*
Beasties: *Urinate on the dead Record Exec and offer a sacrifice to Satan*
Control (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Control (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Control (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Control (Score:5, Insightful)
Why is this modded funny? Just sitting here, I've imagined ways of them getting out of their contracts. Of course, I'm imagining that the Beastie Boys are rich, which can't be too far of a stretch. How? Simple.
1) Release crap albums until their contract runs out.
2) Make sure everyone knows _why_ you're releasing crap albums. Make public press releases about why you're doing it. If your contract prohibits that, then make private statements.
3) In all likelihood, the contract would be ended early by the RIAA. If not, it isn't hard to live on a million for the next few years or so, until the contract runs out on its own.
4) Release on an independent record label. Aphex Twin has a successful one. Paul Van Dyk is doing fine on his record label. The Beastie Boys have the clout to do it.
5) Profit. Again.
Where there's a will, there's a way. That's a way. The Beastie Boys just don't have the will.
Re:Control (Score:5, Interesting)
1) Release crap albums until their contract runs out.
It's the label that decides whether to release it. If they don't, you have no released CD, and still x cds to go. There are artists who have simply been shut up by this mechanism - cannot release anything anymore.
They aren't the only ones. (Score:5, Informative)
And even if you do get round the protection, the burner software may check for "Proper Licensing" anyway. I know MusicMatch does.
You could also (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:You could also (Score:5, Insightful)
The problem with using a non-privileged account in Windows is not so much the OS itself as the applications. Most old applications are not multi-user aware, and even many new ones are plain broken as well.
I think it's been fixed in later versions, but running the Quake 3 level editor as non-admin just didn't work in Windows a couple of years ago. I could use it fine in Linux, as a normal user, at the same time, because no Linux app tries to store the user's files in a directory outside ~/ and so on -- no ordinary app needs special privileges. In Windows, many quite normal apps demand full Administrator privileges for no reason at all, apart from that they were developed for systems that had no privilege separation, or on systems where the developers just didn't bother running as something other than admin and never imagined anyone else would.
Re:They aren't the only ones. (Score:5, Informative)
Note that you can hold down shift while putting in a CD to disable autoplay for just that time.
Oh, except on music CD's (Score:5, Interesting)
From Microsoft's description:
Turns off the Autoplay feature.
Autoplay begins reading from a drive as soon as you insert media in the drive. As a result, the setup file of programs and the music on audio media start immediately.
By default, Autoplay is disabled on removable drives, such as the floppy disk drive (but not the CD-ROM drive), and on network drives.
If you enable this setting, you can also disable Autoplay on CD-ROM drives or disable Autoplay on all drives.
This setting disables Autoplay on additional types of drives. You cannot use this setting to enable Autoplay on drives on which it is disabled by default.
Note: This setting appears in both the Computer Configuration and User Configuration folders. If the settings conflict, the setting in Computer Configuration takes precedence over the setting in User Configuration.
Note: This setting does not prevent Autoplay for music CDs.
Re:Oh, except on music CD's (Score:5, Interesting)
see, this is why people use windows (Score:5, Funny)
Ease of use has always been Windows' strong point. In linux you'd have to open up a file and change something; that's unexceptable for the casual user.
Re:Control (Score:5, Insightful)
Unfortunately, much easier to use too for Capital, Gator, klez,....
Silently installing DRM eh? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Silently installing DRM eh? (Score:5, Interesting)
Even though this may be technically spyware, it could also be technically illegal to remove due the DMCA. So basically, you put a cd with this type of crap on it, and since it's goal is copy-protection, anything that could get around it, including say, the ability to remove it if it attempts to stick on your system like a virus, could very well be considerred 'circumvension'. I'd be curious to see how such an argument would hold up in court.
DRM for what? (Score:5, Informative)
I bought "To The 5 Boroughs" (cause I'm representin' Manhattan), and ripped all the tracks to my iPod with no problems. Just what does the DRM code do?
I'm on a Mac, is this another case where I'm missing out on the DRM fun because of platform neglect? (There IS a Mac partition on the disc, but all it seems to have on it is a Macromedia presentation with a QuickTime movie.)
Re:DRM for what? (Score:4, Insightful)
Yet.
