Copy-protected CDs turning music fans off record buying: retailers

Iria · Nov 20, 2005, 11:09 PM

TORONTO (CP) - It's becoming a regular occurrence in CD shops across the country: an irate customer comes in complaining the CD they bought won't play on their computer, and worse yet, they can't transfer the tunes to their IPod.

The culprit is copy-protected or copy-controlled CDs - something many Canadian music retailers say they would like to see pulled from store shelves.

"This is just another really, really ridiculous way of telling our customers, 'We don't want your business,' " said Tim Baker of Sunrise Records, which has 31 shops in southern Ontario.

"It's so stupid."
__________
Read More / Source: Canada.com

Tipstaff · Nov 21, 2005, 02:12 AM

Know what gets me?

Take Sony. Sony sells their own brand of MP3 players (CD and flash based), as well as mini-disc players.. all of which require a computer to transfer music to. Now, if they are so intent on protecting their music CDs from being copied, then why the hell would they spend ANY money in the portable music player industry at all? Not only are they pissing off legit buyers by making it impossible for people to transfer their music to more portable players, but they are also making it impossible for those people to transfer music to the very same MP3/CD/Mini-Disc players that they bought from Sony. Talk about shooting yourself in foot. If you really think about it, they are their own worst enemy.

Now, the same could be said for other music labels. If the majority of people out there have flash based digital players these days (I rarely see people pull out portable CD players anymore) then you are essentially cutting off a good segment of your customers from enjoying your music by limiting where they can listen to said music. This is the portable age. Smaller is better. So why would they buy a CD from you if they can't transfer that music to listen to it outside of their homes or cars?

Sheesh. And these people wonder why CD sales are down.

Judas · Nov 21, 2005, 05:45 AM

atm, MY sister is a little POed as she bought a cd but cannot play it due to her computer not being able to read it. Sadly, this is her only way of listening to it...

Sony ROYALLY screwed up

And so will ANY other record company that follows

Tipstaff · Nov 21, 2005, 11:24 AM

Do you know why Sony went with this protection? It's because of the failure of the MediaMax protection. Sony used to use MediaMax (version 2 if I remember) to protect a number of their CDs for a long time. Part of the protection was that it would install a device driver called sbcphid.sys. When you tried to copy the CD all the tracks would come out as if you were listening to someone with a speech impediment. That thing failed so bad as it was cracked in less than 2 minutes, and took minimal efforts to bypass. In particular, I have the first Kasabian CD sitting next to me (from Sony/BMG through RCA). All I need to do in order to copy that CD is to hold the shift key down (or disable Autorun) while I insert the CD. That's it. Copy protection bypassed. If by chance it does run the CD the program will dump that device driver into the computer. No problem. I just stop the driver, delete the file, and away I go. Sony had to be crapping bricks. Millions of dolars spent on a protection that was childsplay to bypass. What to do?

Enter this new protection. The premise was that if nobody could see the driver/protection, then it couldn't be bypassed. Very smart thinking. 'Course, who know it would cause so much trouble? Sony now has to recall the millions of CDs that has this protection on it, and replace the ones sold to customers that want one. The irony? Again Sony is crapping bricks over a protection they've spent millions of dollars on, a protection that will keep costing them money with the recalls, replacement, and the inevitable lawsuits, all because it worked too good.

<sigh> I love a good drama.

Zelig · Nov 21, 2005, 01:54 PM

Ironically, copy protection on my CDs has prompted me to burn off copies of them minus the protection, so I'm able to play them wherever I want.

kn0w1 · Nov 22, 2005, 12:39 AM

It's too bad "retailers" lack the balls but they could very easily say look we don't want to deal with irate customers, returns, and lose sales because of your crap. Give us CDs without it or we won't sell them.

Nov 20, 2005, 11:09 PM	#1
Iria DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Posts: 7,275 Rep Power: 87	Copy-protected CDs turning music fans off record buying: retailers TORONTO (CP) - It's becoming a regular occurrence in CD shops across the country: an irate customer comes in complaining the CD they bought won't play on their computer, and worse yet, they can't transfer the tunes to their IPod. The culprit is copy-protected or copy-controlled CDs - something many Canadian music retailers say they would like to see pulled from store shelves. "This is just another really, really ridiculous way of telling our customers, 'We don't want your business,' " said Tim Baker of Sunrise Records, which has 31 shops in southern Ontario. "It's so stupid." __________ Read More / Source: Canada.com

Nov 21, 2005, 02:12 AM	#2
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,660 Rep Power: 187 System Specs	Know what gets me? Take Sony. Sony sells their own brand of MP3 players (CD and flash based), as well as mini-disc players.. all of which require a computer to transfer music to. Now, if they are so intent on protecting their music CDs from being copied, then why the hell would they spend ANY money in the portable music player industry at all? Not only are they pissing off legit buyers by making it impossible for people to transfer their music to more portable players, but they are also making it impossible for those people to transfer music to the very same MP3/CD/Mini-Disc players that they bought from Sony. Talk about shooting yourself in foot. If you really think about it, they are their own worst enemy. Now, the same could be said for other music labels. If the majority of people out there have flash based digital players these days (I rarely see people pull out portable CD players anymore) then you are essentially cutting off a good segment of your customers from enjoying your music by limiting where they can listen to said music. This is the portable age. Smaller is better. So why would they buy a CD from you if they can't transfer that music to listen to it outside of their homes or cars? Sheesh. And these people wonder why CD sales are down. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Nov 21, 2005, 11:24 AM	#4
Tipstaff HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Real capital of Canada: Torauna Posts: 6,660 Rep Power: 187 System Specs	Do you know why Sony went with this protection? It's because of the failure of the MediaMax protection. Sony used to use MediaMax (version 2 if I remember) to protect a number of their CDs for a long time. Part of the protection was that it would install a device driver called sbcphid.sys. When you tried to copy the CD all the tracks would come out as if you were listening to someone with a speech impediment. That thing failed so bad as it was cracked in less than 2 minutes, and took minimal efforts to bypass. In particular, I have the first Kasabian CD sitting next to me (from Sony/BMG through RCA). All I need to do in order to copy that CD is to hold the shift key down (or disable Autorun) while I insert the CD. That's it. Copy protection bypassed. If by chance it does run the CD the program will dump that device driver into the computer. No problem. I just stop the driver, delete the file, and away I go. Sony had to be crapping bricks. Millions of dolars spent on a protection that was childsplay to bypass. What to do? Enter this new protection. The premise was that if nobody could see the driver/protection, then it couldn't be bypassed. Very smart thinking. 'Course, who know it would cause so much trouble? Sony now has to recall the millions of CDs that has this protection on it, and replace the ones sold to customers that want one. The irony? Again Sony is crapping bricks over a protection they've spent millions of dollars on, a protection that will keep costing them money with the recalls, replacement, and the inevitable lawsuits, all because it worked too good. <sigh> I love a good drama. __________________ Portal: The Flash Version _________________________________ Brain: So, you sacked the cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker? Mr. Sackett: The second cocky khaki Kicky Sack sock plucker I've sacked since the sixth sitting sheet slitter got sick.

Nov 21, 2005, 01:54 PM	#5
Zelig HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 3,187 Rep Power: 69 System Specs	Ironically, copy protection on my CDs has prompted me to burn off copies of them minus the protection, so I'm able to play them wherever I want. __________________ --

Nov 22, 2005, 12:39 AM	#6
kn0w1 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 16 Rep Power: 0	It's too bad "retailers" lack the balls but they could very easily say look we don't want to deal with irate customers, returns, and lose sales because of your crap. Give us CDs without it or we won't sell them.