Thorp and Sailor's Grave Board

Copy protection CDs?

BDx13 - 8-3-2005 at 01:30 AM

Anyone have the new Foo Fighters, or any other cd with copy protection? What's up with this? From what I hear, ya can't import the album to an ipod!

Unbound - 8-3-2005 at 03:30 AM

I get a ton of promos that are copy protected. I'm all for them keeping the albums from leaking but making it so you can't listen to it on the computer makes listening to an album while writing somewhat difficult. I think more and more discs are becoming copy protected.

JawnDiablo - 8-3-2005 at 07:07 AM

i have one cd , cant remember who it is, that has it stamped real big on the back of it...maybe its mudvayne..i forget

DeathByForce - 8-3-2005 at 07:17 AM

Street Dogs - Back To The World was copy protected.

CR83 - 8-3-2005 at 09:21 AM

There were two ways to beat the "protection". One was taking a sharpie and color the outside ring or rim of the CD and it works. The other is to just hold the Shift button down. The guy who figured out the Shift button trick was eventually sued for leaking it to the internet.

BDx13 - 8-3-2005 at 09:39 AM

thanks for the input everyone. i finally found this...
http://engadget.com/entry/1234000413047159/

Sony BMG has come up with an innovative solution for consumers who are frustrated with the company?s new DRM: They?ll help you break it. Turns out the new system, from the U.K.?s First4Internet, renders protected CDs unusable by iPod owners. While Sony might hope that would drive customers to its digital audio players instead, they?ve chosen the more pragmatic ? and unusual ? route of emailing instructions for a back door exploit to anyone who complains about the problem (Mac users don?t even need this: the DRM is PC-only). While we?ve heard of companies rolling out products with easily cracked DRM, this may be the first time a record label has actually been the source of the cracks. Thanks Sony BMG. Next time, how about just saving everyone the hassle and skipping the stuff in the first place?

Murk - 8-3-2005 at 10:53 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by BIG DUANE
Anyone have the new Foo Fighters, or any other cd with copy protection? What's up with this? From what I hear, ya can't import the album to an ipod!

So how does this copy protection supposedly work? I've seen the new Foo Fighters CD in all the file sharing circles, even weeks before it came out...which means a copy was made.

BDx13 - 8-3-2005 at 12:16 PM

well, the ones that were available before the actual release were probably promo versions which may not have had the protection included. Digital Rights Management is an amazing but frightening arena.

basically, the cds (and individual music files) come with built-in mini applications that determine what kind of device is attempting to play the disc and what a user is attempting to do with the disc. like, you know how when you put enhanced cds in a computer, a move will start playing (or whatever), but if you put it in a regular cd player, this won?t happen, and the music just starts? Same thing with itunes music store or the new napster... each of those files you download knows that they can only be copied or burned or moved so many times.

You can read a ton more about it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_rights_management

As a side note for all you other nerds like me... Apples recent move from ibm processors to intel is widely speculated to be because of a new DRM processor that intel is developing that would put DRM at the system level as opposed to the file level, making it much harder to circumvent. And why would Apple be interested in this? Digital video download sales and distribution ala the current iTunes model. I don?t care much for watching movies on my laptop, but I am a big Apple fan, so this is pretty exciting!

CR83 - 8-3-2005 at 12:38 PM

With all of this DRM talk, is this going to be standard in the recording industry? Will it even trickle down to label like Thorp? Is it the musician's decision or is it the label's? HOw do our Musician Friends on the board here feel about it?

BDx13 - 8-3-2005 at 01:11 PM

While I?m sure this something that artists may be interested in, its the labels that are driving it. The big five would like it to be standard, cause they still think the reason they?ve been loosing money the past few years is because of file sharing. The main problems seem to be that 1) there is no universal rule regarding what you can and can?t do with the music you buy and 2) the question of whether or not forcing drm on consumers violates their civil rights.

Technically, Thorp is already participating in DRM in a very small way. Most of our releases are available through iTunes, and every track sold through iTunes is wrapped in Apple?s Fair Use DRM, regardless of what the label wants. Fair Use allows for five authorized computers and seven playlist burns.

As for the Foo Fighters release... Think about the core demographics of the band and of the iPod. Probably a fair amount of overlap there, no? If you?re RCA, why would you want to piss off 15 million+ iPod owners by releasing a product that your customers can?t use in a manner they prefer? I honestly wasn?t going to buy the release if I couldn?t put the album on my ipod.

CR83 - 8-3-2005 at 02:36 PM

Good point Duane ( referring to the iProd users Foo Fighter demographics). I think it is a prime example of a Big Record company thinking thier shit don't stink.

tireironsaint - 8-3-2005 at 02:41 PM

Hmm, well if the Street Dogs' Back To The World had this protection, it didn't seem to work. I put it onto iTunes as soon as I got it and play it on my iPod all the time.

hollymaconmovies - 8-3-2005 at 02:50 PM

Back To the World imported just fine into iTunes for me as well.

Nice thread Duane. Very informative.

sinister - 8-3-2005 at 03:05 PM

Some of the copy protections work by putting errors on the CD, which prevent a PC from reading them properly but are ignored by an audio CD player.

Or they can configure them as mixed mode CD's (a CD with digital audio tracks and a CD-ROM track) and then corrupt the CD-ROM track, which is totally ignored by audio players.

KyleOz - 8-3-2005 at 03:54 PM

I don't like this at all.

I listen to music either at home on my computer, record player or at a show. Mainly my computer though.

As soon as I get a new cd I put it in my digital cd collection, much easier to access.

Todd - 8-4-2005 at 12:15 AM

This is a really weird thing for me. At the moment I'm "borrowing" a few albums on soulseek and at the same time almost everyone I know that wants a copy has a copy of the new Starkweather because someone leaked it. It will be interesting to see how many albums we sell this time as our last release was a decade ago and we didn't have to worry about file sharing. I can't get too fired up about it because I like to 'shop' online for cd's all the time but it has to have a HUGE effect on bands and labels, particularly smaller labels like Thorp.

BDx13 - 8-4-2005 at 08:18 AM

sure, it definitely eccects labels the size of thorp. if one release sells 5,000 copies, how many cds weren't sold because people just got copies from friends? 10%? 25%? who knows? but it's such a part of business know, there's no real way to tell?

i'm sorry to hear that croatoan got out. i still have my copy under lock and key!

Todd - 8-4-2005 at 12:28 PM

to be honest with you, i don't care too much. it's not even the final mix and god knows i've done my share of damage to other bands and the music industry.

MyOwnWay - 8-4-2005 at 10:14 PM

Remember when home cassette dubbing was gonna "kill music". I think the (big 5) companies are having a hard time accepting the fact that most of what they release isnt worth a damn.

BDx13 - 8-5-2005 at 12:19 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by MyOwnWay
I think the (big 5) companies are having a hard time accepting the fact that most of what they release isnt worth a damn.

no doubt. they pump so much money into producing this fluffy crap, then shoving it down our throats its discusting.