RIAA Unveils Net Tracking Tag for Online Sales

openbear writes "A story over at MSNBC talks about the Global Release Indentifier (GRid). It is a code akin to the Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code found on a CD or cassette tape in stores. Each track will be distributed online with an individual GRid serial number and will be reported back to rights societies and collection agencies sold or transferred."

Comments

the analog hole

[circletimessquare]

no one can take potshots at the golden "analog hole", it remains untouchable.

any audio file, i don't care how well you secure it, has to be turned into an audio signal at some point to be understandable to the human ear. at which point, the signal can be copied. this will never be preventable or difficult to do for any vaguely committed technically clueless wannabe music pirate.

you are talking about the skillset and the resource level of your average 13 year old. the same 13 year old who has the deepest desire for pop music, and the least amount of money. put 2 and 2 together and you get the downfall of the riaa right there in a nutshell.

when will the riaa get this clue? i mean c'mon, talk about fighting historical inevitability.

what next? implant digital audio chips in people's eardrums and transmit the data through 802.11/ bluetooth?

wait, forget i asked, i don't want to give the recording industry police any ideas... they are so stupid, they'd probably propose that as a reasonable solution ;-P