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Record Companies Sued Over Charley Pride CD
DevNova writes: "This posting describes a woman in California suing Fahrenheit Entertainment, Inc. and its label Music City Records over CDs she has purchased which use a proprietary music encoding scheme that prevents them from being listened to without the user identifying themselves. These CDs won't play on standard CD players, are not encoded in the popular MP3 format, and will not play on a computer until the user enters personal information. A large part of the suit is that Fahrenheit discloses none of this information on the packaging."
she just doesn't want anyone to know that she bought a charley pride cd.
i am a musician and i give away all of it. i dont sell it.
this is the only way to keep out controls like this.
this shit is just going to get worse, and it makes me very quiet, i feel like everyone around me is a little fascist now. i won't take an opportunity in music although it's not likely i'd get one anyway since i don't look like britney spears.
i guess that i am willing to get sick and die and not go to a hospital, or to have my own teeth fall out because i don't have benefits, so a corporate system doesn't own me.
in a few months my honeymoon will be over.. if i don't post anymore it means i am gone for good.
Goat sex free since 2001
But the margin is protected by the DMCA and so is to small to write the solution.
These CDs won't play on standard CD players, are not encoded in the popular MP3 format, and will not play on a computer until the user enters personal information.
Actually the suit says that they won't play in standard Audio CD drives in computers, not that the CD won't play in a stand alone CD player. I should hope that the music stores them selves would refuse to carry something that won't even play in a regular CD player.
Ad in classifieds: Pandora's Box (no box) $5
The letter makes no mention of the CD not working in normal audio players. Apparently the CD will not work in CD-ROM drives, but allows the user the ability to register with the record label and download a proprietary encoding of the song to play on their computer.
There is definitly no way that any company should be able to collect information about a person that has purchased their CD. If this was a promotional CD I could see the point but if you purchase something it becomes yours (and you are free to do w/it whatever you wish) you paid a fee to give you rights. They are invading your privacy.
The fact that they are hiding this from view is an obvious attempt at actually selling the CDs. No one is going to buy the god damn things b/c of this crap. Hell, I hate to shop at Radio Shack b/c of the fact that they ask for my private information and seem to feel it is their god given right to have it. (No, I will NOT give them any of my info even if I purchase my items w/a CC -- this usually really irritates the clerk -- the information they need is how much the item costs, how much I paid, and that's it)
I am sick and tired of this crap. If I don't want to be known I don't have to be. Once you buy something you own it. That's it. Their ownership of the item stops when money exchanges hands.
Fuck that.
They're probably using this as a test for the RIAA...and they knew no hacker would try to break it cause no hacker would ever want to.
I can hear the sales committee to RIAA 6 months later.."See, our propritary technology hasn't been cracked - it's safe to implement for all CD sales...
Two weeks later...teenage munchkins find out they can't listen to Limp Bisquit and break the encoding...end of story.
Funny as hell...why Charley Pride? Covering Jim Reeves, no less?
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ah honey, we're all resplendent - Bill Mallonee
Chuckie is well known in his own field (blues/country, if I recall correctly). This isn't a mix CD or a giveaway, and Mr. Pride himself agreed to be the guinea pig for this CD format a while ago. I hope it costs him dearly in terms of sales.
Virg
CDNOW does mention the protection scheme in its synopsis of the CD. But they do call it a "ham-handed and unjustifiable response to the problem" of piracy.
Charley Pride can perform & sing.
He can perform both kinds of music... Country AND Western!
My wife just bought a cd (arg! I can't remember the artist name, Toby sumthin-or-other, your basic country crapola [metal rules, imho]). Anyways, there was NO indication anywhere on the cd that it was copy-protected, but it absolutely could not be backed-up with ezcd (she likes the security and convenience of having copied-cd's for use in the car, and leaving the original at the house). After a couple of tries, I moved on to attempting to just rip the tracks to
My point (having wandered a bit away from the original topic), is that more than one record company seems to be trying to sneak this sort of crap past consumers.
Wow, who would've thunk it?! Copyright control and protection mechanisms might hurt sales? While completely unrevolutionary to anyone who has actually USED Napster or other file sharing P2P networks, I'm sure this will just be an extraordinary revolution to Hillary Rosen and her cronies. Don't want to screw yourselves out of a bunch of extra profits? - just screw the customer out of their legally provided rights...
I noticed at the very end of the complaint that a jury trial is requested. This is good because if that request is granted, it will mean that regular Joes and Janes will be the ones deciding this case, and juries have traditionnally tended to lean toward what they personally feel is right, not what is legally right.
Natuarally the defendants will do everything hty can to block a jury and have just the judge.
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
So the next question is :
Is filing a lawsuit to stop the data collection and to stop this practice in fact a violation under the DCMA, and an illegal lawsuit?
you know somebody is going to try to argue that point, and may even find a nitwit judge to agree.
- - -
Radio Free Nation
an alternate news site using Slash Code
"If You have a Story, We have a Soap Box"
"It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
Geez. I hate to correct myself, but....
