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More Incompatible DVDs and CDs Coming Your Way

wwwssabbsdotcom writes " More DRM is coming to DVD and CD shelves in the future. Looks like more incompatible discs for players around the world. Rip-proof and self-destructing seems to be the latest DRM craze."

905 comments

  1. Yeah. by spirality · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So quit grousing and don't buy em.

    1. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can have my gun when you pry my cold dead fingers off it you dirty damn ape!

    2. Re:Yeah. by zedmelon · · Score: 1, Redundant

      Meanwhile, Warner Music, a division of CNN's parent company AOL Time Warner, released the new Steely Dan album "Everything Must Go" on CD and DVD Audio, the latter being an encrypted, "rip-proof" format.
      ...and this will be 100% successful. No, really.

      --
      Mom says my .sig can beat up your .sig.
    3. Re:Yeah. by cshark · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Uhm, I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but this has been tried already. It was called DIVX. It was miserable failure. People hated it. It's still ridiculed today by the few of us that remember it.

      --

      This signature has Super Cow Powers

    4. Re:Yeah. by 0123456 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I won't. Personally I'm looking forward to the day when I can put all my (legally purchased) movie and music collection on my hard drive and throw away those DVDs, CDs and VHS tapes that take up so much space. If that means I never upgrade any of those DVDs to a DRM-ed HD-DVD format, then so be it.

      I note, BTW, that the article says: "The media barons insist that if consumers are going to listen to music and view movie clips and news headlines on any gadget with a screen, then the rights holders must be paid."

      So no mention of _the authors_ being paid, only the rights holders (i.e. the worthless middle-men who'd be eliminated if copyright didn't create a monopoly market).

    5. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Do you think they're going to boldy label them "This DVD self-destructs 24 hours after being opened"? They can still make tons of money before the typical user figures out that something's amiss.

    6. Re:Yeah. by drwtsn32 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Do you also throw away the software CD after you install it? Throwing away the original, unadulterated, digital media is really a bad idea, IMO.

      I have ripped all the CDs I own but I'm not about to throw away those CDs.

    7. Re:Yeah. by Cereal+Box · · Score: 1, Troll

      Presumably the authors of the works are getting paid somehow, otherwise they wouldn't want to sign with a company. I know this line of thinking doesn't fit in with the usual Slashdot "artists get paid 99%, the people who provided millions of dollars upfront to the artist should only be able to cover costs" mentality, but try to wrap your brain around it.

    8. Re:Yeah. by JohnwheeleR · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah? Well I have been looking forward to the days of ripping and pirating media illegally for a long time.

    9. Re:Yeah. by zedmelon · · Score: 2, Funny
      HAHAHAHAHAH! DIVX! Sorry this is a bit offtopic, but...

      When I first talked about getting a DVD player, my dumbass step-dad (who LOVES to show off all the "wicked cash" he makes as an accountant) told me that DIVX would be the latest and greatest.

      I hadn't heard about DIVX at that point, but he assured me that it would become the unquestioned standard, just as soon as there were enough people aware of its wonderful benefits.

      I just chalk it up to the long list of reasons I'm convinced my Mom "traded down," along with the plastic fence, the way he totally assed my rewire of their phone system, and the vinyl siding on his modular home.

      DIVX RULES!!!!

      --
      Mom says my .sig can beat up your .sig.
    10. Re:Yeah. by 0123456 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's not viable quite yet, but why keep it if you can back it up on a second hard drive and stick it in a safe somewhere, and/or encrypt it and stick it on a data haven machine? My DVD and CD collections take up a sizable amount of space in my bedroom, and before long I could put all that on a 2.5" drive in a laptop and carry it everywhere with me... why put up with idiots who want to restrict me to sticking some physical object in my computer just to access digital data?

    11. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      But when SCO source code is only available on special icompatible DVDs, how am I supposed to do Linux development without playing into SCO's hands??

    12. Re:Yeah. by cens0r · · Score: 1

      You don't get any value out of actually owning the media? The jewel case, the artwork, and everything else that comes with it?

      --
      Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
    13. Re:Yeah. by Kpt+Kill · · Score: 1

      Id imagine these would be a hit at blockbuster... rent the dvd and dont return it. --just throw it away. wow how convienient. thankyou mpaa for making my life so much easier. From what ive read, once the disk is exposed to oxygen the disk will slowly turn opaque via a chemical reaction. The data will still be there, but the laser wont be able to read the data... however during the window of a few days, it should behave just as a regular dvd and one should be able to rip it just as any other dvd.

    14. Re:Yeah. by molarmass192 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Careful there, backing up to magnetic media is nowhere near as safe as non-magnetic media like a CD or DVD. Tapes and drives lose their charges over a relatively short time. Burn it to a DVD, stick it in a safe-deposit box, and you're good for at least 50 years. A WORM drive (do they still sell those?) would work too. I realize backing up 4G at a time is a pain compared to 160G at a time but you don't do it every day either.

      --

      Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
    15. Re:Yeah. by PunchMonkey · · Score: 1

      So no mention of _the authors_ being paid, only the rights holders (i.e. the worthless middle-men who'd be eliminated if copyright didn't create a monopoly market).

      The author's gave up their rights to their work when they sold it to the copyright holder... this makes perfect sense to me.

      --
      I'll have something intelligent to add one of these days...
    16. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      >Hey slashdot, why all the low moderations?

      Simple. Slashdot still doesn't put overrated in metamod, so anyone who wants to be an asshole can simply mod everyone -1, overrated and never worry about the decision being overturned or losing moderator status.

    17. Re:Yeah. by MartinG · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The artists sign so they can be supported by the massive long-established marketing machine that is the music industry. If they didn't sign, they would be competing against that marketing machine which is almost impossible given its size.

      That doesn't mean they want the industry the way it is. They would get paid much more fairly (ie, more based on merit) if those greedy middle men didn't exist.

      It's almost like a protection racket:
      "You come and work with us and we will look after you. It will cost you a huge chunk of your work, but if you don't come to us we will obliterate you with our marketing power"

      --
      -- MartinG To mail me: echo kewyjlcxyzvjfxbqwh | tr bcefhjklqvwxyz .@adgimnoprstu
    18. Re:Yeah. by Rip!ey · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Personally I'm looking forward to the day when I can put all my (legally purchased) movie and music collection on my hard drive and throw away those DVDs, CDs and VHS tapes that take up so much space.

      Well I hope you have kept all of your receipts, otherwise you are throwing away all proof that you have a legitimate right to have the said movies and music on your hard drive in the first place.

    19. Re:Yeah. by Daniel_Staal · · Score: 1

      Hmmm. If the data is still there, just in a different layer, I wonder how hard it would be to seperate the layers...

      --
      'Sensible' is a curse word.
    20. Re:Yeah. by rkz · · Score: 2, Insightful

      paint the top of your opaque DVD with some reflectve paint?

    21. Re:Yeah. by mbbac · · Score: 3, Funny
      Presumably the authors of the works are getting paid somehow, otherwise they wouldn't want to sign with a company.
      You need to do a bit of fact checking.
      --

      mbbac

    22. Re:Yeah. by HermanAB · · Score: 1

      So, just spray paint the damn thing with transparent laquer, or make a copy.

      Anyhoo, floppy disks is a self destructing medium that has been around for decades, so many people are still used to having to make a backup of a new purchase.

      --
      Oh well, what the hell...
    23. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      The main difference between this and DIVX is that you don't have to buy a new DVD player to watch these discs. DIVX tanked because 1) you had to buy a new DIVX player to watch DIVX discs , and 2) it didn't have any advantages over renting (besides no late fees, but that pissed off the rental places because they make bank off late fees).

      With these new ones, it's still a DVD-compatible disc, so you don't have to swap out your DVD player. The disc just self-destructs after a couple of days. This removes one of the two main reasons people hated it. They're hoping to overcome the other with marketing, I'm sure.

    24. Re:Yeah. by uncoveror · · Score: 1
      Hollywood and the recording industry can produce crippled media, but we, the customers don't have to buy them. Let them gather dust, and they will die like Divx.(The crippled DVDs, not the current video format.)

      If grousing informs people who didn't already know that this stuff exists before they waste their money, it serves a useful purpose.

      --
      The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
    25. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Presumably the authors of the works are getting paid somehow, otherwise they wouldn't want to sign with a company. I know this line of thinking doesn't fit in with the usual Slashdot "artists get paid 99%, the people who provided millions of dollars upfront to the artist should only be able to cover costs" mentality, but try to wrap your brain around it.

      +4 insightful? Whatever. You missed his point in your indignant interpretation of what he is saying. I don't think anyone is saying here that the artist don't get paid in the current system. Just that the middle men are like robber barons. They Requiring irrevocal never ending rights to the art/music forever reaping benefits of the backs of the artists, while paying the majority of the artists a mere pittance. Just because the record compaies fronted the money doen't mean that everything is all fair and balanced.

    26. Re:Yeah. by zero_offset · · Score: 1
      Burn it to a DVD, stick it in a safe-deposit box, and you're good for at least 50 years.

      Don't be so sure. A HUGE number of factors play into the lifespan of burned media. I've had reasonably high quality CDs (e.g. high cyan Ricoh stuff, not spindled 100-bulk no-name crap) go bad after only 5 years or so.

      Not that I don't use it myself for backup -- I just make two backups. It's certainly cheap enough.

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

    27. Re:Yeah. by Greyfox · · Score: 3, Interesting
      I don't know about the music or movie industry, but in the publishing industry it's not uncommon for an unknown author to have to pay to get their works published. I've typically seen this in the form of a contract from the pusblisher that says "We won't give you anything and you have to buy X number of the book from us."

      Some of those authors might go on to be discovered, but most of them will spend their lives working as strippers or grocery store clerks or, even worse, journalists. They will die alone, unloved and unknown in a run-down apartment with 47 cats, to the end clinging to the pathetic hope that they can write the Great American Novel if only someone will pay attention to them.

      --

      I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?

    28. Re:Yeah. by BitchHead · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Some people do, some people don't. My wife is a music geek, and sometimes buys a CD just because of the cover art. She's got a cabinet full of records (we don't have a record player) because she likes the art on the albums. There's bunch of those mid 80s - early 90s long CD boxes that she's kept around. For her it's having the visual aspect of the recording that is important. I'm the opposite way: I ripped all my CDs to mp3s, backed 'em up on some CDs and my entertainment server, and sold the originals. Couldn't care about the art or the liner notes or the lyrics sheets. I have my music, I'm happy.

    29. Re:Yeah. by cshark · · Score: 1

      Could be. Still a silly idea though. I don't see how this would privde any benefit to the customer at all.

      --

      This signature has Super Cow Powers

    30. Re:Yeah. by Lord+Kano · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I worked at Circuit City when DIVX was launched. I remember going through my orientation and one of the managers was really enthused about the DIVX launch and I remember telling him "That's going to fail." He didn't understand why I explained to him "People would rather pay $20 and watch a movie whenever they want to than pay $4.00 for the disk, and $1.99 for each time after. People aren't going to like that studios can stop them from watching the disks that they have bought because of a theatrical re-release."

      He assured me that because Circuit City had spent over 80 million dollars on research that they could make it happen.

      When I was on the sales floor, my manager (a different one) informed me that all employees were to ask customers if they knew anything about DIVX and to offer them a demonstration. I responded "Please don't make me do that, I will if I have to, but I will not lie to the people if they ask me any questions. Including questions about my personal opinion of DIVX." I told him all of the same things that I told the first manager about DIVX. He didn't force me to offer the demonstrations. I think the fact that I was only working part time (still taking college classes) but was the second highest money maker in the store didn't hurt.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    31. Re:Yeah. by karlandtanya · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Hmmm... IANAL, so this is the layperson's understanding of fair use: If I buy a CD/DVD/Album/Tape/whatever then I can pretty much listen to it/watch it on whatever I want to.


      It seems to me that the media companies are going for a power grab in the "confusion" caused by actual violations of copyright.


      Not a bad idea for them. "Hey, guys--we want to intrusively regulate our Customer's behaviour. Some of them are breaking the law. Let's confuse fair use with lawbreaking. Then we can cry "foul" when fair use is exercised and get congress to take it away from the consumers."


      Excuse me for a moment; I have to send my credit card number to American Standard. In case I need to take a pee while I'm at work.

      --
      "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, it doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
    32. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thief!

      People like you are why we have to deal with the DRM crap.

      Thanks a lot asshole.

    33. Re:Yeah. by Cereal+Box · · Score: 1

      Upon further examination, you're completely right! Artists get absolutely no money and the label keeps everything! How foolish of me to overlook this universal truth! I had no idea that artists were signing with major labels simply because they have no desire to get any money out of the deal. Thank you sir, I have learned much from you.

    34. Re:Yeah. by renehollan · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Personally I'm looking forward to the day when I can put all my (legally purchased) movie and music collection on my hard drive and throw away those DVDs, CDs and VHS tapes that take up so much space. If that means I never upgrade any of those DVDs to a DRM-ed HD-DVD format, then so be it.

      Oh, I feel your pain.

      As owner of several hundred CDs (for which I had a custom solid oak and granite cabinet custom-made to hold them and sport the playback equipment back in the day...), and a growing collection of DVDs, not to mention all the kids' videos (does anyone else hate Disney cases (yeah, yeah, don't feed the copyright monster, but wives and kids do their own thing)), I feel the storage blues as well.

      I've archived almost all the CD audio to hard disk (losslessly), and plan to do the same with the DVDs. The video tapes are a bit of a toss up, though, as a movie mecomes dated, I'd probably be willing to pay the rights-holder a modest amount to provide a copy to me on more "modern" media, if I surrender the original (fat chance that will happen, when they can sell the DVD for more than the VHS cassette -- except I'm not likely to buy the former if I already have the latter, unless the price is commensurate with a "convenience factor" rather than a "license fee").

      You know, I don't really have a problem with the concept of DRM, but rather with the most-likely uses and implementations. If DRM provided for (a) traditional fair uses and (b) was required to be field-upgradable to permit newly recognized fair-uses, I could live with it.

      As it stands, I use DeCSS for the legitimate traditional fair use of serving a working copy of movies from a hard disk to a remote display device. I'd be happy to keep the video stream encrypted on my LAN and only decrypted by the end device, as long as I get to have any display device I own be capable of displaying the video I've licensed from and storage medium I own on any server I own over any network I own. In other words, protect yourself from unfair uses of your content, yes, but stay the fuck out of MY hardware except to the extent necessary -- at the end of the stream, however many such ends I may have.

      --
      You could've hired me.
    35. Re:Yeah. by Cereal+Box · · Score: 1, Insightful

      The point is that you NEED those "greedy middle men" to get any exposure. What, do you think that just because you make amazing music that if you stick it up on a website (or better yet, put it on Kazaa) you'll be making millions in sales? Someone has to KNOW who you are first, it is unlikely that you'll just stumble upon artists if there's no marketing behind them. Why do you think it's an artist's dream to get a major label deal? Because the label will pay for promotion, advertising, product positioning, radio time, etc. These are all things which help you SELL MORE UNITS. If you sell millions, YOU WILL GET PAID. Just ask any artist who has sold millions of records... they'll tell you two things: 1, that they're happy they signed with a major label; 2, that they couldn't have accomplished it by themselves.

    36. Re:Yeah. by The_K4 · · Score: 1

      Oh yeah...i can see it now, people throwing away even MORE cds. I'm sure tree-huggers everywhere would LOVE to have more useless CDs in landfills. As if all those AOL cds i chuck arn't bad enough now i can throw away blockbuster DVDs and then I can't buy pre-viewed DVDs for cheap!

    37. Re:Yeah. by crazyphilman · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's not like we don't have alternatives. If you like music, listen to the radio. In the car, you have the stereo, and Z-100 (in New York, anyway). At work, and at home, you have WinAmp, or XMMS for the Linux crowd. You don't have to own ANY music. Just listen to whatever's on.

      'Course... This may save you from Baby Boomer Disease (that's the sickness some of the older guys in my office have, where they fanatically assert that no good music has been produced since the early eighties). The poor bastards have been holed up, Unabomber style, with their LP collection for twenty years now. Pity the poor Baby Boomer; he swore he wouldn't turn into his father in the sixties, and in '03, he's turned into his GRANDFATHER ("You kids today!!! When I was a kid, we had REAL music...").

      If I hear ONE MORE OLD FART telling me that the Beatles are "real music" and Techno is "bubblegum" I'm going to start throwing Molitov Cocktails.

      --
      Farewell! It's been a fine buncha years!
    38. Re:Yeah. by TheMostBob · · Score: 3, Insightful
      "Don't be too proud of this technological terror you've constructed. The ability to write to DVD is insignificant next to the power of Time."
      There is NO such thing as an "Electronic Archive". Constant data migration is the only way to ensure fidelity.
      --
      -- Bob
    39. Re:Yeah. by RackinFrackin · · Score: 1

      Id imagine these would be a hit at blockbuster... rent the dvd and dont return it. --just throw it away.

      Well, the customers might like it, but I don't think that Blockbuster would want to adopt it. They collect a lot of revenue in late fees, and throw-away DVDs would eliminate that revenue stream.

    40. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Creed did it by themselves with their first album. They did it by touring.

    41. Re:Yeah. by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 5, Informative

      This removes one of the two main reasons people hated it. They're hoping to overcome the other with marketing, I'm sure.

      I think you forgot the whole 'throwing plastic discs into the landfills at an alarming rate' part that pissed so many people off.

      Also, the simple reality is that some DVD players aren't going to play self-destructing discs. There've been 3 revisions to the DVD standard and there are already problems with old DVD players not being able to play some discs that have no deviation from the standard (just that they hit the 3rd revision standard rather than the original standard).

      As an added bonus, the number of DVD and CD players (set-top/stereo component boxes) that are using computer-style CD-ROM and DVD-ROM drives has been increasing over the last couple of years (especially the case with DVD players where MP3, MPEG, and other formats are often supported), and in many cases these discs are being made not to run in those types of drives.

      As for the DVD Audio format, whether or not it's supported by your DVD player simply depends on what DVD player you own. The older it is, the more likely it is that it's not supported. In those cases where it's not supported you're just as well off buying a player for the new CD format as for the DVD Audio format, and at least the CD format is playable in the majority of CD and DVD players, and the CD-quality tracks on the disc can be ripped to MP3.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
    42. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Not likely; try rap musicians, where there are literally dozens of independent labels that have been set up by artists, specifically because they didn't want to pay said middle men just to keep making music. I don't even like rap, but I have to admire that.

      And as far as the "just ask any artist who..." - BS; how many do you know that haven't been unhappy with their contracts? At least when you're talking about the pop stars that the industry loves to throw at us, give any one of them 5 years after their debut, and I guarantee you they'll be bitchy about the contracts. I'm not saying that it's the industry's fault, but you left the door open...

    43. Re:Yeah. by JonTurner · · Score: 4, Funny

      "...most of them will spend their lives working as strippers or grocery store clerks or, even worse, journalists. They will die alone, unloved and unknown in a run-down apartment with 47 cats, to the end clinging to the pathetic hope that they can write the Great American Novel if only someone will pay attention to them."

      I must admit that it sounds tempting. What are the disadvantages?

    44. Re:Yeah. by sebmol · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What are you talking about? Read his post again:

      I'm the opposite way: I ripped all my CDs to mp3s, backed 'em up on some CDs and my entertainment server, and sold the originals. Couldn't care about the art or the liner notes or the lyrics sheets. I have my music, I'm happy.

      He paid for the CD's he ripped, kept the music and sold it again on the second-hand market. At what part does he become a thief? It's not like those buying in the second-hand market would buy new CD's at Best Buy anyway. After all, the reason they buy there is because they can't afford the $15 a CD that retail asks of them.

      --
      "Light is faster than sound." - "Is that why people tend to look bright until you hear them speak?"
    45. Re:Yeah. by cens0r · · Score: 1

      technically he is a theif, but the music industries definitions. If you sell your cd's you aren't allowed to keep your back up copies of them, because you no longer own them. Of course the recording industry would like to see the market for used cd's go completly away as well. I'm not agreeing with them on this one, just stating the facts.

      --
      Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
    46. Re:Yeah. by MikeFM · · Score: 1

      I already have all my CD's and DVD's ripped to my hdd and yes it's very convient. Discs are forever being lost or broken. This way they can sit somewhere safe while I get the use of the them anyway.

      There is absolutely no way they can make DRM that works. If there is a way to play the contents of a disc then there is a way to copy that contents. No trick will make that impossible. Even if they just make it hard there will eventually be someone who makes it easy again.

      Onward with making DVD ripping easier. Contribute to my dvddb. http://kavlon.org/index.php/dvdlookup

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
    47. Re:Yeah. by cens0r · · Score: 1

      You're kind of wrong about the video stores. They don't make a whole lot off of late fees anymore. Blockbuster had to settle a class action lawsuit for overcharging on late fees. They basically aren't allowed to charge you anymore than the cost of renting it again, and if it was a 5 day rental your late fee will let you keep it for an extra 5 days. However, the video stores want you to take the movies back because you're much more likely to rent a second movie when you bring the first one back.

      --
      Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
    48. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Techno isn't bubblegum...at least bubblegum is palatable. You'll understand one day. Honest.

    49. Re:Yeah. by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Why do you think it's an artist's dream to get a major label deal?

      In some cases it is, but in most cases the artist's dream is simply to make a living creating and performing their art. There are many cases where artists have gained a name on independent labels and then had the clout to get major label contracts that worked for them, instead of making them work for the label. In a few cases, those artists were even able to leave the major labels with their work when the labels refused to release and support their work as they intended it to be heard.

      Because the label will pay for promotion, advertising, product positioning, radio time, etc.

      The label only pays advances for these things. Every bit of it gets charged to the artist, regardless of whether or not the artist approved the methods used (ie paying for radio time, which is illegal if done directly, some artists have had enough clout to force the label to pay for this directly, but it's very rare, and the labels do get billed for every song played every time it's played anyway). Labels will not promote or position artists that they don't want to promote. Regardless of Pearl Jam's musical direction, for instance, they were still getting airplay until they spoke out against Ticketmaster and Clear Channel. Once they did that, Clear Channel shut down their radio play, and the label didn't do anything about it.

      These are all things which help you SELL MORE UNITS. If you sell millions, YOU WILL GET PAID. Just ask any artist who has sold millions of records... they'll tell you two things: 1, that they're happy they signed with a major label; 2, that they couldn't have accomplished it by themselves.

      For #1: see any number of current and past artists who have had fights with the labels over the amount of money they've made off their multi-platinum albums. Look at the whole thing with Prince (though I'm sure most people could care less about him these days, he was doing very well before he started his fight with Sony), or even the more recent battles with some of the current top-selling acts.

      As for #2, the main reason they can't accomplish it by themselves is because of the industry. Radio airplay only goes to the songs that the labels will pay for. Clear Channel (and the one or two other radio promoters in the US) will not put up with stations playing music for which they can't bill a label. Most retail chains won't carry independent music, and few will even carry small labels (and WalMart, the biggest music retailer in the country, has many more rules regarding what they will and will not carry). Viacom owns the majority of all video airplay on television in the US (Viacom owns MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, etc; ever wonder why Nick. started the 'Kids choice awards' and other music promotionals?).

      Digital music and video are means by which video and audio recording, production, and distribution can be made easily affordable and accessable to every single person that wants to pursue a career. The labels want to do whatever they can to hold on to their position as the only route through which to gain access to these things, before it becomes easy for my next door neighbor to figure out how to make it without them.