Re:DRM for what? (Score:4, Insightful)
17" eMac $799.00 USD for Combo Drive version with 40GB HD or 999.00USD for the 8X DVD-R/RW drive version with 80GB HD.
Not to mention all of the bundled software.
How much is virus free a, commercial software compatiblity (photoshop and most of the hottest games) computing experience worth to you?
Yes, linux is immune to windows viruses but it lacks commercial software, hardware support and ease of use.
That is just sorry.. (Score:4, Funny)
--
7 Gmail accounts still availiable [dealsites.net]
Heh, Naive slashdotters.... (Score:5, Insightful)
There's no such thing as a band "selling out". That's naive bullshit. They're an entertainment act, created to make lots of money. Period. They preach the revolution, because they know you guys will pony up your cash and buy into it. It sells records.
Nothing wrong with my copy (Score:4, Funny)
Obligatory Futurama Quote: (Score:5, Funny)
Get your harddrive scratched by the Beastie Boys!
Calm yourself... (Score:5, Funny)
I'm pissed, but it rips fine (Score:4, Interesting)
I just bought this CD, the first CD I've bought in over 2 years. A friend told me I could copy hers, but I said no, I want to pay for it. $10 at Worst Buy.
It did rip fine though, no problems there. DRM-free mp3s work fine.
should be a law (Score:5, Insightful)
Sabotage (Score:4, Funny)
Sabotage (Ill Communication)
I Can't Stand It I Know You Planned It
I'm Gonna Set It Straight, This Watergate
I Can't Stand Rocking When I'm In Here
Because Your Crystal Ball Ain't So Crystal Clear
So While You Sit Back and Wonder Why
I Got This Fucking Thorn In My Side
Oh My, It's A Mirage
I'm Tellin' Y'all It's Sabotage
So Listen Up 'Cause You Can't Say Nothin'
You'll Shut Me Down With A Push Of Your Button?
But Yo I'm Out And I'm Gone
I'll Tell You Now I Keep It On And On
'Cause What You See You Might Not Get
And We Can Bet So Don't You Get Souped Yet
You're Scheming On A Thing That's A Mirage
I'm Trying To Tell You Now It's Sabotage
Whyyy; Our Backs Are Now Against The Wall
Listen All Of Y'all It's A Sabotage
Listen All Of Y'all It's A Sabotage
Listen All Of Y'all It's A Sabotage
Listen All Of Y'all It's A Sabotage
I Can't Stand It, I Know You Planned It
But I'm Gonna Set It Straight This Watergate
But I Can't Stand Rockin' When I'm In This Place
Because I Feel Disgrace Because You're All In My Face
But Make No Mistakes And Switch Up My Channel
I'm Buddy Rich When I Fly Off The Handle
What Could It Be, It's A Mirage
You're Scheming On A Thing - That's Sabotage
Does the band know or care..? (Score:5, Informative)
To quote from_ disc_ha.html
http://www.boingboing.net/2004/06/11/new_beasties
Re:Does the band know or care..? (Score:5, Interesting)
Tell me again how this sort of crap is supposed to deter piracy? All they are doing is actively encouraging it.
You gotta fight... (Score:5, Funny)
You gotta fight for your right to copy!
Re:You gotta fight... (Score:5, Funny)
You go to your PC it says "no go"
Loaded DRM - your machine won't work
But the Beasties don't tell you like you're some kind of jerk.
You gotta fight for your right to copy
The Boys caught your sampling and they said "No Way"
Those hypocrites - use samples every day.
Man, del-ing this is such a drag
Now your idols tossed all their cred in the bag.
You gotta fight for your right to copy!
Don't you buy our CD if you expect to have a hear.
Cause our DRM won't let you play it through the air.
Your PC busted and you said "Where's my noise?"
Aw, man, it won't play cause it's the Beastie Boys.
Isn't this easily circumvented? (Score:5, Funny)
Wait, is mentioning that little workaround considered a DMCA violation?
