Sunday, November 16, 2003
Sony Still Doesn't Get It With New CD Protection Scheme
Posted by Ed Hansberry in "THOUGHT" @ 04:00 PM
http://money.cnn.com/2003/11/10/technology/sony.reut/index.htm
"Sony Music, home to such artists as Beyonce Knowles and Bruce Springsteen, said Monday it plans to introduce new CD technology in Germany that prevents users from copying songs to file-sharing sites, but allows them to make copies for their personal use."
Sounds OK so far, but here, the devil is in the details. :devilboy: Some new CDs will contain "a compressed digital copy of the music that can be quickly copied onto any computer. From the computer, users can copy that music onto Sony portable digital music players."
That's right. I'm sure the music is in some proprietary scheme that will require Sony software to play that will then allow transfer to Sony devices. I think not! One of the artists Sony is going to try this with is Tori Amos. I have every CD she has released in the US (well, not the ill fated "Y Kant Tori Read" before she figured out what she was good at) and some that were not released here. If her new CD is protected in this manner, it will be one CD I'll skip.
The solution to prevent copying lies in pricing. Any proprietary scheme that only allows copying/burning/playing within specific constraints is doomed to fail simply because in 5, 10 or 15 years, that software will no longer be available. I still enjoy listening to some of my first CDs and have even repurchased some tapes in CD format. 95% of what I listen to is either on my PC or Pocket PC. I'm not gambling $15 on music that may essentially expire on me in a few years when the copy protection scheme du jour is abandoned in favor of something else.
"Sony Music, home to such artists as Beyonce Knowles and Bruce Springsteen, said Monday it plans to introduce new CD technology in Germany that prevents users from copying songs to file-sharing sites, but allows them to make copies for their personal use."
Sounds OK so far, but here, the devil is in the details. :devilboy: Some new CDs will contain "a compressed digital copy of the music that can be quickly copied onto any computer. From the computer, users can copy that music onto Sony portable digital music players."
That's right. I'm sure the music is in some proprietary scheme that will require Sony software to play that will then allow transfer to Sony devices. I think not! One of the artists Sony is going to try this with is Tori Amos. I have every CD she has released in the US (well, not the ill fated "Y Kant Tori Read" before she figured out what she was good at) and some that were not released here. If her new CD is protected in this manner, it will be one CD I'll skip.
The solution to prevent copying lies in pricing. Any proprietary scheme that only allows copying/burning/playing within specific constraints is doomed to fail simply because in 5, 10 or 15 years, that software will no longer be available. I still enjoy listening to some of my first CDs and have even repurchased some tapes in CD format. 95% of what I listen to is either on my PC or Pocket PC. I'm not gambling $15 on music that may essentially expire on me in a few years when the copy protection scheme du jour is abandoned in favor of something else.