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
    50. Re:Yeah. by HamNRye · · Score: 2, Interesting

      What are you talking about???? If you sell millions, you might get paid when you re-up your contract, if they haven't found someone else with a bad contract they can promote. Why do you think that the longevity of these acts has gone down the toilet?? For the musician, the benefit is bigger concerts with more draw. That's where they make their money.

      XTC sold millions upon millions of records for Virgin, and at the end of their contract were told they owed the record company money. Ask Andy Partrige and Colin Moulding 1 and 2, and they'll probably tell you off...

    51. Re:Yeah. by molarmass192 · · Score: 1

      I have some old CD-R backups that are just hitting the 5 year mark. I haven't hit a bad one yet, but now that I've said that, I'm sure this will be the week. I wonder if DVDs are more susceptible to degrading over the same time frame given the higher pit density. So, whatever happened to the promises of the media being good for 50+ years???

      --

      Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
    52. Re:Yeah. by Mikeytsi · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It's a violation of copyright law, and one that I agree with. You can't make copies of a product and sell it without permission of the copyright holder.

      I just would prefer the copyright holder to be the person that CREATED it, instead of some corporation, but these kind of statements are the justification that the RIAA uses to try to force these stupid laws through.

      --
      I've been called a "Fucking Dick" by better people than you.
    53. Re:Yeah. by bazabba · · Score: 1

      So quit grousing and don't buy em. My thoughts exactly. Just. Dont. Buy them

    54. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm still waiting for the crossover between bittorrent, gnutella and the itunes music store. Legal music to which you have infinite download rights, with no server to go down, and no single medium to fail.

    55. Re:Yeah. by warmcat · · Score: 1

      You're trying to be 'wise' when you just need to wise up

    56. Re:Yeah. by ichimunki · · Score: 1

      Given the vast amounts of packaging for mail-order, fast food, not-so-fast food, frozen dinners, plastic soda bottles, excessive packaging on just about any item from a major retailer, disposable diapers, and the ever-increasing popularity of inefficient motor vehicles, do you really think there's a persuasive tree-hugger lobby out there that would be able to mount any serious campaign against disposable CDs? We're talking about something that you probably wouldn't go through more than 100 of, per person, in any given year after all.

      Not that I'm in favor, but this argument is specious. We have bigger ecological issues than disposable DVDs and/or CDs, so I sure hope the Green types are not going to pay particular attention to this case.

      --
      I do not have a signature
    57. Re:Yeah. by Jonavin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I've started backing up my owning digital photos onto two different brands of CDRs. I plan to repeat this process with my whole collection every 5 years.

      Just call me paranoid, but at least with two simultaneous CD writers going at the same time it only takes me about 3 minutes to fill both discs.

      It just pisses me off that I have to pay the 21 cents tax per disc in Canada. Almost makes me want to download all the pirated stuff I can find to "get back" my tax.

    58. Re:Yeah. by Greedo · · Score: 1

      So no mention of _the authors_ being paid, only the rights holders (i.e. the worthless middle-men who'd be eliminated if copyright didn't create a monopoly market).

      Also, they seem to imply that whatever the media barons insist should come to pass. Well, what about what Joe Public wants? If everyone just "insisted" that legally purchased media be free of DRM, then no one would buy any DRM-crippled device or media. So, no money for the barons, and artists who wanted their art distributed would gravitate to other channels.

      The media barons had better change their 'tude, or they are going to get fucked.

      --
      Tuus crepidae innexilis sunt.
    59. Re:Yeah. by hazem · · Score: 1

      You're right! And don't forget repeat-rentals! Most retailers want customers to visit their stores because that's where they end up buying stuff. Blockbuster won't necessarily think this is great if it cuts the number of customer-visits in half!

    60. Re:Yeah. by follower_of_christ · · Score: 1
      Anyone know of a website that keeps track of CDs/DVDs that are increasingly difficult to rip?

      I'd like to know so I don't accidently by a defective product.

    61. Re:Yeah. by Snaller · · Score: 1

      Both hope to score bigtime on an amoral law. One job, one payment - get used to it.

      --
      If Google really cared they would fix Android Chrome to reflow text, instead of discriminating
    62. Re:Yeah. by Comen · · Score: 0

      I belive you are allowed under law to make copies on music is it is for your own personal backup of material you purchased, that law has been around for some times now, wish I could remember what it is called etc, cause it seems I always need to remember it when people make statemenets like this.
      But I do remember there being a law that was fair use or something that lets you make personal copies of things you have purchased.

    63. Re:Yeah. by Gojira+Shipi-Taro · · Score: 2

      I prefer "Continue grousing AND don't buy them."

      By all means don't buy them, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't discourage others from buying them as well. After all, if the format is successful, you might find yourself with no other (legal) choice, if you want that content.

      Just as DIVX was thwarted by making people aware of the severe deficiencies in the format, both technically in and usage restrictions, the same can happen here.

      If I were to "stop grousing and not buy them" without a complaint, I could find myself in a "Pay Per View" world, where I could not EVER buy a permanent copy of content that I wanted. I don't like that option at all...

      --
      "Oh my God. This is terrible. This is the end of my Presidency. I'm fucked."; ~ Donald J. Trump
    64. Re:Yeah. by kmweber · · Score: 0

      It's their decision to make. No one has a "right" to mass distribution of their product--if they can convince someone else to do it, more power to them, but it has to be done on terms that the distributor can agree to as well as the artist. If terms agreeable to the distributor can't be reached, the distributor is free to refuse service. Same goes for the artist.

      --
      "Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"
    65. Re:Yeah. by neuroticia · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Hm. Offer rental credits for returning the expired DVDs for recycling. The convenience factor would still be there--no one would HAVE to bring the DVDs back, or bring them back within a certain timeframe. And Blockbuster could quickly rack up more rentals which would pay off any recycling fees involved. Plus they would get the reputation of being green/good for the environment rather than being bad, because "look, we're recycling! We encourage people to recycle!".

      -Sara

    66. Re:Yeah. by Artifex · · Score: 2, Funny
      "...most of them will spend their lives working as strippers or grocery store clerks or, even worse, journalists. They will die alone, unloved and unknown in a run-down apartment with 47 cats, to the end clinging to the pathetic hope that they can write the Great American Novel if only someone will pay attention to them."

      I must admit that it sounds tempting. What are the disadvantages?


      Changing the litter boxes, for one... but if you move to a neighborhood with lots of kids with sandboxes, for some reason it's not as big of a deal, if they're outdoor cats.
      --
      Get off my launchpad!
    67. Re:Yeah. by moncyb · · Score: 1

      If DRM provided for (a) traditional fair uses and (b) was required to be field-upgradable to permit newly recognized fair-uses, I could live with it.

      You forget (c): guarantees you can do anything with original content you created.

      It can't be far off when consumer grade camcorders, digital cameras, audio recorders, word processors will be locked up in some sort of DRM/copy protection where the person who recorded their own content won't legally be able to buy tools to edit/extract the data and do what they want with it. If you create it, it's yours, but the DRM cartel doesn't want it that way.

    68. Re:Yeah. by Lt+Razak · · Score: 4, Funny
      Well technically, when he sold the originals on the 2nd market, he lost the fair-use rights to those mp3's. He needs to delete them.

      Don't get me wrong, I'm just like him, except for the buying the original cd part :)

    69. Re:Yeah. by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 5, Funny
      It was called DIVX. It was miserable failure.
      No, it's not a miserable failure. I've got upwards of 50 DIVX movies on a hard disk in one of my computers.
    70. Re:Yeah. by Lt+Razak · · Score: 1

      heheh, i still have my original 50-pak spindle of Memorex I burned in '98 working perfectly still.

    71. Re:Yeah. by ckaminski · · Score: 2, Insightful
      What, do you think that just because you make amazing music|software that if you stick it up on a website (or better yet, put it on Kazaa) you'll be making millions in sales?

      Worked for Linus Torvalds...

      It's not sales, it's exposure. If some band, for example Whiskey Chapel (Blatant whore), managed to get 10 million downloads of their tunes, played on internet radio stations galore, some concert outfit is going to want to put them on a stage to make millions with. Period. Promoters will promote successful acts. Acts which have a following, traditional or not, can get promoted.

      It's just a matter of time before more internet only acts start opening up with big names like Metallica and Ozzy.

      And once that happens, it's just a matter of time before headliners start coming from internet radio playlists.

    72. Re:Yeah. by Lt+Razak · · Score: 1
      They'd be fine with the secondary market, as long as they got their cut.

      Hey! Maybe they can add a fee to the original cd to cover the costs they're suppose to get on the secondary market!!! ug. :(

    73. Re:Yeah. by Cereal+Box · · Score: 1

      "The label only pays advances for these things. Every bit of it gets charged to the artist"

      Well duh. The bank technically is only giving you an "advance" on that home loan you applied for too. Of course you still have to pay it back. The point is that if you could come up with the money to buy a house yourself you wouldn't have needed their help. Likewise, these artists need money to get nationwide exposure and they're willing to take the label's advances in the hopes that it will launch their career to the point where they're making their own living off it. Repeat after me: the labels are not just going to "give" artists money, they will LOAN it to them.

      "Once they did that, Clear Channel shut down their radio play, and the label didn't do anything about it."

      Didn't or couldn't? If CC doesn't want to play them, how is the label supposed to "make" them do it?

      "see any number of current and past artists who have had fights with the labels over the amount of money they've made off their multi-platinum albums."

      Yeah, and I imagine these fights are over "I'm not getting AS many millions as I want." Aerosmith, Kiss, Metallica, Eminem, NSync, etc. are millionaires many times over (and I doubt they would have found themselves in that position without the help of a record label, ahem). Forgive me for not caring if they "only" get a few percent of the album sales when those albums are merely ADS for more lucrative ventures. The label takes the risk for fronting money on an album, they deserve to reap the rewards. The artists will either hit it big or return to being unemployed singers. They can only do good signing with a label.

      "Most retail chains won't carry independent music, and few will even carry small labels"

      Exactly, that's all the more reason to sign with a major label!

      "The labels want to do whatever they can to hold on to their position as the only route through which to gain access to these things, before it becomes easy for my next door neighbor to figure out how to make it without them."

      Okay, you're still missing the point. Let's say you're a "talented artist" who's put up a website selling songs at a "Slashdotter-approved" price of two cents per song. How am I going to find your music? I don't hear you on the radio, I don't see you on TV, I don't see articles about you in the newspaper, etc. You have no exposure. Chances are you're still going to be making less money than you would with a major label because your fan base isn't as large as it could be which means less album sales and less touring revenue.

    74. Re:Yeah. by Ziest · · Score: 1

      It's not like those buying in the second-hand market would buy new CD's at Best Buy anyway. After all, the reason they buy there is because they can't afford the $15 a CD that retail asks of them.

      I buy _ALL_ my CDs in used stores. I buy between 3 and 4 CDs a week, all used. I have not bought a new CD in 3 years. Why? Because it will be a fucking cold day in hell when I give money to anyone who calls me a theif because I exerise my right to fair usage by making backup copies of CDs that I own. The music industry can kiss my kosher ass.

      --
      Another day closer to redwood heaven
    75. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank You

      signed: RIAA Lawyer #4,231

    76. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So who's going to be the electronic Jimmy Cliff?

    77. Re:Yeah. by stanmann · · Score: 1

      yes, owning the media is great for me, But I don't want to have to switch DVDs, or cds in the middle of a game or a movie. with my file server, I can rip my DVD, and put it on the shelf, or in a safe, or whereever. Now, I only have 300 GB right now, and in order to store all my DVDs, I need more than that, but... ultimately I'm happy.

      --
      Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
    78. Re:Yeah. by mixmasta · · Score: 1

      I'm doing it now. 600 cd's and ~50 dvd's on my ide raid. Hopefully by next year it will fit on one disk or two.

      --
      #6495ED - cornflower blue
    79. Re:Yeah. by Lt+Razak · · Score: 1

      But you'd then have to worry about the companies to stay in business!

    80. Re:Yeah. by Rubyflame · · Score: 1

      Oh no! At this rate you will soon run out of exclamation points!

      --

      All it takes is nukes and nerves.
    81. Re:Yeah. by hazem · · Score: 1

      It's okay. I had a beer at lunch, and now I'm much less enthusiastic.

      Of course, I'm having trouble finding the motivation to get shit done, but I feel better.

    82. Re:Yeah. by grondu · · Score: 1

      Ask Andy Partrige and Colin Moulding 1 and 2

      I didn't know Colin had been cloned!

      --

      I'm the urban spaceman babe, but here comes the twist... I don't exist

    83. Re:Yeah. by Lord+Kano · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, it's not a miserable failure. I've got upwards of 50 DIVX movies on a hard disk in one of my computers.

      On the off chance that you are not joking, you may have 50 DiVX movies on your hard drive. But he is talking about DIVX. Same letters, but a whole different meaning.

      Have a look at this.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    84. Re:Yeah. by AKnightCowboy · · Score: 2, Insightful
      People aren't going to like that studios can stop them from watching the disks that they have bought because of a theatrical re-release."

      Look at it this way. What's to stop Disney from deciding one day "All those copies of Snow White on DIVX are going BACK IN THE VAULT for another 20 years. You will no longer be able to activate your disks for additional viewings." They seem to do stupid shit like that by no longer selling popular movies to artificially cause a rush of purchases on existing stock. Hey, better buy that copy of Cinderella now or you'll never get it again in your lifetime! Muahahahahahaha!

    85. Re:Yeah. by renehollan · · Score: 1
      You are correct. (c) should be explicitly stated.

      Of course, this is easily effected by not allowing DRM in consumer gear, so that, sure, little Johnny can make and edit a DVD of his summer vacation for Grandma (and not care where copies wind up), but adult John can't make and distribute an independent feature film with the same protections the media cartel gets.

      --
      You could've hired me.
    86. Re:Yeah. by HiThere · · Score: 1

      As long as they are clearly marked, that's a good answer. Or, at least, the best one available.

      I sure don't intend to buy them. But then I currently won't buy anything that I even suspect the RIAA or MPAA may get any royalties from (indirectly, of course...here I actually mean any studio that is a member of either organization).

      Unfortunately, I'm not certain that's sufficient to keep them from further corrupting the legislatures.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    87. Re:Yeah. by hyphz · · Score: 1

      > The point is that you NEED those "greedy
      > middle men" to get any exposure. What, do you
      > think that just because you make amazing music
      > that if you stick it up on a website (or
      > better yet, put it on Kazaa) you'll be making
      > millions in sales? Someone has to KNOW who you
      > are first, it is unlikely that you'll just
      > stumble upon artists if there's no marketing
      > behind them.

      But there's a problem with this.

      Let's suppose for a moment that I can wave my magic wand and make music marketing disappear. Distribution, mastering, etc. will all still exist, but there'll be no marketing anymore. Not only that, but it'll magically stop any band putting their name on their albums. They have to just carry the album name, nothing more. Ping. There we go.

      Now, how is Joe Soap going to buy his music? He can't just go buy what he's seen advertised, because there IS no advertising. He can't just buy what's on the point of presence displays, because there AREN'T ANY. He can't just buy the big established bands, because he CAN'T TELL which are their CDs. Likewise, shops can't pick and choose which songs to buy or not, or what to put where, because they can't tell either and there's no advertising for them to follow. So Joe Soap *HAS* to go to the shelves, listen to different music, see what he likes, buy the ones he likes the most without prejudice. If he likes one, he can tell his friends and they can buy it too. There are still reviews, but they can't be paid for.

      Now, if Joe Soap was doing this, there'd be NO NEED for anyone to be marketed. Sooner or later someone would hear their album and the word of mouth would start to spread - good or bad. Any musician could enter the market on a fair footing, because they won't lose out by not being advertised (no-one else is advertised either!), nor will consumers reject them because they don't know them (they don't know who wrote any other music either)

      Ok, ding. Back to the real world of advertising. But now you can see that the only reason new entrants need advertising, is because others have it. The only service those fat cats provide, is a solution to the problem they themselves create. It is very much like a protection racket.

      And I do feel that something like this (ban all advertising, nationalise retail) will soon be necessary to prevent capitalism coming to a screeching halt because Joe Soap has stopped acting as a responsible consumer and just follows the ads (and thus always buys from the firms with the most money now, thus eliminating new competition, thus ensuring new firms fail, thus killing free enterprise and capitalism with it).

    88. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's great!

      No, do you turn around and sell the CD after making a copy (or MP3 rips of the songs)?

      If you do - that's NOT fair use - that's theft. Call it copyright violation if you want - that's a pretty, legal term for theft.

      You are a common thief. I'm sure your parents would be proud.

    89. Re:Yeah. by agrippa_cash · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure that DIVX needed a phone connection to "renew" your disk-watching privliges. And as I recall, when they discontinued the format they had to keep the phone number operating for a while to be sure that everyone had a chance to actually watch the movies that they bought. I think that these disks will be a success becuase they will be cheap, ubiquitous and run on a standard DVD player. I think they are wastefull, if nothing else, but if I had one idotic product to kill this wouldnt be it.

    90. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh huh.... Sure.

      You can go ahead and continue making those "backup copies" of your music, but we all know that you really just want to copy it to give to your friends (or actually, the other geeks that hang out with you).

    91. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Surely a CD-R or DVD-R _is_ a WORM (write once read many) medium?

    92. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh come on. They've been trying to implement something like this for the last 20 years.

      There have been dozens of attempts to pull something like this off and if has never worked. Never will. Customers just don't want it.

      I don't understand why industry leaders think they can keep strapping us with ever more invasive technology and have us continue to want their products as consumers.

      It doesn't make any sense.

    93. Re:Yeah. by gmhowell · · Score: 1

      The worst thing about the kids DVDs is that they don't go right into playing the movie. I have to sit through a Disney splash, an FBI splash, a Buena Vista splash, some ads, then get dumped to the menu. Fuck that. If I'm trying to distract the kid, I want to drop it in, and go right to the movie.

      Some small brand stuff has this. I think there's a 'Bob the Builder' DVD that goes right into the show. Something called 'Baby Beethoven' has a 'repeat all' right on the menu, so I don't have to diddle with the settings. Just click and be done.

      I'll gladly deal with the Disney cases if they'd drop some of the other BS.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    94. Re:Yeah. by klui · · Score: 1

      You also have to take into account the dyes' stability used in CD/DVD recordables/rewritables as well. There are a lot of cheap--and I mean cheap, not inexpensive--optical media out there that will not last the presumed 50+ years. Although anecdotal, there are individuals who have been meticulous in storing their CD/DVD-Rs and they still become unreadable within a year. These brands definitely weren't Taiyo Yuden, Mitsui, etc.

      I read an article on Usenet maybe 5 or more years ago comparing the stability of various media and the one that came out on top was magneto-optical. I'm not sure what the state-of-the-art in media is today so this information is most likely out of date. My gut feel is MO is still best.

    95. Re:Yeah. by renehollan · · Score: 1
      Heh. My kids like to watch some of the movie promos (even for movies that have long past initial release), over... and over and over. Though, I should damn well be able to skip over them (hello deCSS and restructuring).

      Re.: "Bob the Builder" and "Baby Bethooven". Yeah, my 3yo likes these two (when will Bob and Wendy get it on? Kiddie Porn, n.: a porographic derived work of an animated motion picture, the original of which was geared toward children viewers.). The "Baby *" series are actually excellent videos, BTW, but geared for younger children -- having grown up with them, he sometimes likes them when he need to relax.

      --
      You could've hired me.
    96. Re:Yeah. by lokedhs · · Score: 1

      What on earth made you believe that "benefits for the customer" is of any onterest to the producers?

    97. Re:Yeah. by JaxGator75 · · Score: 1

      Hope you use Mirroring with your Striping... I lost a 60gb HD in my RAID array with striping only. Sad, sad day for all that pr0n...

      --
      Come and see the violence inherent in the system!
    98. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Dude.. you got handed your ass on a plate. Why bother responding and just making it worse?

    99. Re:Yeah. by drwtsn32 · · Score: 1

      And it probably only lets you write at 4X speed. :)

    100. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it's of no benefit to the customer, why should they buy it?

    101. Re:Yeah. by spirality · · Score: 1

      Just ask any artist who has sold millions of records... they'll tell you two things: 1, that they're happy they signed with a major label

      I've got one word for you, NOFX.

    102. Re:Yeah. by spirality · · Score: 1

      if you want that content

      Big IF there considering about 99% of what is produced isn't fit for the trash.

      I don't like that option at all

      Yeah you've got a point, but if no one buys it... blah blah blah. Like the American Sheeple will ever wake up.

    103. Re:Yeah. by villy · · Score: 1
      Let's say you're a "talented artist" who's put up a website selling songs at a "Slashdotter-approved" price of two cents per song. How am I going to find your music?

      Pop-up ad on Slashdot?

    104. Re:Yeah. by mixmasta · · Score: 1

      Well, I'm not striping. I need space, not speed for media. But, I do feel vulnerable with only a parity drive.

      Soon, I will aquire another chunk of storage and then sync the files ocasionally.

      -Mike

      --
      #6495ED - cornflower blue
    105. Re:Yeah. by The_dev0 · · Score: 1

      Me too. I've been replacing a lot of my cartoons and movies on DVD and getting rid of the DivX;) versions on my hard drive. There's just something nice about having the original box sets, with cover art and extras. I also have ripped all my 2000 or so cd's to my box, but keep the originals in the cupboard, so if I want the cover for any reason it's available to me. I guess, like your wife, I couldn't stand not having the original artwork for some of the more obscure CD's, and lets face it, some cover art is absolutely beautiful. Much better looking than a soft plastic sleeve, anyway.

      --
      Never fight naked, unless you're in prison...
    106. Re:Yeah. by dadragon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      If I hear ONE MORE OLD FART telling me that the Beatles are "real music" and Techno is "bubblegum" I'm going to start throwing Molitov Cocktails.

      I'm 20. The Beatles are real music, techno is bubblegum, pop is shit. There, I said it. There is good music produced today, it's just not jammed down your throats like the crap.

      --
      God save our Queen, and Heaven bless The Maple Leaf Forever!
    107. Re:Yeah. by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 2, Informative

      Well duh. The bank technically is only giving you an "advance" on that home loan you applied for too. Of course you still have to pay it back. The point is that if you could come up with the money to buy a house yourself you wouldn't have needed their help. Likewise, these artists need money to get nationwide exposure and they're willing to take the label's advances in the hopes that it will launch their career to the point where they're making their own living off it. Repeat after me: the labels are not just going to "give" artists money, they will LOAN it to them.

      The post I replied to implied that the labels foot the bills on that. The only time a label foots a bill on anything is if they can't sell your albums, and you'd better bet they don't let you out of their contract even if the fact they can't sell your albums is simply because they didn't promote or even make enough copies of your album. Other than that, if I take a loan out to buy a house, at least I own the house when I'm done with it. If I take a loan from a record label they get to own however many albums I sign for, plus full repayment of every dollar they spend plus interest. I get royalties, which may or may not actually come to me depending on how good my lawyer is (never mind that most artists end up with label-appointed lawyers because they don't realise they need one before it's too late).

      Didn't or couldn't? If CC doesn't want to play them, how is the label supposed to "make" them do it?