This is Illegal in Minnesota (Score:5, Interesting)
609.88 Computer damage.
Subdivision 1. Acts. Whoever does any of the following is guilty of computer damage and may be sentenced as provided in subdivision 2:
(b) intentionally and without authorization or with intent to injure or defraud alters any computer, computer system, computer network, computer software, or any other property specifically defined in section 609.87, subdivision 6;
Subd. 2. Penalty. Whoever commits computer damage may be sentenced as follows:
(a) To imprisonment for not more than ten years or to payment of a fine of not more than $50,000, or both, if the damage, destruction or alteration results in a loss in excess of $2,500, to the owner, or the owner's agent, or lessee;
(b) To imprisonment for not more than five years or to payment of a fine of not more than $10,000, or both, if the damage, destruction or alteration results in a loss of more than $500, but not more than $2,500 to the owner, or the owner's agent or lessee; or
(c) In all other cases to imprisonment for not more than 90 days or to payment of a fine of not more than $700, or both.
Re:This is Illegal in Minnesota (Score:5, Insightful)
So for all Windows users (Score:5, Informative)
To shut it off, open your registry editor and go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Servi
When you do this, Windows will no longer popup and do anything when you put a disk in. Instead, it will wait for you to do something. For normal data disks, this means you'll have to go run setup yourself. For evil audio disks such as this, they'll simply never install their BS and you can play as normal.
Re:So for all Windows users (Score:5, Informative)
Re:So for all Windows users (Score:5, Informative)
Not going to check this out (Score:5, Funny)
Hold Down Shift - Ripping Success (Score:4, Interesting)
When I saw the "Copyright Control" logo on it, I held down shift when I put it into my drive. That was a good plan, because I explored the CD and found all that CRM crapola in the autorun file.
Ripped it with iTunes. It ripped fine, but VERY slowly. (2x, compared to the usual 16x.)
Shows why Linux is not ready for the desktop (Score:5, Funny)
Seriously, this is just stupid. I would guess that most pirated MP3s that are being shared out there have been downloaded from someone else, not ripped from the original CD. So it really only takes a few people with either a linux box or enough sense to turn of autorun on their CD drive to be able to spread pirated MP3s all over the world. This can't possibly stop anything and will likely piss off the people that are supposed to be customers.
With tricks like these ... (Score:4, Insightful)
It's a simple fact that people expect to be able copy their CDs.
Autorun on Mac OS? (Score:5, Interesting)
Quotes from the story links...
"It seems that Capitol Records has some sort of new copy protection system, that automatically, silently, installs "helpful" copy protection software on MacOS and Windows as soon as you insert the CD into default systems."
"They include some sort of uninstaller buried on there for Windows, but I see no such thing for MacOS."
I've never heard of something like the "autorun" feature for Mac OS. Is there one? Or was the person who wrote this unfamiliar with Mac OS and just presumed it had one?
Re:There is autorun on Mac OS (Score:5, Informative)
Re:There is autorun on Mac OS (Score:5, Informative)
There is no autorun feature under Mac OS X 10.3 and I'm pretty sure it wasn't in 10.2 either. There is an autorun in Mac OS 9 and I believe there was one in versions of Mac OS X previous to 10.2
The only thing in Mac OS X which is similar to autorun is that you can set certain actions to happen when you put a CD or DVD in the drive. The default is for a blank CD or DVD to ask you what to do, for a music CD to open iTunes, a photo CD to open iPhoto and a video DVD to open DVD Player. All other CDs or DVDs will be just be mounted in the Finder if they contain a filesystem readable by Mac OS X.
None of these default actions will cause anything else to be run or anything to be installed on your computer. If you want you can change the default actions to run another application, to run a script, or to be ignored.
TweakUI (Score:5, Informative)
I'm also pretty sure that holding shift when you put the cd in will do the same thing.
Prosecute them for writing a Virus/Trojan horse (Score:5, Insightful)
1. It is malicious (prevents you from copying the CD as you noramlly would be able to.
2. It silently installs itself, masquarading as a
standard Audio CD (I'm sorry, 5" music disc)
How is that different than any other trojan horse?
see this is what happens (Score:5, Insightful)
Beastie boys my ass
Strange (Score:5, Interesting)
Strange that they are critical of their government yet side with the record companies on this issue. Maybe they don't mean what they say? Or purphaps the record company pulled this one of them without telling them?