The disc works fine in a stand-alone cd player. The plaintiff (and CDNow) claim that the disc can't even be listened to AT ALL on a computer though. I presume this could be fixed by turning off auto-run, but who knows? Even forcing someone to take this step seems a bit over the top though.... Guess I jumped the gun a bit on my post. Sorry.
Fahrenheit Entertainment, Sunncomm and the RIAA have announced a lawsuit filed against Ira Rothken of The Rothken Law Firm and his unnamed client for attempted circumvention of a copy protection device. Attorneys for the plantiff claim that by attempting to use litigation to remove a copy protection method the defendant is effectively circumventing that method and thus in violation of the DMCA. They also argue that if their clients were forced to identify products protected by this device it would weaken the effectiveness of the device and could ultimately lead to circumvention; therefore the defendant should be liable for contributory circumvention of a copy protection device.
The RIAA was not available for comment, but the FBI has raided the offices of The Rothken Law Firm on a sealed warrant in search of evidence.
STOP MISUSING APOSTROPHES, YOU MORONS!!!
The judge could aware punitive damages of hundreds of thousands of dollars. This is over and above the compensatory damages (which could include not only the original purchase price, but legal fees, lost wages while in court, etc.)
Besides, some lawsuits happen because someone feels that there is an injustice in the world, not out of some sense of personal greed. If you don't understand this, ask some of your Democratic friends to explain it to you.
(Not to right-wing moderators: I have 50 Karma points, so I can afford to lose two or three for being honest here.)
RIAA: All your rights after you bought this cd are belong to us.
.jpg because of pr0n pics are being traded.
Fahrenheit: Someone set us up the worst idea ever.
Consumer: Main screen turn on [then enter my SS#, then my DOB, then my mothers maiden name, then my biometric information]
RIAA Again: Gentelman... all your standards are belong to no one
-=Nothing useful to post, just want to let you know=-
Actually I 99.9% agree with the case against napster and I can't believe I'm downloading unsaid music videos now, but this is out of control.
Trying to kill the mp3 format because of P2P is like trying to kill
Lets all switch to our own formats that only our own computers can read... fu** everyone! Like Bush said yesterday, scared people build walls, confident people tear them down [not his line, of course]
Get your Unix fortune now!
I'm worried that all the recording companies will do is add in the fine print at the bottom of the back side cover that says something like "This CD is protected by the use of the FairUseSucks System and may not play on computers without entering personal information. Please visit www.weownj00.com for our privacy policy; opening of this package indicates your agreement to this policy". Bingo, they have just gotten out of a lawsuit.
At this point, one would then need to envoke the infamous time-shifting case to fight back for fair use.
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
I noticed the complaint letter doesnt list a dollar amount for damages. This is good because the defendants wont be able to offer a cash settlement very easily, like in many other cases. The woman here wants them to fix the problems for the better of the public and doesnt appear to want money in return.
Reminds of a case several years ago when families were suing automakers for problems with airbags killing loved ones. People were suing for tremendoesly large cash settlements, and getting them, but the airbag problems were going unchecked, as newer cars still had the same problem. One man (who himself was a lawyer) lost his wife in an accident because of the airbag in one of those newer vehicles. He sued, but emphasized that settlement would only be reached if the auto makers fixed the airbag problems and refused cash settlements. The judge ruled in his favor and ordered the automaker to repair the problem.
The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
Charley Pride, a long time country singer, is an ironic twist for this type of suit. I suppose, once she's entered her name, address, csz, country, birthdate, drivers license, ssn and given a blood sample, she'd be rewarded with a country/blues song, such as, "Got them Invaded Privacy Blues", "Someone exploited their server and is maxin' out credit cards in my name" or "Mrs. Brown of 2348 West Cloverleaf Drive, Wooster Massachusetts, 10112, USA, who drives a green '98 Ford Explorer and has iron poor blood, you've got a lovely daughter"
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
CDNOW says: One non-musical caveat: The CD is copy-protected, and cannot be played by anything but a standard audio player. If you wish to use your computer to listen to the music that you purchased on CD, you'll have to go to the website of the company providing the protection technology and download, one at a time, Windows Media file versions of the 15 tracks (and if you own a Mac, you're simply out of luck). Intellectual property holders have legitimate concerns about piracy these days, but this is a ham-handed and unjustifiable response to the problem So it will play on a standard audio CD player. How long before CD-Drive manufacturers add a "pure audio" mode to drives?
Day One
"Hi, I bought this CD yesterday but cannot get it to play on my PC at home. The other CD I bought yesterday plays fine, so this must be defective. Can I get a replacement?"
Day Two
"Hi, I got this replacement for a CD that wouldn't play on my PC yesterday and this one seems bad, too. Might be a bad production run of CD's. Can I try another?"
Rinse well, repeat as necessary until all CD's of that recording are sent back to label marked "defective".
No, the DIVX player required a phone line and had a modem that dialed in to grant permission to play the discs.
You could pay per view as often as you liked.
...in this lawsuit was, I'm sure, working up the gumption to admit that she actually bought a Charley Pride album. Shudder.