      How did Michael Jackson's videos get on MTV when they refused to play the videos of any black artist in the early/mid 80s? Oh yeah, the label put pressure on MTV by threatening to revoke all of their artists. Pearl Jam may not have been as successful as Michael Jackson with their first two albums, but then Michael Jackson was not as successful as he was without MTV, either.

      Yeah, and I imagine these fights are over "I'm not getting AS many millions as I want." Aerosmith, Kiss, Metallica, Eminem, NSync, etc. are millionaires many times over (and I doubt they would have found themselves in that position without the help of a record label, ahem). Forgive me for not caring if they "only" get a few percent of the album sales when those albums are merely ADS for more lucrative ventures. The label takes the risk for fronting money on an album, they deserve to reap the rewards. The artists will either hit it big or return to being unemployed singers. They can only do good signing with a label.

      Metallica only got signed because they had already built up a name for themselves, and released 2 albums with a small label. Those 2 albums were included in the number of albums they had to release with the label under their first major label contract, and they retained all of the rights to their music. The biggest 'fight' they ever had with their label was releasing a 3-CD boxed set to fulfill the contract so they could renegotiate after releasing the best selling album they've ever recorded. They weren't exactly worried about money, but they knew they had what it took to get a favourable deal. Who really cares now? They're not even close to the types of problems I was discussing. Try looking for people that filed for bankruptcy after selling millions of records. Some of them were just stupid with their money, but others never made the money in the first place.

      As for the albums being ads for more lucrative ventures, that's only the case if you see the industry the way it sees itself. Kiss looked at it that way, Metallica does not. Most bands don't go into music looking to sell T-shirts.

      Okay, you're still missing the point. Let's say you're a "talented artist" who's put up a website selling songs at a "Slashdotter-approved" price of two cents per song. How am I going to find your music? I don't hear you on the radio, I don't see you on TV, I don't see articles about you in the newspaper, etc. You have no exposure. Chances are you're still going to be making less money than you would with a major l

      --
      -PainKilleR-[CE]
    108. Re:Yeah. by hyphz · · Score: 1

      > Well duh. The bank technically is only giving
      > you an "advance" on that home loan you applied
      > for too. Of course you still have to pay it
      > back. The point is that if you could come up
      > with the money to buy a house yourself you
      > wouldn't have needed their help. Likewise,
      > these artists need money to get nationwide
      > exposure and they're willing to take the
      > label's advances in the hopes that it will
      > launch their career to the point where they're
      > making their own living off it. Repeat after
      > me: the labels are not just going to "give"
      > artists money, they will LOAN it to them.

      But this isn't true. Labels aren't like venture capitalists. They don't just "loan" the money to the musicians: they skim the profits the musician themselves can make from it, too.

      And the musician can never reach the stage where they can make their living on their own, because to get stuff in stores it has to come from a label. No amount of money changes that.

      > The label takes the risk for fronting money on
      > an album, they deserve to reap the rewards.

      The labels create the risk. Have every label stop spending millions advertising albums, hey presto, they don't need to spend them anymore, but Joe Consumer has to search for his music again.

      > Exactly, that's all the more reason to sign
      > with a major label!

      No. If there were no major labels, stores couldn't make that choice. It's an artifical choice that creates a cartel, not a fact of nature.

      > Okay, you're still missing the point. Let's
      > say you're a "talented artist" who's put up a
      > website selling songs at a "Slashdotter
      > -approved" price of two cents per song. How am
      > I going to find your music? I don't hear you
      > on the radio, I don't see you on TV, I don't
      > see articles about you in the newspaper, etc.
      > You have no exposure.

      Get rid of the major labels and no-one has any exposure, and this is no longer a problem.

    109. Re:Yeah. by Brett+Johnson · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Burn it to a DVD, stick it in a safe-deposit box, and you're good for at least 50 years.

      I hope you lock up a complete A/V system in the safe-deposit box as well, because in 50 years there isn't likely to be anything that will be able to read that DVD.

      I recently found a box of 5 1/4" floppies full of software I wrote 15 years ago. I made multiple backups in case a floppy or two went bad. That doesn't really matter. I havn't had a device capable of reading 5 1/4" msdos format disks for more than a decade.

      In the same box, I found 4 CP/M format 8" floppy disks, 6 NeXT format 256MB Magneto-Optical disks, and several rolls of punched paper tape.

    110. Re:Yeah. by rcw-home · · Score: 1
      Baby Boomer Disease (that's the sickness some of the older guys in my office have, where they fanatically assert that no good music has been produced since the early eighties)

      I've reached the conclusion that most popular music seems to be written to single people. People find ways to relate to music before they get hitched, are no longer able to relate to music they haven't already heard after that point (and no longer have the time to invest in it, either), and are then stuck.

      Parent: "If you don't stop listening to that noise do you know what's gonna happen to you?"

      Teen: "What?"

      Parent: "You're gonna turn out just like me."

      Teen: [eyes grow with fear]

    111. Re:Yeah. by nomad_monad · · Score: 1

      cereal, major label promotional exposure isn't necessarily required for artists to be successful. sure, it may be necessary for someone to break through on the scale of say, britney spears, but quite a few artists get by fine on independent labels. additionally, there's also quite a few artists that actually end up in DEBT after signing a major label deal.

      this article is particularly instructive, and actually comes from someone in the industry (no bit player either):

      http://www.negativland.com/albini.html

      people find out about good acts and good acts can get exposure without Sony-style promotions and marketing. um, Interpol? White Stripes? Mos Def and Talieb Kweli? yes, perhaps it's true that you can't get by in terms of exposure without a label's backing, but it's simply untrue to think that you can't get by (or even explode) without a major label's backing.

      the only people that mass marketing and exposure strategies are designed to attract are people that want their musical choices spoonfed to them. music fans (real fans, not clear channel-fed trend-followers), of any genre, inherently find out about new acts, simply because they do their own research and discover for themselves.

    112. Re:Yeah. by knobmaker · · Score: 1
      I don't know about the music or movie industry, but in the publishing industry it's not uncommon for an unknown author to have to pay to get their works published.

      You seem to be talking about vanity publishing here, which is not really publication. The parallel in music would be those outfits that charge unknown acts some money to record a CD. And that's the end of it. The act can copy the CD and send it around in the faint hope that someone will like it.

      No legitimate publisher would charge an author to publish his book. Vanity publishing victimizes the desperate and/or the incompetent. You won't see any of those books for sale at Barnes & Noble.

    113. Re:Yeah. by jmccay · · Score: 1

      I note, BTW, that the article says: "The media barons insist that if consumers are going to listen to music and view movie clips and news headlines on any gadget with a screen, then the rights holders must be paid."

      I am sure someone else must have pointed this out, but you know that cost will be passed along to us.
      Let's say you go to the music store to by a CD. You take it up to on the the scanning terminals that scans the cd and plays clips of all the songs on the CD, or you go to a website to watch the latest trailer clip for the next cool movie coming out. Essentially, they want to be paid for us sampling the media to determine if we will like the media content before we spend hard earned money on it!?! Don't they know that this will only incourage more illegal file sharing of media

      What's next movie theaters charging extra to watch the trailers before the movie? How commercials? Will we have to pay to watch what we really don't want to watch in the first place?

      I realise that most of this will be hidden in price increases, but still, I don't want to pay to sample a cd before I buy. I can't afford to go and buy cds that I won't like. I buy VERY few CDs these days.

      Instead of doing something productive and giving consumers what they want, they are digging their graves holes deeper. I guess the entertainment industry will never learn. Unfortunately, the US Government will just proping them up with hands outs when things eventually go wrong instead of actually letting them fall so the top people will learn a lesson. The government has got its hands in too much of the capitalist market. We need to move more towards a hands off approach. When a company fails, such as an airline company, because customer service has been hurt as a result of the top management refusing to take a pay cut and keeps laying people off instead, then maybe they'll learn.
      In todays society, the government has taken away almost all of the learning experiences. Companies are no longer forced to learn from there mistakes. They are allowed to keep on making the same mistakes over and over again!

      --
      At the next eco-hypocrisy-meeting, count the private jets used to get to the meeting. Should be interesting to see that
    114. Re:Yeah. by Sparr0 · · Score: 1

      proof that you have a legitimate right to have the said movies

      welcome to the real world, where theres no law against possessing copyrighted materials no matter what. no, they are not stolen goods, even if you did pirate them. there is never a law against HAVING copies, just making and distributing them.

    115. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and you're good for at least 50 years

      And 50 years from now, you'll find that you have no way of reading such an ancient media format.

    116. Re:Yeah. by Mattsson · · Score: 1

      No problem... Most of the music i listen to are released by small, independent labels.
      Don't think they'll start doing drm soon, partly because p2p-networks is one of the best ways to find out about new and interesting non-mainstream bands. =)
      I'm sure they know this.

      --
      /.Mattsson - My native language is not English, so please don't whine over linguistic errors. (That's lame anyway...)
    117. Re:Yeah. by 1lus10n · · Score: 1

      RING RING ..... this is your brain calling ....

      firstly, the only reason anyone who is a really an artist would want to sign with a major is because they want the one in a million chance to get rich. however they would and do sign with major labels because they are forced to.

      the major labels (RIAA) have a monopoly. simple period end of discussion. they use this monopoly to control everything within their industry, involving their industry etc ....

      Do you like the majors ? yes ? fine. but dont try to feed anyone that bullshit that the majors are good for a damn thing, because they arent. the majority of major's artists go in debt because of shitty bussiness decisions they have no control over. They are raped of any creativness they had at the expense of "flavor of the month-ites." that labels impose on them. they control all major distribution channels, manufacturing channels etc .

      the major labels have been completely useless for the past 30 years. they destroy creativity and only promote what is "commercial" enough to sell. and everytime something that was once unknown comes along and shows promise they force it down our throats until we get sick of it.

      stop watching mtv cribs. it is not the average musicians life.

      you'd be surprised how well music would flourish if the majors were forced to play fair. you claim that someone with a website could outsell a major label artist. take away viacomm owned MTV, clearchannel run radio .... does music disappear ? hell no. so what would happen ? people would adapt, and the market would adapt as well, then the people would find the music they actually liked. good bands would finally get airtime. it would be a wonderful thing. it would be music the way it is supposed to be. by the people and for the people. not by the gluttons and force fed to the people.

      i own 2000 (est) records (vinyl) and 2500 (est) cd's. and you know what ? almost all of the records are from the 60's (inherited) and the majority (80 - 85%) of the cd's are indy. why ? because i have been boycoting the RIAA for three years not a single album bought by anything major label in three years, simply because as a musician i cannot stand the damn bastards. i know way to many good musicians who are awesome but aren't "whats in" so they dont get to sell albums at any major stores because of the monopoly.

      FACT: greenday could have sold 75,000 copies of dookie on an indie label and made as much as they did selling 10 million copies on a major.

      FACT: TLC the highest selling female group of all time had to declare bankruptcy after releasing one of the highest selling albums of the 90's (crazysexycool)

      its things like that that you seem to forget. the majors will provide a glossy cover for anyone who is selling a shit-load of records. but if you "only" sell 500,000 or 800,000 you are considered insufficient and will be subsequently dropped on your ass, and handed a bill.

      the RIAA has every right to charge for the things it does for the artists, but paying 1 million dollars for ads in a shitty magazine is fucking retarded and the artist shouldnt suffer because of the majors fuck up.

      untill the RIAA starts treating the artists it has signed better, and opening up the industry and allowing smaller labels to compete they can fuck off.

      --
      "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." --Albert Einstein
    118. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think you forgot the whole 'throwing plastic discs into the landfills at an alarming rate' part that pissed so many people off.

      I would not be surprised if European countries would pass a bill that will require vendors who sell single-use-CDs/DVDs to take back the used up CDs/DVDs for environmental save disposal. They already did that with batteries and cans. Of course the additional costs will make the products less attractive over reusable ones.

    119. Re:Yeah. by TangoCharlie · · Score: 1

      It seems to me that the Music Industry is headed into a spiral of self-destruction and terminal decline. Draconian DRM will result in general opposition to the Industry as a whole leading to a slow-down in legitimate sales. Strangely, as DRM methods become harder to by-pass the drive to pirate might become more purposeful and partially legitimised leading inexorably to increased piracy. In the end it could lead to a complete break down of the Industry. This of course is a good thing because then there would be less music that our neighbours would be able to play at high volumes. Indeed the total demise of the music industry could be the best way reduce the number of acts of violence between neighbours! Seriously, if CD's are being produced which won't play in my car's CD player, then I'm much more likely to pirate the music so that I can burn it to CDR's which will play!

      --
      return 0; }
    120. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Back to VHS.

      Maybe we can give the superiour betamax system a chance.

    121. Re:Yeah. by onomatomania · · Score: 1
      As owner of several hundred CDs (for which I had a custom solid oak and granite cabinet custom-made to hold them and sport the playback equipment back in the day...)


      I too have hundreds (maybe 500-600) of CDs. The first step is to realize that jewel cases are crap. Throw them all out. Each and every one. Note that this does not mean disposing of any of the artwork. You take out the liner notes, obviously, as well as the "back side" artwork. To do the latter you sort of just twist the jewel case and it will open up... It's much easier said than done, but after you've done it many hundreds of times you can do it in your sleep. :-)

      Anyway, I use those CD binders. I get the advertised 200 capcity ones, which really means 100 with liner notes. If you have a lot of CDRs though, you can fit 200. So I put the CDs and liner notes in those Case Logic things, and the backside art in a large stack in a box, since I seldom need it or use it.

      Now you can put those binders on a shelf or whatever, and have easy access to all those hundreds of CDs, without them taking up more than a standard shelf or two, and without the mess (and weight!) of jewel cases. You wouldn't think those fuckers weigh very much, but put 300 empty ones in a box sometime and see how much it weighs. Hint: It's a lot. They're very inefficient in terms of volume and weight.

      Now I don't look back. The first thing I do after buying a CD is take all the stuff out of the jewel case and toss it. THey are evil if you have lots of CDs. The faster you realize this, the sooner you'll have less headaches managing a lot of CDs.

    122. Re:Yeah. by Ben+Hutchings · · Score: 1
      Repeat after me: the labels are not just going to "give" artists money, they will LOAN it to them.

      But they don't loan money to the artists. The label controls how the money is spent, and can use accounting tricks to invent or exaggerate costs of some things. They're more like vulture capitalists that demand management positions and preferential stock.

    123. Re:Yeah. by s-meister · · Score: 1

      In a sense this is already happening. Certain Disney movies aren not for sale right now in the UK and will only be released in several years time. Lion King is an example. By restricting the availability of titles they can cut copying down, wait until technology is available to tie down players, build demand (they think).

      By the time this movie is rereleased the FBI warnings and the pre-movie commercials will last longer than the actual movie...

    124. Re:Yeah. by Lt+Razak · · Score: 1
      The point was how long they last.

      Unless you're inferring that the faster burning cdr's don't last as long

    125. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "It just pisses me off that I have to pay the 21 cents tax per disc in Canada. Almost makes me want to download all the pirated stuff I can find to "get back" my tax."

      Go for it! You are paying for the right to pirate, after all...

    126. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes..he's just trying to sound cool and hoping no one else knows what the aconym means. Mod that sucker down

    127. Re:Yeah. by renehollan · · Score: 1
      This is an excellent suggestion, and I have considered it.

      However, there is more than just front cover and backside art worth keeping: liner notes, sometimes attached to the front art, but not always.

      Also, I've found the binder-style CD storage systems to be flimsy, and have had fears of hundreds of CDs falling out. How do you deal with these issues?

      Finally, front-cover art, at least, and all extra content ideally, should be available in machine-readable format. But that is a bit of a dream, and scanning gets to be a bitch after a while.

      It's a good idea, but doesn't work for DVDs, which have different front and back-cover sizes. You are right about the bulk of CD cases.

      --
      You could've hired me.
    128. Re:Yeah. by onomatomania · · Score: 1
      However, there is more than just front cover and backside art worth keeping: liner notes, sometimes attached to the front art, but not always.
      There is sometimes the oddball case that you save because you can't cleanly extract all the artwork. But I have found that the vast majority of my CDs have exactly two pieces to be saved: the font liner notes (that slides out easily) and the art on the backcover which also includes the printing on the spine. After removing those you're left with completely generic clear/black plastic.

      Also, I've found the binder-style CD storage systems to be flimsy, and have had fears of hundreds of CDs falling out. How do you deal with these issues?
      Avoid the cheap brands for sure. Case Logic binders will cost about $17-$23 at least, but they hold up well. As far as discs falling out, it only happens if you get a cheap brand and the seams around the pockets come apart. I've never had this happen with the Case Logic ones though. As long as you keep it right-side up like a book (and even if you don't it's not a problem if you keep it zipped -- they're quite sturdy when zipped) there's really nowhere the discs can go. They may move a little in the pockets but most all models have some form of soft/cotton-y junk to help keep dirt away from the surface.

      Finally, front-cover art, at least, and all extra content ideally, should be available in machine-readable format. But that is a bit of a dream, and scanning gets to be a bitch after a while.
      If you get a program like Tag&Rename, it can automatically grab the cover art from www.allmusic.com. It's definitely not super high quality, maybe 300x300 or so, but it's automatable and AMG has a very good collection of front-cover art. Other than that (and creating some kind of lego-mindstorms-powered automated scanning device ) it's a real pain.

      It's a good idea, but doesn't work for DVDs, which have different front and back-cover sizes.
      I believe they now have the equivalent of the CD books with DVD-sized pockets. I don't quite know what form factor they take though, as the disc size no longer matches the jacket size.
    129. Re:Yeah. by renehollan · · Score: 1
      You wouldn't think those fuckers weigh very much, but put 300 empty ones in a box sometime and see how much it weighs. Hint: It's a lot.

      Yes. This figured into my cabinet design. I had a B&O Beosystem 5500 that I wanted to "show off" in a nice living room (yeah, I could get same audio quality for 1/2 the price, but better quality would cost much more, and I was willing to spend the $$$ for "the look" at the time). So, I helped design a custom cabinet for it which served to hold CDs and cassettes, misc cables, and had a shelf for an amp.

      Imagine an trapezoid, make of Oak, with a drawer in the middle, the top of which can support an amp, the drawer holding up to 90 cassettes. This is the base of the unit.

      The top is made of a much squatter, and a bit wider inverted trapezoid, which accomodates two side-by side drawers, each capable of holding 120 CDs (which seamed like a lot at the time). The top is open, designed to accept two granite slab inlays, shock mounted with rubber to the oak. This helps prevent room vibration picked up by the stiff oak from being transferred to the turntable (yes, I still have one) -- think impedance mismatch (oak to rubber to stone to component feet).

      The equipment sits on top of the polished and beveled granite slabs (getting granite beveled costs a relative fortune!).

      Without the granite inlays, the cabinet is unstable: unloaded, you can't open both drawers without it almost tipping: oak is a dense hardwood, heavy, and pulling both drawers out creates a trememdous torque. If one drawer was empty and the other full of CDs, a not unusual circumstance, opening one drawer would be sufficient to tip the whole cabinet over.

      The granite inlays add about 100 pounds (45 kilograms) of mass about the centre of gravity. That, and the added mass of the B&O 5500 components, prevents such a catastrophe, even if both drawers are opened. So, the inlays serve a triple purpose: asthetics, sound dampening, and stability.

      If anyone wonders why I chose granite over, say, marble, it was for the simple reason that marble is a softer stone, more porous, and easily stained, i.e. less practical in this application, and of no additional asthetic value (there are some gorgeous granites out there, Blue Pearl being one of them -- I opted for Jiuperana).

      --
      You could've hired me.
    130. Re:Yeah. by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1
      I'm the opposite way: I ripped all my CDs to mp3s, backed 'em up on some CDs and my entertainment server, and sold the originals.

      He paid for the CD's he ripped, kept the music and sold it again on the second-hand market. At what part does he become a thief?
      Sure, that's just as legal as taking the music, copying them to some CDs, and selling the copies.
      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    131. Re:Yeah. by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      This is why I hoard old technology. If I need access to a 5.25" Apple DOS 3.2 disk, I can boot up an Apple IIgs to copy the data to a 5.25" DOS 3.3 disk, then to a 3.5" HFS disk, boot up my PowerMac 7500/100 to read the 3.5" disk and transfer it over TCP/IP to whatever machine I need it on.

      Of course, there is the worry about maintaining a viable supply of blank DSDD 3.5" disks and SSDD 5.25" disks. Unfortunately AOL no longer provides me with free resupply by mail.

      So, even if you hoard the old technology, you're going to need to hoard the technology and media for all interim technology for 50 years as well, and hope they survive.

      Meanwhile it is insane that the paper tray covers at fast food restaurants that are useful for their printed purpose for less than a month also get copyright protection for lifetime plus 70 years. It would be my great-grandchildren who'd be able to reproduce the "THE WHOPPER SAYS..." placemats with only the slight alteration of adding the word, "Moo!" legally.

      IMO, works on disposable media should not enjoy the full period of copyright protection, whether it is a fast food placemat or a self-destructing DVD. Copyright should not exceed (nor equal!) the work's own lifetime!

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
    132. Re:Yeah. by molarmass192 · · Score: 1

      You're obviously an idiot so sit back and learn. It's not a CD-R or DVD-R, it's a magneto optical drive, they were hot shit in the early 90's but cost a bundle. The difference is that WORM drives are single session and use a magneto-optical process. Click the links and learn:

      Click here to get a clue ...
      Click here to buy one ...

      --

      Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws-Plato
    133. Re:Yeah. by Mikeytsi · · Score: 1

      That wasn't what I said. Read my comment again. It is a violation of law to make copies, then sell the copies, or sell the original without including or destroying all copies.

      --
      I've been called a "Fucking Dick" by better people than you.
    134. Re:Yeah. by lokedhs · · Score: 1

      It hasn't stopped them so far. :-)

    135. Re:Yeah. by Jouster · · Score: 2

      You're cute.

      But your web server is misconfigured... check the HTTP specs.

      :),
      Jouster

    136. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You should be anal raped with a baseball bat you fucking mental midget. Learn how to put words together into things called sentences, and try to get a grasp on "spelling". Go beat yourself with a frying pan you fucktard. I hate you. We ALL hate you. Seriously, if I have to see you in the hall again I'm going to get the guys and we'll have a "talk" with you. Fuckhead.

    137. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      is it possible to reply to a post almost four months old?

    138. Re:Yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Apparently, it is.

      +1, Interesting.

  2. Does it matter? by Keri+Immos · · Score: 2, Flamebait

    I'd rather have cheap products that sometimes don't work on 10 year old players (and protects rights for a creator of art) than expensive ones that can be pirated but work on all players.

    --

    Hello.
    1. Re:Does it matter? by Pflipp · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yeah? And what if you can have even cheaper software-based music that work on all PC's? :-)

      --
      "We can confirm that Debian does *not* ship the version with the trojan horse. Our version predates it." [CA-2002-28]
    2. Re:Does it matter? by trikberg · · Score: 3, Insightful

      (Un)fortunatelly that is impossible; if you can listen to it you can copy it.

      I wish the industry could get that into their heads and stop throwing away money on DRM schemes and concentrate on making products actually worth buying.

      --
      This post is free (as in cheese in a mousetrap).
    3. Re:Does it matter? by ryanr · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Why would they be cheap? Why would it protect the rights of the creator of art?

      Adding (ultimately futile) attempts at copy protection ADDS to costs. Who pays for that? The consumers and artists.

    4. Re:Does it matter? by notque · · Score: 3, Funny

      And I'd rather pirate, to each their own.

