Copy-protected CD makers lose battle
Record companies have long been complaining about their “property” being misused, and has for a long time fought problems like bootlegging, unlicensed mp3 distribution etc.
The latest technology to fight unlawful use of their “property” is to make CDs with copy-protection software / mechanisms. The problem is of course that even regular CD players have problems with some of these copyright-protections.
All of this is fair enough, I don’t mind keeping away from CDs with copyright-protection technology, or having to return a CD now and again. (After all, once I have bought the CD, I should be able to play it on my computer, make MP3s for my own personal use, and use it in any CD or DVD player I might have. I can even legally distribute the music that I have bought to my close family and friends, according to norwegian law), but the latest news is that the record companies now apparently have started breaking the law to protect their “property”.
The record company MusicCity Records apparently thought they should have some extra protection in their copy-protection system, on one of their CDs the copy-protection system didn’t just protected the CD in the ways mentioned above, but also installed software that tracked personally identifiable information of the listener, and files and transfer on the listeners computer.
Personally I would think this is a bigger break of the law than any unlawful copying of the CD. And I can promise MusicCity that I won’t be buying any CDs from their record company in the future, and I hope everybody else will join me in that boycott.