I certainly won't be buying it anyway. I'll add it to the not-worth-buying-but-good-download-potential list.
Arrogance (Score:5, Insightful)
And if they say no, the goddamned thing doesn't play, they take it back to the store and get a refund.
What this evil corporation is saying, is: "Fuck you. We own you. We own your computer. You'll take it and like it, because protecting our digital rights trump fucking up your piece of shit from Dell, you fucking Joe Sixpack sheeple. If you don't like it call your Congresscritter. Oops, we own it, too."
beastieboys.com Offline (Score:5, Funny)
Maybe some hackers acualy buyed the cd. and got mad.
drm? (Score:5, Funny)
It doesn't bother all that much to me ... (Score:5, Insightful)
What bothers the hell out of me, though, is that it can be done.
How in the world can I trust *anything* that willy-nilly follows whatever orders someone else tells *my* machine to do, leaving me powerless to override? The most surprising thing to me is that business is taking this. Do they really think only "good guys" know where the unlocked back doors to the operating system are?
Stuff like this just convinces me further that anyone even thinking of using this kind of system in a business environment needs to have his salary and standing in his organization re-evaluated.
Sabotaged! (Score:5, Funny)
You can't stand it, you know I planned it
I'm gonna set it straight, this fair use debate
You can't copy shit when I'm in here
Because my new CD will stop all your file shares
So while you sit back and wonder why
Copy protection is installed inside
That's not a real CD, it's a mirage
I'm tellin' y'all you've been sabotaged
So listen up 'cause you can't copy nothin'
I'll shut you down unless you use the shift button
But I'm in and your MP3s are gone
You'll never rip another one of my songs
'Cause what you hear you might not get
And we got legal threats so don't you pirate yet
You're copying a thing that's a mirage
I'm trying to tell you now you've been sabotaged
You can't stand it, you know i planned it
I'm gonna set it straight, the consumer rights fate
You can't copy shit when my CD's in place
And now you feel disgrace because I'm in your disc space
But make no mistakes, I'll shutdown your scandal
I'm Hilary Rosen when I fly off the handle
No more fair use, it was all a mirage
I'm scheming on your rights; you're sabotaged!
How to really screw these studios (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, there's a very clear and simple message here (Score:5, Insightful)
Do not buy this album. If I want to hear it, download it instead.
Their instruction is just crystal clear. Yes; it sucks that Windows auto-installs crap off CDs, and yes, there's easy ways around that. But to arrive at that is to miss the point. The point is that if you don't want their DRM, don't buy the product... you can get the music for a nice $0.00, without rewarding their vile practice.
If people in the biz are reading this, please take note: DRM offends and insults and disrespects those who you're trying to sell to. You're only getting sales from the ignorant, and I'm working to reduce their numbers by telling as many friends / family members as I can to stop buying big label music. Flat out stop. Download, buy used, or go with small, respectable labels. (I do still buy, generally direct from small artists; the rest... fuck 'em. Not a dime to the RIAA from me.)
If you agree, you can help... simply assist as many people as you can to find alternatives to buying big label music. If people really want the latest Beastie / other-pop album, there's torrents, k-lite, etc... and the price is better. Is it wrong? Is killing in a war wrong? I'm working to destroy my enemy or change their stance here; that is the nature of war. You gotta fight... It may be company policy, but you're still sell-out bitches, Beastie Boys (and I love some of your work... oh, well).
Re:DRM is worth it (Score:5, Funny)
subtle, but effective.
Re:Fuck them. (Score:5, Insightful)
Funny, I'm sure thats what someone said when they realized how much they lost by people downloading their stuff and then decided to add this DRM crap.
Re:Fuck them. (Score:5, Funny)
We'll see who's laughing then!
Re:Fuck them. (Score:4, Funny)
Thankfully I got my money back...I feel sorry for any saps that actually like this album!
What I don't understand is - Why in the hell would anyone *want* to rip this crap? They should have retired after Ill Communications....they're just making fools out of themselves.