      --
      http://use.perl.org
    5. Re:Does it matter? by Telastyn · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Except that every DRM solution does not protect the creator of the art any more than 'normal' media. If you can hear/see it you can copy it.

    6. Re:Does it matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      What you're saying is that you'd rather have vendors take advantage of the copyright handout, AND sell incompatible products designed to cheat customers and the public domain.

      Thanks, but no thanks.

    7. Re:Does it matter? by pslam · · Score: 1
      I'd rather have cheap products that sometimes don't work on 10 year old players (and protects rights for a creator of art) than expensive ones that can be pirated but work on all players.

      Why the choice between these two absurd cases? Why does it logically follow that cheap products don't work on 10 year old players, or that ones which can be pirated are more expensive?

      It doesn't logically follow, though many in the industry would rather it were the case. Making a product require DRM uses up lots of valuable developer time, and tends to increase your hardware requirements just to handle encryption and secure handling of keys and other crap. It just makes it more expensive at the end of the day, and only serves to piss off your customers.

    8. Re:Does it matter? by swb · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I wish the industry could get that into their heads and stop throwing away money on DRM schemes and concentrate on making products actually worth buying.

      This is the major problem with many American industries; a significant obsession with protecting existing markets with monopolies and vendor lock-in through incompatibilities and standards deviation, among other techniques.

      There's too little effort paid to R&D and innovative product development as means to market expansion and customer loyalty, especially since those things don't have payoffs in less than 4 quarters.

    9. Re:Does it matter? by TopShelf · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Problem is, there isn't any mechanism to ensure that "cheap" would become any part of the equation. Within a pretty broad range, items like DVD's aren't really price sensitive. It's not like you're going to go to the store to buy Harry Potter and instead change your mind to buy The Dark Crystal because it's a buck cheaper. This initiative, and the others like it, are merely about protecting top-line sales.

      --
      Stop by my site where I write about ERP systems & more
    10. Re:Does it matter? by SpaceCadetTrav · · Score: 1

      Could you please explain to me why investing in DRM is throwing away money? Do you honestly think that inhibiting (not stopping) illegal copying will not net them more revenue?

    11. Re:Does it matter? by Qzukk · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I'd rather have cheap products that sometimes don't work on 10 year old players (and protects rights for a creator of art) than expensive ones that can be pirated but work on all players.

      So you consider it piracy if you buy a CD and rip it for the purpose of playing it on your iPod? Did they make you sign a contract indicating that you would only listen to the music using the original CD?

      As for "sometimes don't work on a 10 year old player", you do realize that the goal of copy protection is to not work on a computer cdrom drive of any generation? This is why we have discs with garbled TOC tracks, this is a scheme targeted directly at computer drives which read the TOC to determine if the drive is audio or data.

      I consider it piracy when a publisher takes my money and gives me a round shiny disc which fails to meet my expectation of being useful (that is, playing in my player which is fully capable of playing other round shiny discs). Companies who wish to break this expectation must either 1) accept returns for defective products which fail to meet consumer expectations or 2) clearly indicate that the round shiny disc is not a standard round shiny disc. Simple absense of a "CD" trademark is not clear indication.

      People keep posting "Why whine? Just don't buy it!" but which products am I to not buy? I have to wait until someone else buys a cd and determines that it is copyprotected and posts that information to a tracking board somewhere. Even in cases where the CD trademark is missing, which copyprotection scheme was used? Perhaps it is one which is still compatible with my player and my expectation for the music. Not only that, but I have noticed that several of my non-copyprotected round shiny discs do not bear the CD trademark. Is this an intentional attempt by companies to confuse the issue? If no round shiny discs bear the CD trademark, how do I tell the protected and the playable discs apart?

      Imagine the outrage that would happen if one in 10 hamburgers served by mcdonalds was actually made from horsemeat, and was served as a beef hamburger with nothing to tell it apart from the rest of the hamburgers. Now imagine everyone knew this, and nobody did anything about it because mcdonalds made money this way. This is what the publishing companies and their guardian the RIAA is doing to us all, only the ratio of horseburgers is going to increase without you being notified.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    12. Re:Does it matter? by JohnwheeleR · · Score: 1
      The problem is the products aren't going to get any cheaper. Have you ever considered that they may be more expensive because of the DRM technology that goes into them?

      You think adobe is going to sell copies of photoshop for under $600 bucks when they have been doing it for the last 8 years that way? Dream on. To be able to sell a product for cheap would mean that they could guarantee that there was no way it could be cracked. They could make it difficult as hell for people to break, but they won't be able to gaurantee it for another few decades. Until then you will pay the piper.

    13. Re:Does it matter? by The+Mgt · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't. And now I'll have to copy them all to make them work properly. Self defeating really.

    14. Re:Does it matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Gee, I don't know... think it might have something to do with the fact that one successful rip can be duplicated an infinite number of times, thus making the difficulty of the ripping process irrelevant for everyone else?

    15. Re:Does it matter? by Qzukk · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What revenue were they losing when Johnny rips his CD to play on his mp3 player? Until recently, the publishing companies haven't even recognized portable non-cd-based music devices as a market.

      Clearly illegal trading is costing publishers money, but copying alone isn't. Why don't the publishers jump on kazaa and grab a batch of IP addresses of people hosting mp3s and use the DMCA? Oh wait, that would be a legit application of the DMCA, and its apparently illegal to actually use it for its intended use instead of using it to bully people around for making competing products like remote controls and dvd playing software for unsupported platforms.

      That, or the publishers don't think enough money is being lost to make it worth their time for them to actually do any work.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    16. Re:Does it matter? by SN74S181 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Except you don't get to have any more. Cuz' they're gonna copy protect it.

      Granted, the analog hole will always exist, and if you're going to degrade the content with compression anyway, what's wrong with running it through an analog cable partway through the process?

    17. Re:Does it matter? by schmink182 · · Score: 3, Interesting
      Adding (ultimately futile) attempts at copy protection ADDS to costs.

      Considering the cost of CDs is mostly artificial, there is no reason why the RIAA can't lower the price on defective ones to make them more appealing.

    18. Re:Does it matter? by trikberg · · Score: 1

      Because a DRM is invariably futile and only serves as a temporay hinderance. Sure, it may stop Joe (L)user from ripping it, but he will just download it from the net, since someone else with the software and/or equipment will share it on Kazaa. In fact it will in some cases stop him from buying it because he doesn't know how to make back-ups nor can he be sure that it will work in his equipment or in the car stereo that he plans to buy in a few months. He probably finds it easier to download and burn.

      If the industry provided standard CDs for purchase and used the money saved on DRM R&D and licensing to actually produce better music Joe would buy the products and could make a copy to use in the car. That he also copies it to his friends does not matter in the equation: these friends are not buying the CDs either way.

      --
      This post is free (as in cheese in a mousetrap).
    19. Re:Does it matter? by EnderWiggnz · · Score: 1

      listen to me -

      copy protection has NEVER worked. not once. not ever.

      even with fancy HW dongles, it still doesnt work. this will be cracked within hours of it being released.

      count on it.

      --
      ... hi bingo ...
    20. Re:Does it matter? by SpaceCadetTrav · · Score: 0
      Because a DRM is invariably futile and only serves as a temporay hinderance.

      Right... who would know more about this subject?

      A consortium of extremely wealthy media moguls who have hired an army of professional researchers and analyists to ponder this subject for the last 10 years.

      or

      You?

      There is a reason that these people are in charge of vast media empires and you are not.

    21. Re:Does it matter? by Suidae · · Score: 1

      copy protection has NEVER worked

      Bullpucky. Copy protection is not intended to completely eliminate unathorized duplication or use, anybody who thinks so is being unrealistic. Copy protection is a big fence around an amusement park with a no trespassing sign (soon it will have a 'violators will be shot' clause at the bottom). There will always be ways around for those who are determined, but the point is to keep most of the population out, thereby increasing profits.

      The problem right now is that the few people that get in are making very good replicas of the park and giving them away for free.

      Thats bad for the current business model of the big media corps. Probably good for society in general though. Keep pirating, and reward the artist who go completely indy. It'll sort itself out eventually.

    22. Re:Does it matter? by Zathrus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Heh. The irony is, these new protection schemes don't break old players.

      They break new ones.

      Newer DVD/CD players are built off computer CD-ROM transports and optics -- they're more prevalent, cheaper, and do a better job than the old audio CD-only ones.

      Of course, these copyright scheme are designed to specifically not work with CD-ROMs. So, odds are, your brand new CD is less likely to work with your brand new CD player than it is to work with your 10 or 20 year old CD player.

      And you've completely ignored that you can't do things you're legally allowed to - like copy it to a medium that's more suitable for your listening such as an MP3 (I have ripped all of my legally owned CDs to MP3 for use on my TiVo).

      Oh, and guess what -- rights of the creator of the art? What rights. They have none. They don't own the copyright - the studios do. And while they do get paid, it's essentially indentured servitude for all but the most successful bands. And they still don't own the art they created.

    23. Re:Does it matter? by null-sRc · · Score: 1

      >who pays for it?

      well in canada anyone that buys a blank CD gets taxed to compensate for the piracy you're about to commit.

      sent straight to the record companies i believe.

      --
      -judging another only defines yourself
    24. Re:Does it matter? by zero_offset · · Score: 2, Interesting
      This is the major problem with many American industries

      You mean American industries like the recording industry, where Sony is a major player? Yeah, thought so.

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

    25. Re:Does it matter? by 56ksucks · · Score: 1

      As for "sometimes don't work on a 10 year old player", you do realize that the goal of copy protection is to not work on a computer cdrom drive of any generation? This is why we have discs with garbled TOC tracks, this is a scheme targeted directly at computer drives which read the TOC to determine if the drive is audio or data.

      This doesn't only affect PC's. My DVD player uses a standard IDE DVD-ROM to read disks. If I were to try and play one of these shiny original copies in my DVD Player(which is what I use to play CD's anyway because it's connected to my stereo and I find it redundant to have a seperate machine to perform this function because I already have one that does it, not to mention the playstation and Sega saturn etc. ) It would not play. This is why I burn my own CD's. Especially since this DVD Player will play MP3's off of a data disk.

      --

      ---- "Excuse me. Where's the children's gun section?"

    26. Re:Does it matter? by Suidae · · Score: 1

      Imagine the outrage that would happen if one in 10 hamburgers served by mcdonalds was actually made from horsemeat

      The actual ratio isn't nearly that high.

    27. Re:Does it matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      A consortium of extremely wealthy media moguls.....or You?

      The average slashdotter knows a lot more about technology than all the moguls in the RIAA combined.

      an army of professional researchers and analyists to ponder this subject for the last 10 years

      People like jobs, if you pay an employee enough they'll tell you exactly what you want to hear.

      There is a reason that these people are in charge of vast media empires and you are not.

      That is irrelevant. We're looking at the technology perspective, not how to run a business.

    28. Re:Does it matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not even going to bother with this post. Nice try, though.

    29. Re:Does it matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just to play devil's advocate. The producers of the shiny plastic discs manufacture them to be played in specified shiny plastic disc players that have ubiquitously been added to every home and auto available today. They never intended for people to play them on their multi-function brown box of mass entertainment that makes things like MP3 trading possible.

      You didn't buy the music, you bought the disc. So, why should you get the MP3 for free? I had to replace all of my cassettes with CD's 15 years ago. Is it that much different now?

    30. Re:Does it matter? by Fascist+Christ · · Score: 1

      If no round shiny discs bear the CD trademark, how do I tell the protected and the playable discs apart?

      This reminds me of DVDs from Disney. They have the "DisneyDVD" logo on it and no one even doubts it's compatability.

      On that note, I don't (and hopefully never will) own a straight DVD player. I play them right on my computer. If that ever fails, then I will swear and rage and return it to the store. Luckily that has not happened yet.

      Now if I could stop those movies from trying to install software everytime I put it in the drive...

      --
      TodayTM BillyJoelTM GoogleTMd for StitchTMes due to WindowsTM while RollerbladeTMing with an AppleTM and a PopsicleTM
    31. Re:Does it matter? by Jaycatt · · Score: 1

      I agree... These days, they just seem to be trying to keep ahead of the curve.

      --
      "Shared pain is lessened; shared joy is increased. Thus we refute entropy" - Spider Robinson
    32. Re:Does it matter? by Freshie · · Score: 1

      The other question I have is, what's with the planned obsolescence?
      I have old LP's that still play. You think 10 years from nw that boxed set of the Eagles or Zepplin you've got on CD will play on a new player?
      No. because it doesn't have encryption, so it can't be read at all. There fore you have to buy it again, and give the MediaCo's more money for something you already legitimatelly own.
      With 8 Tracks, you could copy them to a cassette, and since the sound wasn't great, it didn't really matter. 8 Track players are gone now, but you could still listen to that cassette you made of it.
      Now, you will have to buy the same thing over again, because media shifting is now illegal. I think this is wrong. The MediaCo's shifted from cassette to CD, and tripled the price. With the sudden surge of money they got they should have been able to front more money and produce more entertainment. Did they? No.
      They let Clearstream [or whatever they're called] buy all the radio media outlets, released less artists, with less variety, sold less copies, and had a temper tantrum saying people stopped buying CD's. I didn't stop buying them, I just didn't hear anything I wanted to own. Why buy it when I am forced to heard it on the radio 6 times a day no matter what radio station I'm listening to?
      The problem goes a lot farther than DRM and copyright. This is a plan to keep people spending money on entertainment, without producing any more of it.
      I have all the music I've ever purchased on CD and cassette, on my hard drive. The originals are in binder sheets under my bed. If new music comes out that I want to hear, I'll turn on the radio for a minute. Likelyhood has it it'll be the next song.
      Movies? same thing. All the ones I care to own are on my hard drive. The rest I'll rent should something good come out. I'll never get bored of the music I have. I have half a lifetime's worth at my fingertips.
      They can do all they want to the medium they distribute they're content on; it'll only hurt them in the long run, as people will one day reali[sz]e they have 5 copies of The Eagles Greatest Hits, in 4 different formats, and only 2 work, but each of them only in specific players, and each of them cost around $15-$20...

      --
      'I don't want more choices. I just want better things.' - Edina Monsoon
    33. Re:Does it matter? by calethix · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "You didn't buy the music, you bought the disc. "

      Presuming I own the disc, shouldn't I be allowed to do whatever I want with it?

      "I had to replace all of my cassettes with CD's 15 years ago."

      Now that's just silly, quality aside, do you really think you should have to buy all of your music again when a new media standard comes out? I guess you have a copy of all of your favorite songs on record, 8 track, casette and CD. Maybe back in the day when software companies used to ship their games with 5.25" and 3.5" disks, they shouldn't have. Instead they should have made you pay full price when you got your first 3.5" drive.

      I really hope you're just a troll and don't belive what you're saying.

    34. Re:Does it matter? by udoschuermann · · Score: 2, Interesting

      One way to combat this strategy is to use one industry to fight another: Purchase the disc using a major credit card (NOT a debit card!!) and if it doesn't play properly you return it to the store because it is defective.

      If the store only gives a store refund, you just keep doing this again and again, until they get sick and tired of handling dozens, perhaps even hundreds of defective discs. They may have to send the discs back to the factory, after all.

      If the store refuses to give you back your money you call up your credit card (from your cell phone right there in the store) and open a dispute on the charge. You will be issued an immediate credit for the disputed charge. The credit card company will then require the store to return the money to the credit company (or the credit company will not pay the store in the first place). What many people may not know is that the merchant ends up getting stuck with the bill; the consumer is very well protected.

      Lather, rinse, repeat. If thousands do this, eventually the industry will get the message that they ought to serve the consumers, not themselves. The stores will eventually wise-up and not carry those types of discs anymore.

      Have I tried this? Admittedly, no. But why would it not work?

      --
      --Udo.
    35. Re:Does it matter? by calethix · · Score: 1

      I think if you hold the shift key when you put in a CD/DVD, it doesn't automatically run anything. (in various versions of Windows) Or you could try disabling the auto insert notification. Just tested the shift key and it works on audio cds but I don't have any movies at work. :)

    36. Re:Does it matter? by aborchers · · Score: 1

      Why don't the publishers jump on kazaa and grab a batch of IP addresses of people hosting mp3s and use the DMCA? Oh wait, that would be a legit application of the DMCA, and its apparently illegal to actually use it for its intended use instead of using it to bully people around for making competing products like remote controls and dvd playing software for unsupported platforms.


      Actually, that would be an legitimate application of existing copyright law, hunting down those violating your copyright and taking them to task. DMCA has nothing to do with such reasonable efforts, but rather criminalizes technology that can be used for copyright infringement. Ergo, the cases brought under the DMCA are appropriate to the DMCA, it's just that the DMCA is a stupid law.
      --
      Trouble making decisions? Just flip for it.
    37. Re:Does it matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      --Imagine the outrage that would happen if one in 10 hamburgers served by mcdonalds was actually made from horsemeat, and was served as a beef hamburger with nothing to tell it apart from the rest of the hamburgers.--

      It is and one out of three burgers there have a little something extra in them if you know what I mean.

    38. Re:Does it matter? by MikeFM · · Score: 1

      I've been paying between $1.50 and $6 for most my legit DVD's of real movies. Even my anime costs aren't much more than that. Is really not that unaffordable at all. Most movies I rip illegal copies of are really expensive or hard to find (so I rent and rip instead).

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
    39. Re:Does it matter? by DarkBlackFox · · Score: 1

      Why can't cheap become part of the equation? What prevents an artist from buying a $700 computer with a decent sound card, about $500 worth of mixers and microphones, and paying $500 for some tech savy nerds to come in and record an album for them? Market the CD around your local area for a little while, until people realize it's good, copy them yourself until demand exceeds what you can reasonably produce, then hire some pressing company to do the rest for you. Sell the CDs for $7 a pop, you pay $1 per CD for the covers, the pressing, and packaging, and the artist makes $6 profit per CD, on a relatively small initial investment. Cheap, good enough quality where the average consumer won't notice the differance, and the artist keeps most of what they make. Also forces the issue of whether or not the music is good: e.g. if it's good, people will buy, if not, artist must to work harder. Nice alternative to artists getting spoon fed at the hands of a monopolistic industry which crams what they think will sell down the consumer's throat, paying in peanuts for what will bring in watermelons to them.

      Of course, the already wealthy artists wouldn't seem to mind. If their name alone on a record is enough to make it sell, who gives a damn as to how good it is.

    40. Re:Does it matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I tried it .. doesn't work. Credit card company doesn't want to get caught in the middle..

    41. Re:Does it matter? by SN74S181 · · Score: 1

      All a content vendor has to do is stay enough 'ahead of the curve' to get attract enough customers to get by. Even if 20% of the customer base is circumventing the Copy Protection (and missing out on the plusses, i.e. printed manual, etc.)

    42. Re:Does it matter? by Chasqui · · Score: 1

      What revenue were they losing when Johnny rips his CD to play on his mp3 player?
      They have lost the opportunity to sell you the same music in the mp3 format.

      --
      my cube has a window...
    43. Re:Does it matter? by Sven+The+Space+Monke · · Score: 1
      Why not? He makes some good points. Overall, just because you run a company (or a consortium) doesn't mean you know jack squat about tech. Hell, I've met some of the high-up execs from one of the larger telcos in Canada, and once they found out I was a comp geek, they asked the standard "Future Shop/Circut City first time computer buyer" questions. These were people with LOADS of education and market experience (each of them had an MBA, and 2 of them even had doctorate degrees). They knew how to run a sucessful company. They did it very well. They still do. But these people sunk untold millions over the past 5-7 years on an interactive video project that was doomed from the start. They wanted to stream high-quality video, in real time, over phone lines. Their analysts told them it was possible because of all the money they spent on laying fibre all over the place, but the analysts left out a few key things (like all research firms do, because they want future contracts and telling the execs that the latest toy they want is impossible in current markets. That and research firms don't know everything - they just pretend they do). Like even though all houses have fiber up to the phone box in the basement, everyone still has standard copper lines in their house. And DVD-quality video takes HUGE bandwith - even fibre will choke when the market is still a long way from saturation. And the required horsepower on the server end. Basically, they left out a lot of "details". So the execs (the same MBA-having ones) went forward, and just rolled out the the system recently (in the last 6 months or so). Basically, the system worked okay in the first couple of weeks (still video and sound quality problems, but still acceptable). Once people started signing up, the system started to colapse. It's to the point where the techs installing the boxes have started telling customers not to bother. I know 2 different people who had 2 different installers tell them to return the unit and get a dish.

      Moral of the story: The leprechaun that tels you to burn things is a liar, but he still speaks some truth.

      Wait, that's not it. Just because they are executives running companies doesn't mean they don't do boneheaded things. Stupidity is an exponetial equation - the stupidity level increases greatly as more stupid people are added.

      --
      A man who can't pronouce "nuclear arsenal" shouldn't have one -sig ends here.
    44. Re:Does it matter? by Qzukk · · Score: 1

      They have lost the opportunity to sell you the same music in the mp3 format.

      They lost that opportunity when they sat down in their conference rooms and decided amongst themselves "We will not sell music in mp3 format".

      But, the same would be true if this was AAC (like Apple Music uses). Thats because the publishers are in a bind: Are they selling plastic discs with a certain arrangement of pits on them? If so, then the purchasers have the right to do whatever they want with those discs. Are they selling a license to their intellectual property that just happens to be on the disc? If so, then the purchasers hold that right (which isn't codified in a physical license but could be reasonably assumed to be "The right for the purchaser to listen to songs X, Y, and Z) regardless of whether they are using the disc, or a smartmedia card, or whatever.

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    45. Re:Does it matter? by cheshiremackat · · Score: 1

      Well, I think thy might be beginning to listen... I just received a copy of Massive Attack 100th Window and right on the front is a sticker saying "Copy Controlled See reverse for details"... So while I would never had bought this (gifts from industry reps are fine ) atleast they are giving fair warning... _CMK

      --
      Bad spellers of the world untie!
    46. Re:Does it matter? by Qzukk · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They never intended for people to play them on their multi-function brown box of mass entertainment that makes things like MP3 trading possible.

      Too bad that everything else from steros to dvd players now use similar hardware to the ones used in the multi-function brown box of mass entertainment. Many DVD players use either a standard IDE dvd drive, or an ide dvd drive with a different connector. High end steros with cd-text support and extra features like mp3 playback also use "smarter" drives than the standard issue discman.

      You didn't buy the music, you bought the disc.

      If I bought the disc, why can I not return the disc except to exchange for an identical disc?

      --
      If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
    47. Re:Does it matter? by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      Yeah, sure...

      These are the same media moguls that brought us CSS.

      Whatever "army" can be mustered has to fight against the REST OF THE PLANET. This has always been the problem with copy protection schemes. The publisher will always be outnumbered by the crackers.

      At worst, bootlegging will be reduced to the fidelity levels available in the 80's.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    48. Re:Does it matter? by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      You act as if music piracy never occured before MP3 or napster. If someone is really intent on not paying for something, the fact that the only available copies are radio quality only will NOT induce them to buy.

      A digitized version of a speaker-to-speaker copy is all the fidelity that the unwashed masses really need.

      DRM is irrelevant as long as the piracy infastructure remains intact.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    49. Re:Does it matter? by big-bad-buddha · · Score: 1

      Of course, the already wealthy artists wouldn't seem to mind. If their name alone on a record is enough to make it sell, who gives a damn as to how good it is.