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Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
> it makes me a touch ill that included in the lawsuit is
> the fact that the encoded version of the CD is NOT mp3.
This is a bit of an overextension of what was said. The gist of the suit (on this point) is that due to the fact that the CD is unplayable in a computer's CD-ROM drive, they decided to provide encoded files that the purchaser can download to listen to on the PC (a good thing). However, their encoding on those audio files is proprietary (a bad thing, since they can't be used on a personal MP3 player) and they require entry of much personal information to get the files (a very bad thing) and they don't bother to tell anyone about this issue before they buy the CD (a very, very bad thing). She's not insisting that the company make the files available in MP3 format. They are (by the wording of the suit) allowed to do just what they did. The reason for her suit is that they didn't notify her that they were doing any of it, and because of it she was unable to make an informed decision about whether she wanted to buy the CD in the first place.
Virg
Whatever format this CD uses, I can't see Sony etc scrambling to follow this. Joe User is at least more receptive to privacy concerns than intellectual property issues.
Sony is in an interesting position, because they are a record company AND make a line of portable mp3 players.
Formats like the one mentioned in this article are inherently incompatible with mp3 players. Sony, being a large record label, seems to be placing bets on both sides of the free music battle.
(yes, I realize you can use a sony mp3 player to play music you paid for.... but you and me and sony all know that playing mp3's off the net is a big appeal for consumers)
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The way to see by faith is to shut the eye of reason. --Ben Franklin
Really?
Think of this: if you went to the record store and told them that you dropped and broke your CD, here are the pieces and the receipts, and could they please replace it - do you think they'd give you a new CD? Or would they laugh you out of the store? Suddenly, it looks like you bought something physical after all, and not the license to listen to the music on the CD, doesn't it...?
"I will take the Ring," he said, "though I do not know the way."
Use a CD player with digital out and a sound card with digital input.
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Along the same lines, please never allow your elected representative to refer to you as a 'taxpayer'. God, there's no term more demeaning, more belittling... I mean, what happens if I should fall on hard times? I'm no longer a taxpayer, so I no longer count?
The word 'citizen' needs to come back into everyday parlance.
-Dave
In other news, song swapping reached a record high level on the Internet in August as 3.05-billion files were swapped using various systems. The peak for the "Napster era" was 2.79-billion files, but, of course, the RIAA took care of that problem.
So far, we have been ABLE TO listen to CDs on our computers, etc. Whether this is a RIGHT that we obtain from purchasing a CD is an entirely different issue.
The fact that you have been able to use CDs in this way up until now creates the expectation that this particular new CD (from the same manufacturer) can also be used in this way. The labeling does not do anything to correct the impression.
So the CD violates the "implied warranty of servicibility and fitness" - for the purpose SHE intended when she bought it - and is thus a defective product. Because this was done deliberately, the company has DELIBERATELY shipped a defective product. There's lots of nice stuff in consumer law and case-law about that. B-)
Further, if they put the CD logo on the case (I don't know if they did) it is being advertised as conforming to the Red Book standard - which it obviously does not if the error correction code is not correct. That would be false advertising as well.
Could get VERY interesting.
(IANAL)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Let me get this straight:
Now lately, they've added a new twist: They collect information on you when you try to play your CD.
And then you claim to be deceived.
If it's just now that you think you are being deceived, and that the only issue to you is that your CD has some sort of odd protection on it, I'd think that you were more deeply deceived than you think.
Listen to free music. Go to MP3.com, or one of the other various music sites, and download good music. It'll take some sifting, but you'll find it; it's all there.
Learn about propaganda. Learn how it touches your mind. Then steer the hell clear of it! Otherwise, expect more messes like the one you find yourself in.
Moreover there is likely no representation that the CD will play on a computer 'anonymously'.
You mean 'at all'. The CD won't play in a computer, period. The registration is to allow you to download the song in Windows Media format, not to allow the CD to play. As for no representation, you don't think the CD logo on the disc qualifies as representation? This indicates that the CD complies with the red book standard, which should be playable in any drive that can read said standard. Since it won't, it's technically broken.
Keep in mind that this lawsuit is about disclosure, not money. She's not trying to win a million bucks here.
If you're going to put out a CD that does not comply with the standards, you have an obligation to warn consumers. I would be pissed if I bought a CD that didn't play in my CD-ROM, my car, etc. (car stereos that read MP3s are technically CD-ROM drives and will not read these "encrypted" discs, either. Many higher end home CD players also have CD-ROM drives in them and will not read the discs).
-Ryan, with the unoriginal sig
Buying a nice CD at the local music place, possibly listening to it at home (I currently use a Sega Mega CD as a CD player), or listening to it at work (I just bung the CD in a CDROM drive and expect it to start playing), or maybe listening to it on the go (I have an MP3 player that plugs into the bottom of my Ericsson T28) should not be a battle between me and the music companies. If you want to lock down your music, fine, just don't expect me to bother trying to play it. Thus, don't expect me to buy it.