Re:DRM'd CD's on the rise... (Score:4, Interesting)
I can see moves and countermoves here. Suppose "someone" posts "instructions for removing the DRM software" that turn out to be destructive
Re:Do as I say, not as I do... (Score:5, Informative)
These days, the recording companies seem to have a special system in place to trade sample rights. The liner notes often say something like "sample licensed through so-and-so recording company special products division". I'm sure that if DRM was somehow preventing their sampling (although they would probably work around this by holding down the shift key like anyone else), they could arrange to get an official sample straight from the source.
The ironic thing is that the Beastie Boys' early days, before court rulings that forced people to pay up, they did massive sampling without attributing the sources. I have their "Paul's Boutique" album from 1989 (A pretty good CD, IMO). I've seen a blurb somewhere that said that an album like this couldn't be made today, given that each track contains at least 2 or 3 recognizable samples. In fact, I'd say that the samples are so prominent, they are the main "musical instrument" on the record. Many of these weren't obscure samples either; I recognized some of the main "hooks" out of several top-40 hits. There are zero credits in the liner notes mentioning any of these samples.
Compare this to The Verve, who tried to get away with only a slightly worse sample ripoff a decade later, and got their asses handed to them on a platter by the Rolling Stones' lawyers.
Re:Do as I say, not as I do... (Score:5, Interesting)
Well, yeah. It's not such a stretch to assume that that was the whole point back then. If you listen to an album like "License to Ill" , it's like a scavenger hunt to track down where all the samples came from. Hey, it's the drums from Led Zeppelin's "When The Levee Breaks"; hey, it's a Beatles riff; hey, it's that guy from "Good Times", etc.
And the same thing was true for other rappers in the eighties. If you listen to an old Public Enemy or Run-DMC album, they also were chock full of recognizeable riffs.
When I was a kid, this whole sampling business bugged the hell out of me -- how can they call it music when all they're doing is re-arranging the rock music I liked? It took me a while to come around and realize that they were making something new out of older things, just as the rock bands I liked were doing in more indirect ways (Led Zeppelin ripped off Robert Johnson & made heavy metal, while Robert Johnson ripped old black folk music and made the blues); it took me longer still to realize that all this sampling business is really very postmodern and therefore enjoyable in the same way that I enjoy blazingly referential Tarantino movies, retro-futuristic product design like the new Mini Cooper, the scattershot eclecticism of a computer language like Perl, or yes the rap of a Run-DMC or Public Enemy. All of these borrow heavily from that which came before them, but they make something somehow original out of the pieces, so the at-first obvious familiarity is actually distracting you from how brilliant & new this really is. You *think* you've seen this before, but once you get your head around it, you realize that it really is a whole new thing. Clever trick, that.
But I digress.
Back in the early 90s, Rolling Stone magazine had a constant series of articles about sampling, which really came to a head with Vanilla Ice's butchery of David Bowie & Queen's "Under Pressure" with his "Ice, Ice, Baby", which preserved not only a several second long sample, but the whole song had the same basic melodical feel as the original. Vanilla Ice and his record label got in a lot of trouble for that (I forget if they lost the lawsuit per se, but they were forced to change their tactics). Meanwhile, you had people like Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg raiding everything they could find in James Brown's back catalog, turning all his old funk & soul hits into, basically, the exact same songs, but with more drugs & prostitution. James Brown was somewhat less than flattered.
As a result, as you say, the labels were forced to start doing more bookkeeping for the sampling done by their artists. That wasn't to say that sampling ended -- bands like Massive Attack & Portishead put out fantastic late-90s albums with lots of recognizable samples -- but somewhere in the fine print had to be some kind of legal acknowledgement that old material was being used, and if recognizeable snippets of more than a couple of seconds were being used (that is, if they were going beyond simple fair use citations of the original material), they had to get permission from the original artists.
In recent years, the only time bands have really run into trouble are ones that made the mistake that Vanilla Ice made, where not only the sample but the whole song seems like a simple remake of the original song. So for example, on "When The Levee Breaks", Led Zeppelin started the song with these massive, booming drums for a few bars before bringing in the guitars & other instruments, while the Beastie Boys took that drum loop and used it as the foundation for "Rhymin' And Stealin'" -- which sounds almost nothing like
Re:Virus (Score:5, Insightful)
Seriously: How does someone so blatantly shortsighted manage to breathe?