      Tell that to Micheal Jackson

    50. Re:Does it matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps we should start buying copy protected cd's, try to play them in our cdroms, and when they don't work to our expectations return it to the store for another copy. Oh yeah, and repeat again when the next copy doesn't work. I doubt they'd get the hint, but it could be some good fun. :D

    51. Re:Does it matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Finally. Someone who "gets it". Mod 'em up boys!

    52. Re:Does it matter? by Computer! · · Score: 1

      Artists are already doing that, and unless you live on a farm in Alaska, there's indie CDs at your local record shop or street corner. I'm not trying to get on your case, but have you bought any? If you're not buying them, and you just wrote that post, who do you think is?

      --
      If you fall off a building, go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will be like hey, free dummy
    53. Re:Does it matter? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Try running Linux

    54. Re:Does it matter? by DarkBlackFox · · Score: 1

      I do buy them. I go to coffee houses and listen to local bands. I buy their CDs if I think it's good for my tastes. I'll even tip better if it's clearly a burned CD. My post was to question why "major" artists don't sign with Indie labels, if they are so concerned with the amount of money they make with RIAA labels, or lack thereof from people "stealing" their "work" through P2P. I realize "big label" provides upfront and easy cash for artists, but do the artists themselves have so little faith in their works that they need to take that money rather than rely strictly on actual sales?

    55. Re:Does it matter? by Suidae · · Score: 1

      You act as if music piracy never occured before MP3 or napster.

      What? How so?

      I didn't mean to imply anything of the sort. My point was that copy protection schemes (of music or software or anything else) are at best a deterant, designed to make copying a little (or a lot) more difficult, but that technology has made distribution so much easier that the relatively few people that go to the trouble of copying are having a greater effect on the market.

    56. Re:Does it matter? by Mac+Degger · · Score: 1

      Cheap products with DRM? How do you think the development costs of that DRM are going to be recouped?

      That's right: by making the new product more expensive...remember when DVD's whgere going to be cheaper than VHS?

      If one stuck to the old formats, the dev costs would have been recouped, and you would have cheap media...

      --
      -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
    57. Re:Does it matter? by Mac+Degger · · Score: 1

      No. Copyprotection is a timedelay deterent. This is the case in the music industry, the computer industry and hell, car alarms/protection serve the same purpose in the auto-industry.

      What copy protection tries to do is to delay the release of a product on the black market by a number of weeks or months, thus forcing people to buy the legitemate product (and in the case of the auto-industry, forcing the criminal to spend extra time next to a screaming car, thus elevating his chanc3es of being caught).

      Even people in the copy protection business will tell you this: copy protection is a time delay mechanism.

      However, with music/programs popping up in the black market right after release, if not !before!, copy protection is a waste of money and time. But companies like macrovision et al won't say that, of course.

      --
      -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
    58. Re:Does it matter? by Computer! · · Score: 1

      Indie labels don't offer the high-end producers, nice tour busses and brand-name headlining acts. Plus, they're not all that much better than major labels most of the time.

      When artists get fed up with their label, instead of going to an indie, they often just start their own label up.

      --
      If you fall off a building, go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will be like hey, free dummy
    59. Re:Does it matter? by Fascist+Christ · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the tip!

      --
      TodayTM BillyJoelTM GoogleTMd for StitchTMes due to WindowsTM while RollerbladeTMing with an AppleTM and a PopsicleTM
  3. DRM for the U.S. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Edible DVDs

    1. Re:DRM for the U.S. by dynamiteweb · · Score: 0

      Edible DVDs

      Can I super-size it?

    2. Re:DRM for the U.S. by ShortSpecialBus · · Score: 4, Funny

      I am suing you for copyright infringement, as that could be confused with Edible BVDs, which already make millions each year

      or something...

      --
      //FIXME: Bad .sig
    3. Re:DRM for the U.S. by Chundra · · Score: 1

      Yes, you can!

    4. Re:DRM for the U.S. by Pionar · · Score: 1

      As opposed to edible BVD's? And what flavors would they come in? Anti-piracy apple MPAA melon and many more...

    5. Re:DRM for the U.S. by mal3 · · Score: 2, Funny

      You laugh, but a friend of mine works at Best Buy. He had a guy come in and ask him for "one 'o dem BVD players"

      --
      Non gratis rodentus anus
    6. Re:DRM for the U.S. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      too much boobage, not enough dick. show us more dick!

      from: typical gay slashdotter

    7. Re:DRM for the U.S. by calethix · · Score: 1

      " Edible DVDs"

      Won't work. You would be sharing your music with far too many people when you flush it and it ends back up in drinking water. ;)

    8. Re:DRM for the U.S. by cshark · · Score: 1

      How about combustable dvds? Use them to generate quick puffs of smoke when you need to get away quickly! Hoo ha! {poof}

      --

      This signature has Super Cow Powers

    9. Re:DRM for the U.S. by Mac+Degger · · Score: 1

      "Non gratis rodentus anus"

      A rat's arse isn't free?

      --
      -- Waht? Tehr's a preveiw buottn?
    10. Re:DRM for the U.S. by mal3 · · Score: 1

      Nope. It's "I don't give a rat's ass". Someone pointed out a couple years ago that that's not even close to the proper way to say it in Latin, but I don't give a rats ass.

      --
      Non gratis rodentus anus
  4. Hurray! by -SWL--AcdReign- · · Score: 5, Insightful

    More plastic to add to the AOL CD landfills...

    1. Re:Hurray! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    2. Re:Hurray! by Thud457 · · Score: 1
      You guys don't get it yet, do you?

      It's like that planet in HHGG where the economy was devestated by the proliferation of shoes.

      Just wait and see...

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    3. Re:Hurray! by DrVxD · · Score: 1

      The problem wasn't shoes, it was shoe shops. MUCH scarier...

      --
      Not everything that can be measured matters; Not everything that matters can be measured.
  5. They keep on trying by letxa2000 · · Score: 5, Insightful
    They keep on trying but when will they realize that as long as a human being can see or hear it that it can be recoded in a more friendly format and put online where others will be able to obtain it so that they don't have to go through the same hassle at getting the content in a user-friendly format.

    These guys are going to kill their own business. Their copy-protection techniques will only increase the motivation to seek the content through obscure channels. When the "legitimate" version is less functional and more expensive than the "black market version", guess who's going to lose?

    1. Re:They keep on trying by tomhudson · · Score: 1
      Rip-proof and self-destructing seems to be the latest DRM craze." </quote>

      substitute in the above:

      RIAA business model: s/DRM/RIAA/;
      MPAA business model: s/DRM/MPAA/;
      SCO business model: s/*/FUD/;
      All pretty much self-destructing crazies :-)
    2. Re:They keep on trying by orange_6 · · Score: 1

      as long as a human being can see or hear it

      The only way this will be dealt with

      grapefruit spoon

    3. Re:They keep on trying by uradu · · Score: 1

      > as long as a human being can see or hear it that it can be recoded

      That's why they will be lobbying hard for mandatory DRM-compliant cochlear implants for the entire consumer population. If it ain't legal, you ain't hearin' it.

    4. Re:They keep on trying by FauxPasIII · · Score: 1

      >> grapefruit spoon

      That would be a good name for a band.

      --
      25% Funny, 25% Insightful, 25% Informative, 25% Troll
    5. Re:They keep on trying by snarkh · · Score: 1

      What an intriguing idea!

    6. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly.

      1. Connect the output of your audio system to the line-in of your PC.

      2. Adjust the volume to avoid oversampling

      3. Discard oversamples.

      4. Setup the soundcard at 32KHz/mono

      5. Do cat /dev/dsp | bladeenc -mono -rawrate=32000 > BorrowedCD.mp3

      Voila! You have the entire CD in 50MB.

    7. Re:They keep on trying by blamanj · · Score: 1

      They keep on trying

      Yup. In the beginning was copy-protected floppy disks. Apparently the Music Industry wasn't paying attention.

      The most annoying thing is whoever said "those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it" didn't warn the rest of us who do remember that we'd be forced to watch the repeats over and over a la Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.

    8. Re:They keep on trying by admiralh · · Score: 1

      Those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.

      Those who do learn history are doomed to watch others repeat it.

      I can't claim originality for that, but I can't find the source, either.

      --
      Hopelessly pedantic since 1963.
    9. Re:They keep on trying by damien_kane · · Score: 1

      No, the *IAA will find a way to get you to continue paying movie ticket and CD prices, while not releasing the music at all anymore...

      Want to hear your favorite band? That's just great, pay us some money and when you've proven* you won't pirate it we might give you the CD.

      * Proof subject to whims of current *IAA CEO

    10. Re:They keep on trying by Methlin · · Score: 1

      >> >> grapefruit spoon >> That would be a good name for a band. It probably is.

    11. Re:They keep on trying by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      we'd be forced to watch the repeats over and over a la Bill Murray in Groundhog Day

      Worse, because we can't change what's going on and we won't end up with Andie McDowell.

      As usual, the losers in the end will be legitimate customers who _don't_ want to break the law (even when the law conflicts with things like Fair Use).

      The alternatives become: Let the media companies screw you, or become an outlaw.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    12. Re:They keep on trying by CaseyB · · Score: 5, Insightful
      They still seem to be highly focused on stopping pure digital copies.

      It seems they haven't seen the state of a typical Divx "screener" movie on the net. They're absolutely *awful* quality wise, but are still hot commodities on the net. The slight quality loss in a single first generation digital->analog->digital copy might scare off the audio/videophiles (who buy their media anyway), but it's *not* going to matter to those that are downloading.

    13. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      s/*/FUD/;
      It would surprise you to know how many thousands of slashdot readers, myself included, haven't the foggiest idea what all that symbolic jargon means.

    14. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Right on brotha, these damn computer geeks think they're the only people with an interest in technology.
      Doesn't anyone speak plain old English here?

    15. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (even when the law conflicts with things like Fair Use)

      Nice try, bozo. There are no "Fair Use" rights. There are fair use exceptions to Title 17, but they do not establish any "right" to copy material.

      To put it in terms that your pea brain might understand: when your mommy takes you to the candy store, it is not illegal for you to be there (an exception to trespassing laws), but the candy store owner can still kick your crybaby ass out of his store whenever he feels like it (you don't have a "right" to be there).

    16. Re:They keep on trying by tomhudson · · Score: 1
      Sorry, glad to help you: it's a perl regex (regular expression) substitution:

      original comment fragment: SCO business model: s/*/FUD/;

      substitute every occurance of the expression between the first and second delimiters (in this case, the slashes) with the entity between the second and third delimiters (in this case the text 'FUD');

      doesn't have to be syntactically correct to get the idea across to most /. readers, which is that you can substitute everything SCO with "FUD".

      I'll agree it's not the prettiest language construct, but even the languages' creator says that perl wasn't meant to be pretty, just useful in a certain environment (which also explains the camel book logo :-).

    17. Re:They keep on trying by SuperDuG · · Score: 3, Informative
      I completely disagree with the stance you've taken here. What is more friendly than popping a disc into a player pushing play and getting a perfect digital picture and sound? The hassle is not going to be for the players themselves (IE: even WinDVD broadcasts out MacroVision to TV-OUT) but for those who try to infact "rip and burn".

      With software programs like:

      DVD Decrypter - DVD Decrypter is a CSS decryption tool that has most, if not all, of the features of current ripper/ripper GUIs like CladDVD, Smart-Ripper or VOBDec GUI, including CSS authentication/detection, multi-angle processing, Macrovision and Region removal. Also includes option to use either VOBDec or DeCSS Plus to decrypt the DVD.
      NanDUB DiVX 3.11 ;-) encoder.
      VirtualDubMod - VirtualDubMod is based on the famous video editing software VirtualDub by Avery Lee. Used for DiVX 5.x and XViD encoding
      DVD2AVI - Takes a DVD and turns it into an AVI or AVI FrameServer for other programs like NanDub and VirtualDuB to encode with.
      BeSweet - an audio transcoding tool. it lets you convert audio files from one format to another. supported formats : MP3,AC3,WAV,MP2,AVI,Aiff,VOB,Ogg Vorbis.
      TMpegEnc - video encoding software. mainly used for the creation of MPEG's encoded for either VCD or SVCD
      DVD2SVCD - Software Suite for converting a DVD into an SVCD (MPEG-2 encoded Video CD).
      Gordian Knot - Gordian Knot started out as a simple bitrate calculator for DivX encoding but has evolved to become an integrated package or tool for the entire process of DivX encoding. It now has the ability to calculate the bitrates for XViD

      And sites like

      Doom9 - The definitive resource for DVD backup
      DVDR Help - This site will help you to make your own VideoCDs, SVCDs or DVDs that can be played on your standalone DVD Player from video sources like DVD, Video, TV, Cam or downloaded movie clips like DivX, MOV, RM, WMV and ASF
      DiVX Digest - a DiVX news and reviews site.

      And many more like the ones above make it easy for encryption and DRM schemes to be broken or bypassed, but the process is far from trivial. These programs aren't exactly user friendly. The formats that come out of these programs while not very noticable do make a degredated (?sp) copy that is compressed more than the original. The files may look rather nice, but they are definantelly not as perfect as a standard DVD player.

      People want to be able to plug their DVD's into their DVD players. I don't really know how many people rely on their computer solely for DVD playback, but I'm assuming not many.

      Here's the kicker I know that I use my computer to watch videos that I own, but if I'm going to be traveling I will rip that DVD into a one disc XViD. So if I break it, who cares I'll just burn another one. And well someone isn't as apt to steal a blank CD-Rom as they would be for say, a DVD with a case and title on the disc.

      It's plain to see just from visiting the links I posted above though that you are correct in saying that there will always be a time that someone comes around and completely bypasses or disables DRM. I know for a fact that my APEX DVD player has MacroVision and other BS taken off of it and it is also RCE (regionless) which means I can put any DVD I like into the player and it will play.

      It's these sorts of things that make me wonder why all the effort for DRM is made, someone will truly crack it eventually. I still remember when DVD's were said to be uncrackable, and had some s

      --
      Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
    18. Re:They keep on trying by uradu · · Score: 4, Funny

      Damn, you got me stuck in an endless loop with that recursive footnote there, until my cube neighbor rebooted me. Careful with those asterisks, cowboy.

    19. Re:They keep on trying by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 1

      This is correct, but half-assed. The First Amendment establishes rights to copy material. Title 17 can interfere with that legitimately, but Fair Use, as a statute or as a constitutional doctrine (it's basically both) can put a halt to that interference, letting your natural rights shine through.

      While I'll agree that authors shouldn't have to make it easy just because, I do think that copyright statutes should force them to make it easy, and it is arguable that Fair Use prevents them from making it too hard.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
    20. Re:They keep on trying by Simonetta · · Score: 1

      These guys are going to kill their own business. Their copy-protection techniques will only increase the motivation to seek the content through obscure channels. When the "legitimate" version is less functional and more expensive than the "black market version", guess who's going to lose?

      I agree with the above messager. This is my analysis exactly.
      The media content industry (they are not artists , musicians, or 'talent' so those terms don't apply) creates a product that has a very large one -time development cost per individual unit of content and after that the marginal costs of copying and distributing these packaged units of media content are very small. Economic theory would suggest that the media content industry should maximize their profits by constantly reducing the price of the packaged production (each film or CD album title) as the sales start to slack at each price level.
      The fact that they refuse to adjust to basic proven economic theory in their business model simply shows that:
      1) They really don't deserve the high levels of profits that their monopoly position through copyright control grants them.
      2) They will end up self-destructing as content provider corporations as advancing technology introduces more flexibility into the media consumption patterns of their customers.

      Personally, I believe that the piracy argument is absurd and we as consumers deserve all the free music, books, and movies that we can consume as a compensation for tolerating the vast consolidation of the media industry into a few global corporations.

      Thank you,
      Simonetta

      http://www.nga.gov/exhibitions/2001/virtuebeauty /f antasy.htm

    21. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      >> grapefruit spoon >>>That would be a good name for a band.

      Or a sex position.

    22. Re:They keep on trying by letxa2000 · · Score: 1
      I completely disagree with the stance you've taken here. What is more friendly than popping a disc into a player pushing play and getting a perfect digital picture and sound?

      You miss the point. The point is precisely that many of these new DVDs and CDs DON'T work when popped into many players and fewer computers. And many of us listen to our music on our computers as we work. I haven't had a working CD player since I lost my last CD player to dust infection about 6 years ago. Since then I listen to *ALL* my music on the computer because my CD player died and because it's more convenient. If I want to listen to a song that isn't MP3'd yet I just pop the CD into my computer, rip it, and then listen to the MP3 so I don't have to search for the CD the next time I want to hear that.

      All of this is legal but all of it is made more difficult by CDs that don't work in computers because they don't WANT me to rip my own CD to my own computer. If a new CD should come out with a song I like but I know that I can't use that CD on my computer what are my options? Either just download it from the Internet or go without the music... either way the RIAA has lost a sale.

    23. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "The formats ... do make a degredated (?sp) copy that is compressed more than the original."

      I think you meant degraded. Or possibly deprecated. Depreciated might work. But not degredated.

    24. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I saw the X2 movie which was apparently a "telesync" (not sure if this is better or worse than a screener) on SVCD. It looked like an aged VHS copy, but the sound was pretty good and it was definitely watchable. I have a lot DVDs and a decent 5.1 surround system, but that hasn't spoiled me to the point where I can't watch a movie with poorer quality.

    25. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's what's called the "analog hole". That's why they want to run encrypted digital right to the speakers or picture tube.

    26. Re:They keep on trying by absterge · · Score: 1

      Yup. We're still analog creatures, with good ol' bones in our ears that respond to vibrations in air, and rods and cones in our eyes that read patterns of light. The analog point will never be overcome, because the electrical signals that power speakers and video screens can always just be re-encoded.

      --
      Try my nuts to your fist style!
    27. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous+Coed · · Score: 1

      Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.


      I'm just curious what about that exactly establishes "rights to copy material." Freedom of speech? Isn't that a bit of a stretch?

    28. Re:They keep on trying by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      Believe it or not, there are actually parts of the Constitution _other_ than the First Amendment.

      Besides, the Constitution doesn't establish rights, it _recognizes_ God-given rights and prohibits Congress from interfering with them.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    29. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Believe it or not, but the grandparent claimed that the First Amendment guaranteed the right to "copy materials".

    30. Re:They keep on trying by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "They keep on trying but when will they realize that as long as a human being can see or hear it that it can be recoded in a more friendly format and put online where others will be able to obtain it so that they don't have to go through the same hassle at getting the content in a user-friendly format."

      Or when will they realize that as long as a human being can see or touch the original discs, that it will always get out to others. I mean most of the movies, mp3s, etc. we see on P2P Networks probably just come from either movie/music studio, radio stations, or movie theaters. Maybe the dumbasses should do a better job there.

    31. Re:They keep on trying by mibus · · Score: 1

      *My* problem is that, unlike CSS, nobody (that I can find) has broken the (CSS2? CPRM?) encryption on DVD-A.

      It's not too much of a problem right now, most DVD-A's have a regular DVD-Video component that's easily rippable (even if it is a bit tedious cutting up a few GB of VOBs :).

      But what happens when the record companies / RIAA / etc. stop producing the dual-format discs?

    32. Re:They keep on trying by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 1

      And so it does. If you say something, why shouldn't I be able to say it too?

      Hardly anyone argues that the making of a creative work is speech protected by the First Amendment. Movies, books, photos, etc. are, when challenged, pretty much always protected.

      Why should the EXACT SAME SPEECH be any different, merely because a different person did it the next time around? The First Amendment applies equally to both, after all.

      HOWEVER, speech rights can be limited -- to a degree -- by copyright, as it's a Constitutional power that Congress can exercise if it chooses.

      I never said that the First Amendment caused copyright law to be unconstitutional though. That's entirely different from the First Amendment guaranteeing the right to copy creative works. You need to read my earlier post MUCH more closely.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
    33. Re:They keep on trying by mpe · · Score: 1

      They keep on trying but when will they realize that as long as a human being can see or hear it that it can be recoded in a more friendly format and put online where others will be able to obtain it so that they don't have to go through the same hassle at getting the content in a user-friendly format.

      Will they realise before or after they attempt to get the laws of physics ammended though :)

    34. Re:They keep on trying by mpe · · Score: 1

      Believe it or not, but the grandparent claimed that the First Amendment guaranteed the right to "copy materials".

      Since it is an ammendment it can supercede any pre-existing part of the document it is ammending. Unless it is superceded by a later ammendment.

    35. Re:They keep on trying by mpe · · Score: 1

      HOWEVER, speech rights can be limited -- to a degree -- by copyright, as it's a Constitutional power that Congress can exercise if it chooses.

      That would only be the case if the ability of the US Congress to pass copyright laws was derived from a later ammendment. The first ammendment contains an absolute prohibition on the US Congress passing laws which impinge of freedome of speach.

    36. Re:They keep on trying by cpt+kangarooski · · Score: 1

      That would be interesting, but that's not how it's been interpreted by the courts.

      --
      -- This and all my posts are in the public domain. I am a lawyer. I am not your lawyer, and this is not legal advice.
    37. Re:They keep on trying by Jarlsberg · · Score: 1

      A screener is usually close to dvd quality. A telesync copy OTOH can be quite good, but is usually lacking in sharpness and quality. The X2 copy was pretty decent as far as telesync copies go. The Matrix Reloaded telesync that was in the news some time ago was pretty bad, though. At the bottom of the barrel are handycam copies. I know people who will watch these, but I always skip them. I like quality, but I can watch a telesync copy if there's nothing else available. I do try and hold out for the DVD rip though or for when they're available for rental for the most part, or as in the case with Matrix Reloaded, go to the theatre.

  6. DRM for good? by nacs · · Score: 5, Funny
    Last year, record label Sony Music came under fire when new European CD releases by artists Celine Dion and Shakira wouldn't play....
    Is this really a bad thing? I mean Shakira may be semi-decent but Celine Dion not playing? Who's going to miss that? Chrysler?
    --
    "I filter at +6, and have yet to miss out on an important comment." (#822545)
    1. Re:DRM for good? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shakira? Semi-decent?
      The same one who's voice sounds like fingernails on a blackboard and is only popular because guys like to watch her ass?

      Get your ears checked man.

    2. Re:DRM for good? by NanoGator · · Score: 5, Funny

      "Last year, record label Sony Music came under fire when new European CD releases by artists Celine Dion and Shakira wouldn't play...."

      Millions of boyfriends everywhere simultaneously sigh with relief.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    3. Re:DRM for good? by bleh-of-the-huns · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Nothing wrong with a good piece of ass, hit the mute button, and watch

      --
      I came, I conquered, I coredumped
    4. Re:DRM for good? by tomhudson · · Score: 4, Funny
      rest of the quote: ... wouldn't play on a PC or Apple's Macintosh computer.

      Sony probably came under fire because Celine would still play on regular CD players, thus pissing off car owners.

    5. Re:DRM for good? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      this is Insightful? heh.

    6. Re:DRM for good? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      welcome to slashdot.
      grab a beer, look around and realise that in a few months you will be just like them.

    7. Re:DRM for good? by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


      Millions of boyfriends everywhere simultaneously sigh with relief.

      Two of them are even slashdot readers!

      --
      Trolling is a art,
    8. Re:DRM for good? by br0ck · · Score: 1

      Yeah, there's just no thrill like watching a muted CD spin.

