Workaround for newest copy protection: The shift key [Chron]

Sweet!

Note to RIAA: You cannot defeat a nation of geeks who want free stuff.

 

I knew somebody would figure out how to beat it.

 

Is this the same thing as with a sharpie marker and marking a bit of the edge of the CD soes it skips to the first actual track?

That worked for me.

 

that's hilarious

the RIAA can go to hell

 

RIAA CD Copy locks

http://www.zeropaid.com/news/articles/auto/10072003g.php

Sorry if this has been posted.



A Princeton University student has published instructions for disabling the new anticopying measures being tested on CDs by BMG--and they're as simple as holding down a computer's Shift key.
In a paper published on his Web site this week, Princeton Ph.D. student John Halderman explained how he disabled a new kind of copy-protection technology, distributed as part of a new album by BMG soul artist Anthony Hamilton.

Under normal circumstances, the antipiracy software is automatically loaded onto a Windows machine whenever the Hamilton album is run in a computer's CD drive, making traditional copying or MP3 ripping impossible. However, simply holding down the Shift key prevents Windows' AutoRun feature from loading the copy-protection software, leaving the music free to copy, Halderman said.

The technique was confirmed by BMG and SunnComm Technologies, the small company that produces the anticopying technology. Both companies said they had known about it before releasing the CD, and that they still believed the protection would deter most average listeners' copying.

"This is something we were aware of," BMG spokesman Nathaniel Brown said. "Copy management is intended as a speed bump, intended to thwart the casual listener from mass burning and uploading. We made a conscious decision to err on the side of playability and flexibility."

The ease with which Halderman and others have disabled BMG and SunnComm's latest copy-protection techniques illustrates the delicate balance that record labels and technology companies are trying to strike in protecting content without angering listeners.

SunnComm's technology is the most flexible version of CD copy-protection to hit the market yet. It includes "pre-ripped" versions of the songs on the CD itself, each of which can be transferred to a computer, burned to CD several times, or transferred to many kinds of portable devices. These differ from unrestricted MP3 files in that only limited copies can be made, and not every portable music device can play them.

The Anthony Hamilton CD is the first release in this new generation of copy-protected CDs that come preloaded with these "second session" tracks designed for use on a computer, a strategy also being pursued by SunnComm rival Macrovision. Record labels have pushed for these tracks, mostly provided in Microsoft's Windows Media format, to be included on copy-protected CDs in order to ameliorate consumers' concerns about not being able to use their music on computers.

SunnComm CEO Peter Jacobs said the technology--which will be improved in future versions--should still be attractive to record companies. Though simple, the act of holding down the Shift key in order to enable copying does let computer users know they're doing something unauthorized, he said. That alone will dissuade many people from making copies, he added.

"This is not an all-or-nothing thing," Jacobs said. "People can break into your house, because there's lots of information out there on how to pick locks. But that knowledge doesn't mean you don't buy a lock."

In order to fully prevent the antipiracy software from loading, a listener has to hold the Shift key down for a long period of time, at exactly the right time, every time they listen to the CD on a computer. Moreover, anyone who doesn't load the software won't get access to the second session tracks, which on future CDs will increasingly include videos and other bonus material, record company insiders say.

For his part, Halderman says the workaround is so simple that it's hard to fix. Nor is he worried about falling afoul of laws that make it illegal to describe how to get around copy-protection measures.

"I hardly think that telling people to push Shift constitutes trafficking in a (copy-protection technology) circumvention device," Halderman said. "I'm not very worried."

 

Well ya know it sucks they do that copyright protection because it practically makes me have to download the lower quality mp3's on my iPod instead of ripping them at a higher AAC quality I'd like to. AAC is another music format that's compatible with the iPod that delivers better music quality at a lower frequency and smaller amount of data. In other words it allows me to save space and put more songs on my mp3 player without losing sound quality.

 

The problem with this that it's generally speaking not the average listeners who are doing the copying. It's like saying, "This will keep the people who don't share music from ripping songs from the CD." What purpose would that serve?

 

So....

People who BOUGHT the CD can not copy it to their hard drive?

Rubbish.

DD

 

Screw Sony

 

I don't know about this CD, but I know some of the new copy protection schemes won't allow you to rip songs. They will however come with all the songs in Windows Media Audio format so that you can put them on your computer and download them to your MP3 player (as long as it supports digital rights management).

I believe it's similar to some of the new download services (i.e., MusicMatch). The MM service allows you to download songs in 160kb WMA files to you computer. I think you can put the song on up to 3 computers and your MP3 player (if it supposts DRM).

 

Already been posted...

http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65816

 

Merged BMW#13's thread into this one...