    9. Re:DRM for good? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      what, may i ask, is wrong with checking out some fine ass? oh wait, this is slashdot. 90% of you nerds still haven't popped your cherries.

    10. Re:DRM for good? by Wolfier · · Score: 1

      Artist, Celine Dion? They belong to the same sentence? This is blasphemous.

    11. Re:DRM for good? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Millions of boyfriends everywhere simultaneously sigh with relief.

      Including the three boyfriends here on Slashdot. Way to go guys! The rest of us are living vicariously through you.

      Now, back to my dissected frog and kooties vaccine...

    12. Re:DRM for good? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What, may i ask, is wrong with checking out some fine ass?

      Not a thing. But does that excuse the fact that a CD had to be made in order for us to do so?

      I thought not.

    13. Re: DRM for good? by gidds · · Score: 1
      Yeah, but seriously...

      You'll be laughing on the other side of your MP3 player when the latest CD from $YOUR_FAVOURITE_BAND won't work either.

      And you can bet it'll happen. "Hey," they'll think to themselves, "practically no-one complained before. It works!" By which time it'll be too late to stop.

      For example, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells 2003 "includes anti-copying technology that is intended to prevent unlawful copying of the CD with a PC". I've yet to find out if I'll be able to play it at all on my Mac...

      --

      Ceterum censeo subscriptionem esse delendam.

    14. Re:DRM for good? by jmv · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The funny thing about the Celine Dion CD (for which I couldn't convince my mom to take it back to the store) is that it wouldn't *play* in a PC player, but on the same PC, cdparanoia made a perfect rip. Conclusion: the "copy protection" forces you to copy the CD if you want to listen to it!

    15. Re:DRM for good? by vidnet · · Score: 2, Funny

      Two of them are even slashdot readers! Only problem is they're dating each other!

    16. Re:DRM for good? by vidnet · · Score: 1

      Ahh, so that's what the preview button is for?

    17. Re:DRM for good? by stanmann · · Score: 1

      Hey, What about the six of us that are married, we have to suffer with that "music" too.

      --
      Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
    18. Re:DRM for good? by Pantheraleo2k3 · · Score: 1

      I like Celine Dion music, you insensitive clod!

  7. y awn.. by rsheridan6 · · Score: 1

    Some kid will crack it in a week.

    --
    Don't drop the soap, Tommy!
    1. Re:y awn.. by olip · · Score: 1

      low tech crack :
      as far as audio is concerned, you can rip through analog (for instance old CD reader going line in), spill it on the P2Ps, fsck DRM, and nobody would even notice that your soundcard is only half-decent.

      I mean, why do they bother ? This is doomed anyway !! Or is DRM only pushed by tech lobbyists whose sole quality is to give a bit of employment to some of us ;-) ?

  8. Ok.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so I won't be able to rip straight off the dvd(i'm talking about the audio dvd's), but what is going to prevent me from just sending the sound straight into my computer, as opposed to a speaker, and saving it from there?

    1. Re:Ok.... by letxa2000 · · Score: 1
      Nothing. But it's a hassle. Which is why others will hop online and look for a clean and open version of the content rather than buying it and having to go through the hassle of doing that.

      Like I said, these guys are DRIVING consumers to P2P by introducing technologies that make it harder to use their product. When the P2P version is cheaper and easier to use than what they're selling, the RIAA is in trouble.

    2. Re:Ok.... by cavemanf16 · · Score: 1

      My wife and I were at Best Buy this weekend and I asked her if I could buy this CD that I really wanted (yes, I already downloaded the mp3's and really like this particular band, so I figured it was worth the $11.99 to get the full CD). She told me, and I quote: "No. We download, we don't buy. It's not worth it." Whoa! I was blown away, being that I'm normally the cheapskate in the house. I guess all my going on and on about DRM, the DMCA, and all my other gripes about modern technology related law matters got through to her.

      And yes, she fully comprehends and knows that the RIAA, MPAA, and SCO claim that this kind of "sharing" is 100% evil and illegal and robbing them of massive profits. Guess what, my wife doesn't think you're "entitled" to ridiculous profits, and neither do 90% of Americans (the ones with brains anyways).

    3. Re:Ok.... by DrPascal · · Score: 2, Informative

      - No. We download, we don't buy. It's not worth it.

      You don't think it's worth buying the CD of the artist that made the music, because their publisher is getting money? It is this mentality that these companies point at when they need an example of someone who is "stealing" from the "artist" [and the company].

      If you like the music, buy the CD. If it is too much money in the store, find it online. But the "just download it because its free" is the wrong mentality.

      --
      DrPascal: Not the language, the mathematician.
    4. Re:Ok.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What a fucking bitch. Sorry, but only immoral people say that crap. I hope you're happy having a wife who's no better morally than a catholic priest at an all-boys school. Just because the RIAA sucks doesn't mean it's right to fuck over the artist. Asshole.

    5. Re:Ok.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...if you buy it online for cheaper that's probably because you're buying it used...which means you're paying neither the band nor the company.

      I agree with you about purchasing the album instead of keeping the MP3s...but I think your logic is slighty faulty.

    6. Re:Ok.... by cavemanf16 · · Score: 1

      No, no, no! It's not "worth it", "it" here being the cost of $11.99 for this particular CD. Because there is a more accessible, more direct route of getting the exact same content, the $11.99/CD price should COME DOWN, however it hasn't. In fact, CD prices have never come down in price! You would think they would, considering it takes much more now for me to want an entire CD, when I can download just the few songs I want off of most albums these days. In any other market, when a new technology makes your old way of doing business obsolete, you lead, follow, or get out of the way! Not the entertainment distribution industry. The business models in those markets equate to this: new technology = not fair, whine to Congress and those in power with no regard to your consumers, then fsck the consumer with more price bullying claiming you're providing an invaluable service. Yeah, right. I heard the new Kelly Clarkson song on MTV this morning as I worked out, along with some rap song that sucked hardcore. If that's the content that the entertainment distribution magnates claim are necessary for their survival, good luck! I'd rather read Scientology books than listen to that crap!

    7. Re:Ok.... by Cromac · · Score: 1

      Bingo. It's easy for video DVD's as well. Hook the DVD player up to a video capture card and sound card and copy it that way. I've done it with DVD's and VHS in the past. The quality isn't as good as the original DVD but still quite good and better than most of the piss poor videos available on Kazaa.

    8. Re:Ok.... by cens0r · · Score: 1

      CD prices have come down. At the format launch they were probably around $16 a pop. Now you can usually find discs between $11-$15. That seems to be lower to me. Now factor in 20 years worth of inflation and they actually are much less.

      --
      Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
    9. Re:Ok.... by Freshie · · Score: 1

      Huh. a lot of DVD's [pr0n] work, but if you've got 64 or more in Ram on your card, likelyhood has it, it won't copy to your HDD. I've got a 64M Radeon 7400 and it looks like it copying but when you play it, only the top 15 pixels actually move. The rest is a static picture. Welcome to analog DRM...

      --
      'I don't want more choices. I just want better things.' - Edina Monsoon
  9. in the begining I was free.... by oliverthered · · Score: 3, Insightful

    In the beginning I was free.

    then I became a pleb, and my master controlled me.

    then I because a citizen and the government controlled me.

    Now I'm a consumer, and all my rights are under control.

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    1. Re:in the begining I was free.... by Zathrus · · Score: 1

      If you actually believe that tripe, then I suggest you read "Cloak of Anarchy" by Larry Niven. And yes, it's posted with permission from Mr. Niven.

      Anarchy isn't freedom, and that's what you're advocating. That or total isolation from all other human beings. Take your pick.

    2. Re:in the begining I was free.... by Xerithane · · Score: 2, Insightful

      then I because a citizen and the government controlled me.

      Point.

      Now I'm a consumer, and all my rights are under control.

      Excercise the right not to buy. Didn't that thought ever occur to anybody?

      Making rip-proof media is fine, if they can figure out how to do it. You are agreeing to a contract in regards to the content on whatever media you are purchasing. Self-destructing is destroying my property, unless I can re-use the media it came on.

      If I don't like what a company is doing, I will not buy their goods. I still don't buy Colgate products because of them bullying ajax.org.

      Stop pretending like you don't have rights. You have rights, you chose not to use them. You are a consumer, and you will buy everything they tell you to buy. Then you bitch when they take you all for suckers.

      If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you do buy it, don't bitch.

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    3. Re:in the begining I was free.... by timeOday · · Score: 1

      I still haven't bought a DVD player because they can't arbitrarily fast-forward and rewind. I'm not bitching, but it seems like if this were really a free market economy, somebody would come along to sell me an unrestricted DVD player. And I mean "unrestricted" as an advertised feature, not some chip I have to solder in.

    4. Re:in the begining I was free.... by mcelrath · · Score: 1
      You are agreeing to a contract in regards to the content on whatever media you are purchasing.
      Wrong.

      Music is governed by copyright law, not contract law. Copyright law gives you the right to do many things that the media conglomorates don't want you to know about (like making backups, i.e. "fair use"). There is no contract involved when purchasing a CD. The media conglomorates attempts to keep you from playing a CD on a PC is false advertising, fraud, and a violation of the CD Red Book specification. They should be sued for fraud on every single of these crippled CD's they sell.

      The attempt to subsume copyright law into contract law is at the heart of all these DRM attempts. However, if you do not agree to the contract, have no opportunity to negotiate the contract, or both parties do not sign the contract, it is not valid. Furthermore copyright law cannot be violated by contract. Contracts which violate other rights are simply illegal contracts. (You cannot, for instance, sign a contract allowing someone to kill you -- it's still murder and they will still go to jail)

      Any real lawyers want to clarify further?

      If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you do buy it, don't bitch.
      I agree completely.

      -- Bob

      --
      1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
    5. Re:in the begining I was free.... by Xerithane · · Score: 1

      I still haven't bought a DVD player because they can't arbitrarily fast-forward and rewind. I'm not bitching, but it seems like if this were really a free market economy, somebody would come along to sell me an unrestricted DVD player. And I mean "unrestricted" as an advertised feature, not some chip I have to solder in.

      I have a Sony. When I put a DVD in I hit "Menu" then "Play" immediately. It then starts playing with no restrictions. It's up to the people who make the discs to enable or disable certain features in the playback.

      It has nothing to do with the DVD player (and a lot of DVD players you can actually control via software, just google for it) but the disc.

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    6. Re:in the begining I was free.... by Xerithane · · Score: 1

      Music is governed by copyright law, not contract law. Copyright law gives you the right to do many things that the media conglomorates don't want you to know about (like making backups, i.e. "fair use"). There is no contract involved when purchasing a CD.
      What about the CDs that now come with EULAs? I don't buy new CDs, because of my "don't buy it, don't bitch" stance. I buy used CDs so I have no idea. I do know there are a few that have EULAs. IF a CD has a EULA, it also is bound by copyright and contract law.

      The attempt to subsume copyright law into contract law is at the heart of all these DRM attempts. However, if you do not agree to the contract, have no opportunity to negotiate the contract, or both parties do not sign the contract, it is not valid.

      Well, if both parties do not agree to the contract it is not valid. If, in bold letters, I put "By opening this package you agree to the following license." it would be reasonable to assume that you agreed. Not all contracts require a signature.

      DRM is completely engrossed in using contract law because copyright is inadequate (to what they are trying to do.)

      Contracts which violate other rights are simply illegal contracts. (You cannot, for instance, sign a contract allowing someone to kill you -- it's still murder and they will still go to jail)

      That is incorrect, contracts can violate other rights (specifically copyright, limiting those rights) and are perfectly legal. The difference is looking at if it's a right-reduction/limitation. If you sign a contract and commit a felony in the bounds of that contract, you still commited a felony. If you sign a contract removing all of your rights to something, there is no felony. This is what drives employment contracts that revoke rights to work on external projects, and if you do you must disclose all information to the company/organization.

      It's dangerous to confuse contract law, which is civil and criminal law (the murder example.)

      If you agree to a contract with me, and violate that I sue you. If you violate a state law (criminal law) than the state will take you to court, and I still have the right to do so. A great example of this is the O.J. Simpson case. He was acquitted in the criminal case, but was found guilty in the civil wrongful death case.

      I'm not a lawyer, I just spend too much time studying it...

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    7. Re:in the begining I was free.... by zanderredux · · Score: 1
      Well...

      Self-destructing is destroying my property, unless I can re-use the media it came on

      Partially true, since you may own the media but not the data inside, for which you've bought a permission to view for a limited time (usually set to "infinite", but this can be changed as well).

      Think of a video rental model, except that you do not have to return the media!

    8. Re:in the begining I was free.... by mcelrath · · Score: 1
      Well, if both parties do not agree to the contract it is not valid. If, in bold letters, I put "By opening this package you agree to the following license." it would be reasonable to assume that you agreed. Not all contracts require a signature.
      As far as I know, this has not yet been upheld by any court as a valid means of establishing a contract. (And I hope that we can get "shrink wrap" contracts invalidated) If you have a counter-example, I'd be interested to hear.

      -- Bob

      --
      1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
    9. Re:in the begining I was free.... by Xerithane · · Score: 1

      As far as I know, this has not yet been upheld by any court as a valid means of establishing a contract. (And I hope that we can get "shrink wrap" contracts invalidated) If you have a counter-example, I'd be interested to hear.

      Shrink-wrap licenses, no. There is major precedent for unsigned contracts being upheld. If you say you will do something, and you don't do it you violated contract law. Just as long as there is evidence enough to support the claim.

      If I ever have software that will be supplied that needs a restrictive license, I will collect signatures. Otherwise, I think copyright law is sufficient for my needs. Many others don't feel that way.

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    10. Re:in the begining I was free.... by Xerithane · · Score: 1

      Think of a video rental model, except that you do not have to return the media!

      You mean Divx, and Circuit City got burned hard on that. My point was completely true, since I explicitely stated "unless I can re-use the media it came on" meaning that the media is mine and mine alone. I physically own it. I do not own the data and content on that media.

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    11. Re:in the begining I was free.... by mcelrath · · Score: 1
      Shrink-wrap licenses, no. There is major precedent for unsigned contracts being upheld. If you say you will do something, and you don't do it you violated contract law. Just as long as there is evidence enough to support the claim.
      As a matter of principle, whenever I install software I go out of my way to avoid having to click "accept". Often this means hand-unpacking the contents of the CD, or using a no-CD patch. Presumably (assuming I haven't violated the DMCA in the process), I am then bound by copyright law with respect to the software. But then the vast majority of software I use is free, so I'm not affected very much by piles of shrink-wrap licenses.

      Point being, proving that you clicked accept might be very difficult in a court of law.

      -- Bob

      --
      1^2=1; (-1)^2=1; 1^2=(-1)^2; 1=-1; 1=0.
    12. Re:in the begining I was free.... by Xerithane · · Score: 1

      As a matter of principle, whenever I install software I go out of my way to avoid having to click "accept". Often this means hand-unpacking the contents of the CD, or using a no-CD patch. Presumably (assuming I haven't violated the DMCA in the process), I am then bound by copyright law with respect to the software. But then the vast majority of software I use is free, so I'm not affected very much by piles of shrink-wrap licenses.


      This is why they usually have such agreements on the jewel case, with conspicious text saying "You agree if you open this case." Easier to prove that way, because you either a) violated the license or b) violated copyright.

      Not all EULAs are bad, for instance at my job we have a EULA that must be agreed to otherwise we are in violation of certain academic regulations. Our EULA contains refund information, which must be presented and agreed to. If you don't agree, we can't do business with you. That's our EULA though, aside from the copyright jargon which is so vanilla you could eat a brownie with it.

      Our EULA can be easily proven, because it's stored on the server side and we track IP and login information.

      I hate the associations that certain things are always evil. EULA's can be good, and bad. Just because most of them are bad, doesn't make them all bad. It's like people, I know a lot of asshole (white|black|asian) people but it doesn't mean they're all like that... just the majority ;)

      --
      Dacels Jewelers can't be trusted.
    13. Re:in the begining I was free.... by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      "Not all EULAs are bad"

      True, but they are massively abused. Such as in the instance of not being able to read the EULA before purchase/update/download....*cough*MS*cough

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
  10. So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It's not like there are *that* many good movies. I can live without a copy of Hollywood Blockbuster 69; I've already got copies of Spaceballs, Escape from New York, The Matrix, Mission Impossible, and Army of Darkness.

    I'll worry when they put DRM on the next Michael Moorcock novel.

    1. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

      Heh heh....you said "more cock"...heh heh

    2. Re:So what? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh heh....you said "more cock"...heh heh

      Well, this is slashdot after all. That is exactly what the slashbots want.

  11. Hmm. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    So if I buy the "Mission Impossible" DVD, I better heed the warning that says "This message will self destruct in 5 seconds" ?

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Hmm. by mashx · · Score: 1


      But it will more likely be acomplished with the intelligence of Inspector Gadget.

      --

      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~
    2. Re:Hmm. by grub · · Score: 0, Troll


      If you don't like what I have to say them make me an Enemy and filter me away. It's kind of warming to know that I have such an effect on a troll that he'd go to the trouble of posting like you did.

      I'm using up far more of your brain than you are mine, loser.

      Let grubby eat you up. That's a good dummy.

      --
      Trolling is a art,
    3. Re:Hmm. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Actually that would'nt be DRM at all. That's just good taste.

    4. Re:Hmm. by JahToasted · · Score: 1

      If I bought the Mission Impossible DVD I would hope it WOULD self destruct.

  12. Backup copies? by Salo2112 · · Score: 1

    OK, I buy a cd - or license one, evidently. Why can't I make a copy to play and one for my truck and keep the original safe in its jewel case? How long before this is cracked anyway?

    1. Re:Backup copies? by letxa2000 · · Score: 1
      How long before this is cracked anyway?

      If push comes to shove, about as long as it takes to connect the "line out" from the CD player to the "line in" on the computer audio card.

  13. yeah right by freedommatters · · Score: 1
    how long before someone cracks it and starts selling them on the black/gray market?

    but, of course, that could be why governments around the world are bringing in laws against tampering with electrical devices... god help us

    john
    got a pair of Weapons of Male Distraction? Show 'em off in style

    1. Re:yeah right by Gonarat · · Score: 1

      DMCA type laws will just create another black market for DRM free equipment and create new revenue sources for organized crime. Draconian drug laws have not stopped or drasticly reduced the availability of drugs on the street for those who wish to use them. I'm not saying all drug laws are bad, but the War on (some) Drugs is not working as is.

      The same thing will happen with "illegal" electronics, media, and programs. Those who want them will know (or know how to find out) where to find them. Current equipment will become more valuable and either DRM free equipment or "illegal" mods will be available in the black market. The MPAA taking 2600 to court did not remove DeCSS from the internet -- it just cost people money and hurt American Freedoms.

      The average Joe may not yet care about what is going on, but take away his entertainment and he will learn, and act, real quick. Why do you think that the Roman leaders loved Gladiators and Circuses? An entertained Populus is a happy Populus.

      --
      Beware of Sleestak
  14. Idiots by ryanr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If they make self-destructing DVDs, then I will be *certain* to rip it first thing. I listen to my music almost exclusively on my computer. I've got any number of CDs that I've never "played", I just ran it through CDex, and listen to the mp3s. I will consider any attempts to make "rip-proof" formats as special challenge.

    I suspect that anyone who lacks the skills to do the above themselves would then be that much more likely to download a copy that someone else ripped.

    1. Re:Idiots by notque · · Score: 1

      I will consider any attempts to make "rip-proof" formats as special challenge.

      And that is what makes computers great!

      When I started using computers, there were several things I didn't care about doing. Unless someone said I couldn't. Then no one could stop me.

      --
      http://use.perl.org
    2. Re:Idiots by SpaceCadetTrav · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The amount of consumers with the same attitude as you is statisticaly insignificant in the reality of the media world. But if it makes you feel better, sit in your home and shake your fist defiantly at your TV. The fact that you buy the content in the first place only makes them laugh harder.

    3. Re:Idiots by Jucius+Maximus · · Score: 1
      If the data on the CD or DVD 'self destructs' then I simply won't buy it.

      <Picard Voice>The line must be drawn HERE! This far and NO farther!</Picard>

    4. Re:Idiots by Datasage · · Score: 1

      calling it rip proof is challenging the hacker community to actully try to break it. shouldnt take too long. Since the data is decrypted at some point.

      Maybe the hacker/cracker community should adopt somewhat of an ethic. If you dont know how to rip it yourself. Then you should not be allowed to download it. just an idea

      --
      In America we are imprisoned by our fear of them.
    5. Re:Idiots by SN74S181 · · Score: 1

      "I hereby decree that you are forbidden to ram a ball point pen into your eye."

    6. Re:Idiots by Silverfish · · Score: 5, Insightful

      This is exactly how the RIAA/MPAA are shooting themselves in the foot.

      It won't take long before people want to watch a movie a second time and get denied and grow sick of it. Eventually they will just decide to start copying them instead of viewing them.

      With each ratcheting up of digital restrictions, the RIAA and MPAA are placing successively larger groups of people in the camp against them. Eventually, it will be RIAA/MPAA against everyone, and that will spell big trouble unless they ease back DRM.

      To paraphrase Princess Leia: "The more you tighten your grip, MPAA, the more star systems will slip through your fingers."

    7. Re:Idiots by Suidae · · Score: 1

      Some times I wish I was an artist. I have this mental picture of one of those political cartoons. In the background is a huge pile of CD's labeled 'Media', in the foreground is Joe six-pack, labeled 'Consumer' with a puzzled look on his face, scratching his head, while he gazes at a big dude in the middle, labeled 'RIAA' or 'MPAA' or something, who is standing with his arms crossed, legs spread, in front of a 3 foot wide fence labeled 'DRM'.

    8. Re:Idiots by ryanr · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The amount of consumers with the same attitude as you is statisticaly insignificant in the reality of the media world.

      http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF -8&q=million+americans+download+music&btnG=Google+ Search

      The estimates range from 13 million to 113 million people downloading music. Some portion of those people must like listening to music on their computers.

    9. Re:Idiots by sharekk · · Score: 1

      It won't take long before people want to watch a movie a second time and get denied and grow sick of it. Eventually they will just decide to start copying them instead of viewing them.
      There are practical uses for this sort of thing though. How nice would it be to go rent a movie and then not have to drive back to the store the next day? (not to mention make overdue fees a thing of the past) For all that I don't like 'buying' things without the right to do whatever I want with them (DeCSS anyone?) the rental market for movies at least is pretty well established.

    10. Re:Idiots by notque · · Score: 1

      "I hereby decree that you are forbidden to ram a ball point pen into your eye."

      Is the ball point pen attached to something? Is it copy protected?

      At least make it a challange.

      --
      http://use.perl.org
    11. Re:Idiots by SpaceCadetTrav · · Score: 1

      How many of them are actually going to figure out how to rip a copy-protected DVD before it expires? More importantly, how many more are NOT going to?

    12. Re:Idiots by null-sRc · · Score: 1

      even though requiring people with more skills to rip music/movies, thereby decreasing the total ripper count, i believe this would increase the level of quality in rips...

      why do people still rip off the radio?? #@$!

      or... use the shittiest romdrives/soundcards with a bunch of electrical "squeeling"? :|

      anyhow.. :D

      --
      -judging another only defines yourself
    13. Re:Idiots by ryanr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I'm not going to give up music or movies. Problem is, these guys have a near monopoly. Boycots are good, but they often don't work as well against monopolies. Well.. not boycotts based on ideals, anyway. The bulk of the consumers will vote with their dollars based on functionality, not fairness.

      Fortunately, it sometimes works out the same (Divx). The self-destruct scheme is quite similar in result, so I'm hoping it gets the same treatement.

      In favor of the self-destruct... if they are significantly cheaper (again, like Divx... say $5 for a 3-day disk, instead of $20 for a "permanent" disk) then I'll happily buy them and rip them...

      Divx would never survive today because too many people know how to rip DVDs. Divx would have been cracked long ago.

    14. Re:Idiots by ChadN · · Score: 1

      All it takes is one $50 piece of software that runs on Windows to rip and re-encode the DVD for you, at the click of a button. And such software already exists.

      --
      "It's overkill, of course. But you can never have too much overkill." - Anonymous Slashdot Coward
    15. Re:Idiots by ryanr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Tools would be released so that anyone with a DVD drive in their Windows box will be able to do so. There would be $200 devices with 2 DVD drives, one read, one write. Word would get out that you could do down down up up A B on the remote to disable checking of the DRM bit. Then there are lots of people with friends like me who they come to with technical questions.

      That's not the point, though... the point is that consumer would WANT to have copies, even if they had no means to do so. It's the desire to have things a particular way that drives their decisions.

    16. Re:Idiots by SpaceCadetTrav · · Score: 1

      What percentage of music-listeners have purchased this software? Enough so that the cost of copy protection for the rest of the world is not justified? I doubt it.

    17. Re:Idiots by haystor · · Score: 1

      If you had real short arms like a T-Rex, it would be very difficult.

      --
      t
    18. Re:Idiots by nsandver-work · · Score: 1

      How nice would it be to go rent a movie and then not have to drive back to the store the next day?

      That just leads to ridiculous waste. Think about it: you and countless other people "renting" (buying) self-destructing DVDs and their associated packaging and throwing them away after a single viewing? Ugh. We have enough waste problems already. Please, drive back to the store.

    19. Re:Idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      How many of them are actually going to figure out how to rip a copy-protected DVD before it expires?
      Only one Kazaa user has to.
    20. Re:Idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've got any number of CDs that I've never "played", I just ran it through CDex, and listen to the mp3s.

      And I've got a number of CD's that are impossible to rip, not due to protection, but because the sound quality of mp3 and ogg is really poor on some kinds of music, like classical music. If you buy mainstream this isn't usually such a problem, since the mixes of mainstream music cater to the lowest common denominator (radio), but if you like to browse through the more unusual stuff, well...

      Ripping isn't the solution to everything (and, yes, I do know of flac). I'd prefer it if my original CD's played everywhere and anywhere.

    21. Re:Idiots by Jonavin · · Score: 1

      Please, drive back to the store.

      And by Drive you mean WALK right? Because otherwise it's just a bad a problem as chucking the piece of plastic away.

    22. Re:Idiots by linuxelf · · Score: 1

      Well, if considerable numbers of people aren't copying the files, then why is there a need for copy protection in the first place? The fact that it exists is proof that it doesn't work.

      --
      - "That's just the kind of fuzzy-headed liberal thinking that leads to being eaten."
    23. Re:Idiots by ChadN · · Score: 1

      Music listeners? I was talking about movie DVDs.
      For music CDs, practically every CD burner comes with track ripping software. For music DVDs, I have no idea if the format is "cracked" or not.

      --
      "It's overkill, of course. But you can never have too much overkill." - Anonymous Slashdot Coward
    24. Re:Idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No you could just wedge it into a rock and then impale your head on it. Easy.

    25. Re:Idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Slashpoll -- My favorite cowboy hero is:
      [ ] Tom Mix
      [ ] Gene Autry
      [ ] Bill Boyd
      [ ] Roy Rogers
      [ ] Clayton Moore
      [ ] Randolph Scott
      [x] CowboyNeal
    26. Re:Idiots by Jonner · · Score: 1

      I did just walk to the Blockbuster a few hours ago, both to save gas and for exercise. It's just a few blocks from my house.

    27. Re:Idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One thing I (unbelievably) haven't read Slashdotters say, is that these destructible DVDs are going to be clearly marked, and marketed as an alternative to renting. People aren't going to buy the $3 DVD's, and then be surprised when it stops working after a couple days, the same as a standard DVD.

      I really don't think it's a difficult concept for consumers to understand, and I have to believe Slashdotters are turning a deliberately blind eye to the obvious.

    28. Re:Idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Such software exists for free as well. People need only be informed of it.

    29. Re:Idiots by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You realise that you can increase the bitrate of the encoding if the music doesn't sound good enough at the default, right?

    30. Re:Idiots by kin_korn_karn · · Score: 1

      You miss a point.

      The average music listener or movie fan doesn't even know the RIAA or MPAA exist in the terms that we know them. If they can even place the acronym, they think that it's just some obscure trade group and that they are of no consequence to the average person.

      What we need to do is educate the people about the RIAA and MPAA, and not sit on slashdot and bitch.

    31. Re:Idiots by dvdeug · · Score: 1

      The amount of consumers with the same attitude as you is statisticaly insignificant in the reality of the media world.

      I doubt it. My dad - no technophile - laughed at DIVX when it first came out. And it looks like most consumers were laughing with him. I'm firmly convinced that my dad would happily pay $10 for a film he's going to watch once or twice, but wouldn't buy a DIVX-like disc for half the price.

    32. Re:Idiots by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      I do that with every single CD/DVD I buy, then store the copies in my firebox. Otherwise I'd lose them to scratches/whatever eventually, which is wasting money, to me...and money is hard enough to come by.

      Sb

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    33. Re:Idiots by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      Enough to keep the writers of the software in business, no doubt :-)

      Sb

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    34. Re:Idiots by cybermage · · Score: 1

      The estimates range from 13 million to 113 million people downloading music.

      I'd heard it estimated differently:

      In regards to P2P sharing of copyrighted materials "There are more unindicted felons in the US than voted for Bush in the last election."

      Clearly, copyright law needs to catch up with technology.

    35. Re:Idiots by ryanr · · Score: 1

      I'm about there. My 3 year old has destroyed most of the Disney DVDs, and scratched up the new Weird Al and Metallica CDs in the last couple of days. The last piece is the media box to go with each TV, so that everything can come across the home Ethernet.

    36. Re:Idiots by ryanr · · Score: 1

      In regards to P2P sharing of copyrighted materials "There are more unindicted felons in the US than voted for Bush in the last election."

      Heh. More than voted for Gore, too? :)

      At least a few of the downloaders have to stick to legal stuff though, I'm sure.

      Clearly, copyright law needs to catch up with technology.

      I agree wholeheartedly with your sentiment. I'm afraid the disagreement is exactly what "catch up" means. :)

  15. Who needs self-destruction? by msobkow · · Score: 4, Insightful

    DVD's like the extended edition of "Fellowship of the Ring" already won't play on legal set-top hardware like the XBox because it doesn't get recognized as a DVD (while playing just fine in 3 other set-top units.)

    As far as I'm concerned, the industry is already shipping pre-destructed material. Shoddy plotlines. Crappy acting, B-stories with A-budgets. "Adaptations" of classics. Bah.

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    1. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by x+mani+x · · Score: 1

      The extended LoTR:FoTR plays perfectly fine on my X-Box. Has this incompatibility you speak of been documented anywhere?

      -Mani

    2. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by Have+Blue · · Score: 1

      Huh? It plays fine in my Xbox.

    3. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by EnVisiCrypt · · Score: 1

      FOTR Plays fine in my Xbox. What kind of problems are you having?

      --


      *everything* is Orwellian to cats.
    4. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by msobkow · · Score: 1

      Every other DVD, CD, and game plays fine on my X-Box. This one disk reports as being unrecognized, and my presumption is that it's detecting the autorun.inf that it can't handle.

      I'd have suspected the DVD itself if it didn't play just fine in my computer, my friend's computer, and my Sony set-top player.

      --
      I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    5. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 1

      DVD's like the extended edition of "Fellowship of the Ring" already won't play on legal set-top hardware like the XBox

      Is this that "FUD" stuff I keep reading about here? My extended LOTR:FOTR plays great on my XBox. Everything does, actually. I tossed my DVD player over a year ago.

    6. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by FreeUser · · Score: 1

      The extended LoTR:FoTR plays perfectly fine on my X-Box. Has this incompatibility you speak of been documented anywhere?

      It also plays fine on my laptop, in my desktop PC, and in my home theatre PC. As do the few other DVDs I own, and while I haven't gotten around to backing it up yet (though really, I should), if I can play it, I can certainly back it up. Indeed, even those which won't play in my computers, but will in a DVD player, I can back up as xvid (or any other digital format I please) with my mini-dv video camera and my firewire port.

      Thank you for playing media cartels. You have managed to piss off even more of your customers, and gained absolutely nothing by doing so. Time to go back and retake Remedial Business 101 (particularly the section on "providing a good or service to your customers") again...and don't come back to the board room until you've learned the material this time!

      --
      The Future of Human Evolution: Autonomy
    7. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by SN74S181 · · Score: 1

      You must live alone.

      Here in our house, we sometimes are watching a DVD movie and (somebody else) is playing the Xbox. Simultaneously! What will they think of next??

    8. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by QuackQuack · · Score: 1
      As far as I'm concerned, the industry is already shipping pre-destructed material. Shoddy plotlines. Crappy acting, B-stories with A-budgets. "Adaptations" of classics. Bah.

      It used to be that way, but then they started giving us quality entertainment like "Survivor", "Joe Millionaire" and the "Anna Nichole" show.

      --
      By reading this sig, you agree to the terms of my sig license.
    9. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by BryanL · · Score: 1

      I play my extended version on my x-box. I don't thnk your problem is related to DRM. However, when "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was re-released it didn't work on my X-box. I called Disney and was told that the extras prevented it from playing and they sent me a new version.

    10. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by mfrank · · Score: 1

      Do you know anybody who also has the extended FoTR DVD you can try on your XBox?

    11. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I call bullshit. It works fine on:

      * DVD Players
      * My FreeBSD box
      * Xbox
      * PS2

    12. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by RobotRunAmok · · Score: 1

      You must live alone.

      Huh? I live with my wife and four kids. While we are generally greatly entertained by our XBox games and DVDs, there are enough books, magazines, balls, scale models, and hockey sticks around here to ensure that fighting over "tube time" is almost non-existent.

    13. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by MikeFM · · Score: 1

      I've never noticed any such thing but I will say that it's a DVD that plays really badly if your DVD is dirty. I'd guess they encoded the movie such that it keeps a lot of detail in because it really gives the DVD player a workout. Of course I jut ripped my copy and play it off the hdd.. avoid having to change discs in the middle.

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
    14. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by stanmann · · Score: 1

      I can verify that there are issues with that DVD. My Computer player required a special firmware patch to recognize the media. perhaps there is something similar for the XBOX.

      --
      Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
    15. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by gmhowell · · Score: 1

      As far as I'm concerned, the industry is already shipping pre-destructed material. Shoddy plotlines. Crappy acting, B-stories with A-budgets. "Adaptations" of classics. Bah.

      No kidding. There are very few new things coming out. I could spend the rest of my life looking for old music, movies, and books, and still not see, read, or listen to everything I want. Perhaps the best benefit of, say, Casablanca, is that the director isn't alive today to go back and fuck it up... err, release the 'official, final, way-I-really-wanted it' version.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    16. Re:Who needs self-destruction? by euxneks · · Score: 1

      DVD's like the extended edition of "Fellowship of the Ring" already won't play on legal set-top hardware like the XBox because it doesn't get recognized as a DVD

      Strange... It worked fine in my PS2. =)

      --
      in girum imus nocte et consumimur igni
  16. "incompatible" by PhysicsGenius · · Score: 1, Interesting
    Why does the submitter make such a big deal out of these discs being "incompatible"? That's the only way to cost-effectively add features and create new paradigms. Linux isn't "compatible" with Windows which in turn wasn't "compatible" with DOS. Cars weren't "compatible" with horse-drawn carriages.

    If you want something new and different, you can't also ask for it to be compatible. Break out of your preconceptions and help today's technology re-invent itself as tomorrow's.

    1. Re:"incompatible" by NanoGator · · Score: 3, Informative

      "Why does the submitter make such a big deal out of these discs being "incompatible"?"

      Because you can't take the DVD back once you open the package? We're not talking about improvements to the DVD spec here. We're talking about intentionally making it not work. That's the difference.

      Progress means things get better, not worse.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    2. Re:"incompatible" by delphi125 · · Score: 1

      I thought Windows (9x) was crap because it was 'compatible' with DOS. NT/2K is a bit better and nowadays compatible with W9x too...

    3. Re:"incompatible" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ahh, the troll is back.

      Not a very effective troll this time, though. In fact it's a rather stupid, unintelligent attempt at a troll, just a tad above crapflooding and obscene story comments.

    4. Re:"incompatible" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Think Different.

      -Steve

    5. Re:"incompatible" by jonfelder · · Score: 1

      Because they aren't adding new features. It's not like these copy protected discs will hold more information or be of a higher quality than non-protected discs.

      In a sense they are really taking features away because you won't be able to play them on your computer and you won't be able to make MP3s out of them for your mp3 player.

    6. Re:"incompatible" by Tmack · · Score: 1
      Problem is, if its incompatible with the thing that is supposed to play it, then its nothing more than a plastic disc with a thin bit of foil glued to it. All DRM does is make it more difficult to use the disc. If someone wants to copy it, all they have to do is play the disc in anything that has digital output and a digital copy can be made. Back in the days of cassette tapes, GOOD coppies were ones that were dubbed, decent coppies could still be made by recording the song off a radio or even recording off of the speakers. The money being put into DRM would be better spent on the artists themselves. The artists would get more that way than anything they might get from whatever the RIAA hopes to accomplish with DRM technologies. Not to mention the savings of not haveing to pay for DRM support staff (lawyers etc).

      Tm

      --
      Support TBI Research: http://www.raisinhope.org
    7. Re:"incompatible" by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1
      That's the only way to cost-effectively add features and create new paradigms.

      There is a difference in creating something new that is not backwards compatible and changing an existing thing to make it less compatible. People would grouse less if SACD or Blueray DVDs couldn't operate in current players. But this is not a new format with new features. It is the same format with limitations.

      Linux isn't "compatible" with Windows which in turn wasn't "compatible" with DOS.

      Not quite true. Linux isn't 100% fully compatible with Windows in that you can't run any Windows program. But you can read and write files in Windows. With wine, you can run some applications. Windows 3.1, 95, and 98 could run DOS programs. In fact 3.1 was simply a GUI on top of DOS.

      Cars weren't "compatible" with horse-drawn carriages.

      Bad analogy. Cars and horses can use the same roads. The car was a paradigm shift in transportation from animal power to mechanical power. DRM additions to existing media does not shift the format only the protection and the limitations.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
    8. Re:"incompatible" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Linux isn't "compatible" with Windows which in turn wasn't "compatible" with DOS. Cars weren't "compatible" with horse-drawn carriages."

      You're making completely inaccurate comparisons that's why.
      If you buy a disc marked as a DVD, then you would expect it to work in a DVD player. As far as I know, people didn't go around marketing horse-drawn carriages as cars, or Linux as Windows.

      "If you want something new and different, you can't also ask for it to be compatible."

      You can't? What about CD's in DVD players?

    9. Re:"incompatible" by GnuPengwyn · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think your missing the point. If you go to the "cd" section of a store, and buy a "cd", it should play in a "cdplayer." If you decide you want to go to the "dvd" section of a store, and buy a "dvd" it should play in a "dvdplayer." But when you buy cd's or dvd's that don't play in their respective cdplayer and dvdplayer then you no longer are selling a "cd" or a "dvd", but you are selling something new. And can NOT be defined as either a cd or a dvd. Folks don't want "something new." They want what they paid for. You wouldn't go buy beta tapes to play in your vhs because they won't fit in the vhs player, and they won't work.

      --
      Love Music? Got a Band? Are you a Label? http://garageradio.com
    10. Re:"incompatible" by Inda · · Score: 1

      "Because you can't take the DVD back once you open the package?"

      This must be an American thing? No? Seen it said so many times on here.

      I've always taken back CDs and games in the UK. Not DVDs, true, but I've yet to find one worth buying.

      The shops are fine with this. They ask for a false name and address to make sure you are not scamming them but that's no real problem. I say "it does not fit my requirements" and they accept that reason. I know some people who make up silly stories about why they want a refund but there really is no need.

      What's in it for them?

      1. My money is in their till and not a competitors for a few days.
      2. There is a good chance I will spend my refund in their shop or that I will come back in the future.

      There are probably more reasons. It makes good sence to me.

      Sure, I've copied the odd disk but I've actually not bothered most of the time and just kept it or returned it.

      --
      This post contains benzene, nitrosamines, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.
    11. Re:"incompatible" by dmoen · · Score: 1
      Why does the submitter make such a big deal out of these discs being "incompatible"? That's the only way to cost-effectively add features and create new paradigms. Linux isn't "compatible" with Windows which in turn wasn't "compatible" with DOS. Cars weren't "compatible" with horse-drawn carriages.

      If you want something new and different, you can't also ask for it to be compatible. Break out of your preconceptions and help today's technology re-invent itself as tomorrow's.

      Some knowledge of history would help here.

      Cars and horse-drawn carriages are indeed compatible: cars were designed to use the pre-existing road system that was built for horse drawn carriages.

      Colour television was designed to be compatible with black and white television sets. This was critical to its success.

      And the years of work that have been spent making Linux compatible with Windows are finally paying off, as large institutions are beginning to deploy Linux on the desktop. (I'm thinking of OpenOffice, support in Evolution for MS Exchange servers, and so on.)

      Doug Moen

      --
      I have written a truly remarkable program which this sig is too small to contain.
    12. Re:"incompatible" by NanoGator · · Score: 1

      "This must be an American thing? No? Seen it said so many times on here."

      Well, it definitely happens in America. I can't tell you how it works elsewhere, so I don't know if it's an 'American thing' or not.

      Check out Best Buy's return policy here, notice the exceptions made for copyrighted stuff.

      http://www.bestbuy.com/infoCenter/Policies/Returns .asp

      Best Buy is a huge chain here and they have a pretty good return policy, but they don't back down on CDs,DVDs, or Games. I agree with you that it's in a store's best interests to satisfy the customer. Unfortunately, these places don't agree. I remember somebody at Electronics Boutique telling us that was the law, but I'm not really sure if that's true these days. During Christmas time, games can be returned even if they're opened.

      It's stupid. Customer satisfaction should be the #1 priority here. Sadly, they'd rather screw us. They think we should buy the CD for keeps before finding out what's on it, then they have the nerve to be shocked that Mp3s became a big thing.

      There's a reason Dilbert is so popular over here.

      --
      "Derp de derp."
    13. Re:"incompatible" by Doctor7 · · Score: 1

      Over here, stores selling media (especially PC games) do their best not to offer refunds, but it is the law that they must do so (they can offer an exchange but you are free to decline and insist on the refund) if the goods are not fit for their purpose. In the case of games, they get around it by making sure you are aware of the minimum hardware requirements before buying, but so far, for other media, being unable to play on your main player would still qualify as unfit for purpose unless it is made very clear on the packaging.

    14. Re:"incompatible" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Okay then. A computer is not a "dvdplayer" or a "cdplayer". It is a computer with a DVD drive and/or a CD drive. An XBox is not a "dvdplayer" it is a game console.

      So, as long as my CDs play in a "cdplayer" (ie: my Sony box that sits next to my stereo) and DVDs play in my "dvdplayer" (ie: my Toshiba box that sits next to my VCR on my TV) everything's fine. What's the problem again?

    15. Re:"incompatible" by Emperor+Tiberius · · Score: 1

      Perhaps, he was looking for interoperability.

    16. Re:"incompatible" by MikeFM · · Score: 1

      My general policy when a store won't take something back that was broken when I got it (cd's, dvd's, etc) is to just refuse to get out of line until they've given my money back. They don't want it on the 10 o'clock news that a customer was forcifully removed from their store when they complained of recieving faulty merchandise and they can't spend all day arguing over $20 as obviously they quickly are going into the negative on the profit made from the transaction.

      Usually companies mark the product you brought back as defective.. then have you switch for an identical product that is still in it's wrapper.. which you immediately hand over and they mark as a return.. which they then give you your money for. Has happened that way many times for me. :)

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
    17. Re:"incompatible" by stanmann · · Score: 1

      odd, my Computer with a DVD drive is a "dvdplayer" and my other computer with a CDRW drive is a "cdplayer" Why should i be forced to spend money on an "onlyacdplayer" or an "onlyadvdplayer" when I've already invested in a "soundsystem" for my "alsoacdanddvdplayer".

      --
      Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
  17. You'll Just Have To Trust Us... by vudujava · · Score: 5, Funny
    The next generation of DRM:
    "You'll just have to trust us. Even though you can't play the movie, it was really, really, really good." - MPAA

    1. Re:You'll Just Have To Trust Us... by pizen · · Score: 1

      We can't allow you to view this film because then an illegal copy will reside in your mind. Give us your $8, go buy $20 worth of popcorn and drinks and trust us that the movie was good and you enjoyed it enough to come back and see it again next weekend.

    2. Re:You'll Just Have To Trust Us... by MrLint · · Score: 1

      Better yet they will release a movie with 'unbreakable' encryption.. but its just full of static and white noise. Much like many movies already being shown:)

    3. Re:You'll Just Have To Trust Us... by clonebarkins · · Score: 1
      "You'll just have to trust us. Even though you can't play the movie, it was really, really, really good." - MPAA

      You forgot the part where they say, "Now give us money!"

      --

      "The evil of the world is made possible by nothing but the sanction you give it." -- Ayn Rand

    4. Re:You'll Just Have To Trust Us... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forgot the part where they say, "Now give us money!"

      No, that's how they knew it was really, really, really good.

  18. Yeah, whatever by HungWeiLo · · Score: 1

    Yeah, that's what they said about region-coding. But now look at all the laissez-faire attitude adopted by every other Chinese DVD player manufacturer in regards to region coding and/or Macromedia.

    --
    There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
    1. Re:Yeah, whatever by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      ^Macromedia^Macrovision

      Totally different technologies.

      Macrovision has been used to copy-protect VHS tapes for years.

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
    2. Re:Yeah, whatever by HungWeiLo · · Score: 1

      Whoops. Brain fart. Yes, I meant Macrovision.

      --
      There are a huge number of yeast infections in this county. Probably because we're downriver from the bread factory.
  19. And then there's this: by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 5, Insightful
    If technology firms like Sony and Microsoft have their way, songs and movies will expire after a single play -- unless you pay the copyright holder their due.


    I did - when I bought the friggin' CD!

    I know - after all, everybody who uses MP3's and their iPod stole the music, right? Everybody who clicks the little "Rip" button on their computer to store their music CD collection so they can listen to any song, when they want, only got it from some Gnutella site, correct? Any movie in DiVX format isn't there so you can have a media player storing backups of your movies onto your computer so you can watch them when you want and keep your DVD's shiny and new for all time - no, you must be planning on letting the rest of the world download the movies illegally.

    OK. I'm calm. My personal response has been simple: don't buy things in this format. Tell others about the format and what to watch out for (like "Does it have the official CD logo on it?"). When I talk to government officials, telling them "You know, if somebody wants to make a self-destructing DVD/unrippable CD - more power to them, that's they're right. But they damn well better be putting a logo on their product that says so in advance so I can choose to reward or punish them with my own buying power."

    Yeah, I use the iTunes store - sure, it has DRM, but doesn't go outrageously overboard, because at least it gets the idea that I buy the music, I own it - so if I want to burn it to CD or transfer it to 2 different iPods so my wife and I can listen to our music in the car, that's my right to do so.

    But did "rental" music services ever get my dime? Nope - and see what's happening to them. I predict they'll be gone in another 5 years (except for the last holdouts sponsored by major corporations who won't see the light of day - like how the Minidisk finally exited stage left for 99% of the music consumers, the 3DO vanished, and like the original DIVX standard did).

    If technology firms like Sony and Microsoft have their way, songs and movies will expire after a single play -- unless you pay the copyright holder their due.


    Yeah - spin another one, folks. Try, try again until you buy the clue.
    1. Re:And then there's this: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Tell others about the format and what to watch out for (like "Does it have the official CD logo on it?").

      The latest Radiohead album is FUBARed everywhere except the USA. The back of the album contains the words "Compact Disc" though. Link.

    2. Re:And then there's this: by Dark+Paladin · · Score: 1

      That is just sick and wrong - thanks for the info, AC. I'll make a note of that to tell people - even if it says "Compact Disc" on it, make sure it has the logo. And watch out for Radiohead outside of the US.

      (Though I don't think I've ever listened to their music. Time for an iTunes Store check ;) ).

    3. Re:And then there's this: by MadCow42 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      >>If technology firms like Sony and Microsoft have their way, songs and movies will expire after a single play -- unless you pay the copyright holder their due.

      Sure... IF they're charging $1/view I'll gladly pay each time I watch a movie. However, if they think they can still charge the $26.99/DVD they're charging now (or more), then no fucking way.

      When I "buy" a VHS movie, I keep it for a lifetime, and will definately watch it multiple times (depending on movie, of course). 30 views over a lifetime is not unexpected. So, 1/30th the price is reasonable for a 1-time view, right?

      MadCow.

      --
      I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
    4. Re:And then there's this: by Chanc_Gorkon · · Score: 1

      Yep. I would also pay a dollar to see some of these things that they call movies. Then I won't feel taken when I fall asleep watching the boring "plot"!

      Also, I wait. If you check your Walmart, you can obtain DVD's for around 5.88. Some ain't real old, but others are. I found, some older and sometimes cheesier movies in there, but I also found a few double DVD copies full of older TV shows. There are some decent movies in that bin if your willing to dig! This is how I obtained some of the VHS tapes I have. These are also NOT previously viewed either.

      All I can say is....it's a matter of time. I read that in China, (granted this is a VIDEO game, and not a DVD...) you can pick up for the whopping price of 8 cents the WHOLE Age of Empires series on one CD. They achived it by recoding the game. The compressed all of the sound files and replaced them with MP3's and replaced all of the texture makes with jpgs. All of that to sell it for 8 cents. The quote from Vronay (the microsoft guy in this article) was "It doesn't matter what you do, if they'll go to all this trouble for 8 cents." And he's right. I have a brother in law who has chipped his Playstation (and his PS2 and XBox) and has never bought a game. To me the time and resources spent burning and copying these things is too much to bear and besides I am not against the developers making money. On the other hand, why do I have to have the fricking CD in the drive when I want to play a game that after loading, it never hits the CD drive? I understood this when games used mixed mode discs (part data part music). Mechwarrior 2 was like this. All of the music was on it's CD. Not a single game I own uses this technique any more. WHY WHY WHY! Dammit! Sorry, that pisses me off to no end because I can't find the disc to one of my games now....

      Music is the same way. I have a Nomad. I want to listen and put all of my music on it. I have also done what some on here have done and ripped as soon as I bought it and never played the disk again. In fact, I am more apt to plug my computers speakers (one at work) into my MP3 player rather than copy them to the work machine's disk. It saves my CPU for work related things! ;) I also listen to it on the bus, in the car and on airplanes. You mean I have to buy it for every device I want it on? No problem as long as you give me 2-3. This way I can get my wife her own MP3 player! Also, make it easy to transfer it. Say you get rid of an old computer. Let me remove the license, delete the file and re download it for nothing (as long as I am within my 2-3 device rule. Make it SIMPLE to do it too. Otherwise, no thank you. BTW, if MP3's become clogged with DRM, expect OGG to make a big jump! ;)

      --

      Gorkman

    5. Re:And then there's this: by Twanfox · · Score: 1
      But did "rental" music services ever get my dime? Nope - and see what's happening to them. I predict they'll be gone in another 5 years (except for the last holdouts sponsored by major corporations who won't see the light of day - like how the Minidisk finally exited stage left for 99% of the music consumers, the 3DO vanished, and like the original DIVX standard did).

      I know this is pretty much picking a nit here, but unless you have specific evidence how Minidiscs are designed anything remotely like the DRM scheme they have set up here, or even how DIVX originally was geared for, you're making a very weak argument by including them.

      Owning one of these little devices myself (minidisc player), I am well up to speed on what they can and cannot do. In terms of this particular debate, copying is actually something that is permitted, conditionally. By that, I mean if you have a pure audio source from anywhere (CD, DVD, Microphone, high quality sound system), you can pipe that audio stream digitally (using optical cabling) into the minidisc system and it will encode crystal clear sound to the best of it's encoder's ability. Thereafter, you are still permitted to make analog copies to your heart's content (since it seems to be understood that there is no way to forbid that style of recording when you have a headphone jack so plainly available). Of course, there is the drawback with analog audio copies in that it develops noise over time, but as with tapes, this appears to be acceptable (tape to tape copies were deemed 'acceptable' because successive copies had so much noise creep in as to make 5th and 6th gen copies quite degraded compared to originals).

      There is nothing about the Minidisc spec that forbids copying or reuse of audio transfered onto those discs. There is little attempt to control how a user listens to such audio (beyond forbidding digital minidisc->minidisc copies). A more defining reason why Minidiscs have not caught the consumers eye is that they are not viewed as a clear improvement to CD's, and as such most consumers have not felt compelled to change out their CD collection with a similar Minidisc one.

      To me, they've never been that either. What they have been is a clear improvement over tapes, and serve an almost identical use for much improved quality.

    6. Re:And then there's this: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (Though I don't think I've ever listened to their music. Time for an iTunes Store check ;) ).

      If you like indie rock, go for some of their early stuff like Pablo Honey, The Bends, etc. If you like mood music/dance (bit "prog rock"), go for some of their later releases, like Kid A.

  20. MP3's by blackmonday · · Score: 1

    I have songs from back in the napster days, and the funny thing is how the stuff from Kazaa tends to not self destruct.

    On another note, this stuff makes me feel good about the iTunes music store strategy and who knows, in the internet2 future might we have the iMovie *Movie* Store?

    1. Re:MP3's by coolmacdude · · Score: 1

      Several rumor sites have already said Apple is looking into starting a similar video service in a few years but that it will be a rental service aimed at being easier than a video rental store. Example: you pay two or three dollars and download a movie that can be watched a certain number of times or for a certain amount of days. If they were to offer a service where you purchased them the quality would have to be good enough that the file size would be prohibitively large.

      --

      -You may license this sig for only $6.99.
  21. Question about the technology. by ticklemeozmo · · Score: 2, Interesting

    >> AOL Time Warner, released the new Steely Dan album "Everything Must Go" on CD and DVD Audio, the latter being an encrypted, "rip-proof" format.

    Now, I hope someone can help me out on this. Is the purpose of DVD Audio for 5.1+ surround sound? Or do they mostly have extra content? Can OOG or WMA [or any thing else] handle these extra channels?

    --
    When modding "Informative", please make sure it both has a source and IS actually informative.
    1. Re:Question about the technology. by rkz · · Score: 1

      OGG is a container format, it can contain as many Vorbis, MP3, AAC, WMA or PCM WAVE channels as you like. http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3534.txt

    2. Re:Question about the technology. by Mononoke · · Score: 1
      Is the purpose of DVD Audio for 5.1+ surround sound? Or do they mostly have extra content?
      Yes, 5.1 surround on the DVDAudio discs. It's essentially audio masturbation for audiphiles and fans of the group. It doesn't improve the music at all.

      --
      NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
    3. Re:Question about the technology. by frause · · Score: 1

      And It's "Ogg" not "OGG"

      Say after me: Ogg, Ogg, Ogg

    4. Re:Question about the technology. by Kufat · · Score: 1

      "fans of the group"

      Yeah, this new music technology has so little benefit that only people who like the music will want to buy it!

      "It doesn't improve the music at all."

      Just like stereo isn't any better than mono, right?

    5. Re:Question about the technology. by Mononoke · · Score: 1
      "It doesn't improve the music at all."

      Just like stereo isn't any better than mono, right?

      Right, because the music is the same either way. Same notes, same timbre, same inflection, same rhythms.

      Same sterility, in the case of Steely Dan.

      --
      NetInfo connection failed for server 127.0.0.1/local
    6. Re:Question about the technology. by cens0r · · Score: 1

      DVD-Audio and it's competitor SACD are new super high-fidelity audio formats. They both support 5.1 sound (although it is not required) and much higher sample rates and word lengths. I believe DVD-A supports up to 24 bit at 192 KHz, but I could be wrong. SACD is a little harder to explain because it doesn't use PCM like DVD-A and CD do... it instead uses a newer technology called DSD. If you have the proper set up these new formats sound amazing (in even stereo), but most people do not listen on equipment of high enough quality to really make much difference.

      --
      Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
  22. hmmm by elviscious · · Score: 1

    And this is going to stop the chinese blackmarket from copying this stuff how? Oh yeah, just like all their other anti-piracy techniques have.... wtf was I think

  23. So stop buying them. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I already stopped purchasing CDs from RIAA members because I don't have a single working CD player that is unable to read CD-ROMs. Thus, if I were to buy a CD, I can't be sure that I'll be able to play it. It's just not worth the time and effort to deal with deliberately defective products.

  24. Experts?? by dynamiteweb · · Score: 0

    The technology that makes this possible -- known as digital rights management, or DRM -- will forever change the way we consume media and software, experts believe.

    Either they forget to ask the "experts" here on Slashdot, or they neglected to mention that "consuming" means buying more blank CD-R and DVD+/-R media and burning the night oil "hacking".

    Seriously, though, I have worked with many clients that are concerned about people pirating their data. But after I explain that pretty much nothing can stop the most diligent person, they can swallow it. Stopping the curious Joe Moe from making a copy makes sense - it's cheaper for him to run down to Wally World and buy another copy. But noooo, let's frustrate Mr. Moe by making sure that neither him or his friends can play the latest media without the latest hardware. Arrrgh...

  25. DRM is everywhere! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Boy, that Digital Radio Mondiale sure gets around.

    Score 5: Funny.

  26. This is not going to stop piracy by coolmacdude · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All it will do is result in more boycotts of DRM crippled discs and consumer anger directed at the media companies. I really don't know how long its going to take before they realize this. Killing fair use is not the answer.

    --

    -You may license this sig for only $6.99.
    1. Re:This is not going to stop piracy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Killing industry executives on the other hand. . .

  27. Self Destructive Books.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is what I think that will be their next move. It will be something like this: "This book is a nuclear bomb that will be destroyed in 2 minutes :-)"

    I've already stopped buying CDs and if I find pirated copies of the titles I want I'll buy them instead of the "original" ones, at least that copies can be played anywhere.

  28. yet another reason... by kotj.mf · · Score: 4, Interesting
    This is why I generally stick to independant music. When I was a teenager, it was a political decision: stick to the punkest of the punk, fuck the corporations, etc. As I aged, I kept buying indie for a different reason: the music was simply better. Now I've got another one: the indy labels aren't actively trying to fuck me over.

    Oh well. All the good shit still gets released on vinyl, anyway.

    --
    hang brain.
    1. Re:yet another reason... by mirko · · Score: 1

      Enemy Of the enemy, the latest Asian Dub Foundation Album *is* copy protected, so long for the Indies'altruism...

      (it however rips very quickly on my ibook)

      --
      Trolling using another account since 2005.
    2. Re:yet another reason... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      funny, Asian Dub Foundation's latest release is on EMI, a major label. Why did you think it was 'Indie' ?

    3. Re:yet another reason... by mirko · · Score: 1

      before making money on EMI, they were Indie.
      I guess these DRM schemes are not free, hence the lack of these on small label issues.

      --
      Trolling using another account since 2005.
    4. Re:yet another reason... by sebi · · Score: 1

      Enemy Of the enemy, the latest Asian Dub Foundation Album *is* copy protected, so long for the Indies'altruism...

      I got burned by that one as well. Turns out that the band wasn't even informed that the album would be copy protected. I was unable to rip the album on my computers. I had to record it via line in. It was the last CD I bought. Since then I only bought vinyl.

    5. Re:yet another reason... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I was unable to rip the album on my computers. I had to record it via line in. It was the last CD I bought. Since then I only bought vinyl.


      Which I presume you're able to rip just fine with cdparanoia?

    6. Re:yet another reason... by jay-be-em · · Score: 1

      So you judge art by the means that it is distributed? You have effectively cut yourself off from a huge chunk of amazing music. I'm an idealistic person but art is not a commodity like any other. I'd love to only support labels that are in political agreement with me, but I simply am not about to give up Miles Davis, Coltrane etc when these are artists internationally recognized as some of the greatest ever and to me are unmatched.
      Ever take a blind listening test between 'indie' music and non-'indie'? I'd be curious if you could tell me which is indie, and if it makes the art itself any better. But I'm guessing you aren't really that into music if you have shut yourself off from so many wonderful artists.

      --
      "Orthodoxy means not thinking--not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." --Eric Blair
    7. Re:yet another reason... by sebi · · Score: 1

      Which I presume you're able to rip just fine with cdparanoia?

      No. I rip them by connecting the turntable to the line in of my computer and then press record. I simply decided not to buy any more music on crippled media. I guess that there are ways around today's copy protection schemes, but I don't want to bet on that. And I don't want to support these schemes by buying them. I never said that my way was convenient, or that everyone should do that.

    8. Re:yet another reason... by kotj.mf · · Score: 1
      I'm not talking about Miles or John. I'm talking about current music that isn't exactly commercial. For every Strokes or Hives or White Stripes, there are hundreds of bands who rock it a helluva lot harder.

      Witness: Turbonegro on Sympathy/Man's Ruin vs. Epitaph. They're watered the hell down, and Epitaph ain't exactly a major.

      I'm not saying there aren't exceptions (the New Bomb Turks come to mind, and SubPop has actually gotten better in the past few years) but the Big 5 or the indies with major label distribution channels generally care about one thing and one thing only: getting their discs in the racks at WalMart and Target.

      You might want to talk to Hillary Rosen about art not being a commodity...

      But I'm guessing you aren't really that into music if you have shut yourself off from so many wonderful artists.
      Check out my homepage, chief.
      --
      hang brain.
    9. Re:yet another reason... by jay-be-em · · Score: 1

      So what about music that ISNT current? Do you bow down and buy from the big labels? You totally avoided my point.

      --
      "Orthodoxy means not thinking--not needing to think. Orthodoxy is unconsciousness." --Eric Blair
  29. What self destructing files? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't think it can be done, and neither does the article apparently. It has it in the title, but there in no information within.

  30. DVD Bios by inforiot · · Score: 1

    Wasn't there a ./ post sometime recently that demonstrated a way to bypass some of these feature by using a different piece of software in you DVD player (If Sanyo)?

    1. Re:DVD Bios by usotsuki · · Score: 1

      *sigh* Any way I can hack my Memorex slimline DVD player?

      -uso.

      --
      Dreams, dreams, don't doubt dreams, dreaming children's dreaming dreams. Sailor Moon SS
  31. the best by m1chael · · Score: 0

    thing for ANTIDRM is word of mouth :)

    --
    I know you are psychotic, but please make an effort.
  32. What good does a self-distructing DVD do? by Richardsonke1 · · Score: 1

    Why is so much put into self-distructing DVDs? It only takes one pass to rip it. Once you rip it, you can read it any amount of times off your hard drive. The only way to stop piracy is a zero-use DVD...once you buy it, it blows up in your car on the way home.

    --
    "Men lie."
    "Yeah, about sleeping with other women, but never about bioluminescent plankton."
    -Dan Brown
  33. What a great way to encourage piracy! by beee · · Score: 5, Interesting

    You know, I considered myself a pretty moral person -- sure, I've got a few mp3s, but I try my best to purchase albums of artists I've enjoyed. I have never downloaded a full-length movie.

    If this is where the future is going, that just might change. I usually play DVDs on my PC, and if I bring one home from Blockbuster and it won't play because the MPAA assumes I'm a pirate, I will feel 100% justified in seeking out a rip of that movie in XViD or SVCD (or DVDR) and watching it.

    They're digging their own grave, but then again, maybe that's what they want to do. More invasive media -> More piracy -> More lobbying power to create strict DMCA-like laws.

    Either way, you're going to be seeing a lot of people downloading movies who normally didn't. And it's just going to give all the people who do download movies all the more reason.

    Thanks for assuming I'm a pirate, MPAA. You might just've made me one.

    --


    + Donald Gunth
    + Email: dgunth@quicktek.net
    "Caffeine is the greatest lubricant ever created." -ESR
    1. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by Cereal+Box · · Score: 0, Troll

      "I usually play DVDs on my PC, and if I bring one home from Blockbuster and it won't play because the MPAA assumes I'm a pirate, I will feel 100% justified in seeking out a rip of that movie in XViD or SVCD (or DVDR) and watching it."

      I don't think the MPAA would have any problem with this reasoning so long as you PAY them for that download (not necessarily directly, but by buying the movie itself). Or were you just planning on downloading a movie you had no intention of paying for simply because it won't work on your computer? Yeah, that's what I thought. Hey, laserdiscs won't play in my DVD player, so I guess I have no choice but to download the rip!

      And you wonder where they get these crazy ideas about needing copy protection...

    2. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by beee · · Score: 1

      You're assuming things. What I meant was:

      - I rent a DVD from Blockbuster for $5
      -To my disappointment, the DVD doesn't play on my PC's DVD-drive because of copy protection
      -Having already paid to see the movie, I feel fine downloading a rip of it and watching that

      I'd gladly pay them directly for a download, but until they offer that service, I can't. All I said was that having already paid for the movie, and being unable to watch it in its original format, I'd download it so I could at least see the movie.

      Like I said: I've never downloaded a movie before. You're barking up the wrong tree if you're calling me out as some sort of pirate. I just think there are some justifications for grabbing a rip of a movie, like when you've already paid for it.

      --


      + Donald Gunth
      + Email: dgunth@quicktek.net
      "Caffeine is the greatest lubricant ever created." -ESR
    3. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by Cereal+Box · · Score: 1

      But you've paid for a limited-time rental of the movie, not "backup rights" to the movie. If you download the movie, you have the ability to keep a copy of the movie indefinitely, which is not what you paid for at Blockbuster.

    4. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by beee · · Score: 1

      I'm not debating the legal implications of what I did. Again, I have to repeat what I said: I would feel 100% justified in downloading and watching it, knowing that I wouldn't keep it as a backup and watch it repeatedly.

      --


      + Donald Gunth
      + Email: dgunth@quicktek.net
      "Caffeine is the greatest lubricant ever created." -ESR
    5. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by isorox · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Thanks for assuming I'm a pirate, MPAA. You might just've made me one.

      Do you have a parrot?

    6. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1
      " But you've paid for a limited-time rental of the movie, not "backup rights" to the movie. If you download the movie, you have the ability to keep a copy of the movie indefinitely, which is not what you paid for at Blockbuster."

      He paid for something that works. BB sold him something that doesn't. Really he should take it back and get his money back, as the disc is faulty (doesn't play the non-standard disc in his standards-compliant player.)

      But he really wants to see the film. So he should download it.

      They have lost a sale not through piracy, but by comy-protection.

      Ohhh the irony!

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    7. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by Cereal+Box · · Score: 1

      " Really he should take it back and get his money back, as the disc is faulty (doesn't play the non-standard disc in his standards-compliant player.)"

      That's right, he should take it back.

      "But he really wants to see the film. So he should download it."

      Well that's good to know. If I really want to see a film there's no real need to pay anything.

      "They have lost a sale not through piracy, but by comy-protection."

      Perhaps, but the person went and pirated the movie anyway. I'm not for copy-protection, but if it doesn't work and you didn't pay for it (I'm assuming you returned it), then you don't get to watch the movie. Period.

    8. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't really understand this argument. Are you saying crime-prevention measures give people a right to commit the crime?

      So if there's a fence or a video-camera around a house, does that encourage you to break in? If there's a car alarm, do you smash the window and steal the stereo? If they check you for guns at the airport, do you sneak in a plastic knife?

    9. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by Catiline · · Score: 1
      Do you have a parrot?

      He's pinin' for the fjords.

    10. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't really understand this argument.

      That's because you're stupid. Don't panic, you're not alone.

      Are you saying crime-prevention measures give people a right to commit the crime?

      No, that's not what he's saying. He's saying technological measures that obstruct his perfectly legal activities will not be tolerated, and if breaking a repugnant law is the only way to carry out said activities, then that law will be broken.

    11. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1
      You take issue with "But he really wants to see the film. So he should download it," and I can understand that.
      To me the guy tried to do the right thing, and got no joy because of the company's stupid policy.
      Him downloading the movie, which he can't now get through legitimate channels, to me is a no-lose situation. The company has already lost through it's actions. His downloading costs them nothing, no lost sale, no lost data, no lost property.

      If you choose to have such an inflexible way of looking at things, or believe that copyright law, or maybe any law, is sacrosanct, regardless of mitigating factors, then, well, good luck to you. Personally, I'm for flexibility with a conscience, not dogma, which I feel your position is.

      For instance, it didn't work, he didn't pay for it, but a friend hears of his predicament and offers to let him watch it on his working DVD player, as he and a few friends were getting it out.
      Hey, guess what, same situation, you took issue with. Totally within the letter of the law.

      Please use your "Periods" with care.

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    12. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by Cereal+Box · · Score: 1

      "For instance, it didn't work, he didn't pay for it, but a friend hears of his predicament and offers to let him watch it on his working DVD player, as he and a few friends were getting it out.
      Hey, guess what, same situation, you took issue with. Totally within the letter of the law."

      Of course, it's a different situation because someone's paid for the movie and the guy managed to watch the movie in a manner that has been deemed appropriate by companies in question. I was hoping you'd be smart enough to infer that "period" excluded obvious cases such as the one you outlined.

    13. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1
      It's not different at all: the group were already going to watch the film, whether he was there or not. They invited him along.

      If he hadn't gone, and had downloaded a copy instead, the resulting monetary gain would be the same.

      And what's all this "the guy managed to watch the movie in a manner that has been deemed appropriate by companies in question."???

      Jeesus. Why don't you just suck their dicks and be done with it?

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    14. Re:What a great way to encourage piracy! by lethalwp · · Score: 1

      In belgium (like in france), we now have to pay taxes on CDR's

      The same kind of taxes that we already had on video tapes.

      Only, the cdr taxes are to give money to "music artist" that have been unrightfully copied.

      So, i pay a tax for it, doesn't i have the right to copy whatever audio cd i want?

      What about cdrs that are legally used to copy a linux distribution?

      What about cdrs that are used to copy divx movies or whatever?

      Politicians are incredibly stupid, as big compagnies (sorry, but they're mostly american) doing protectionism & keeping their prices way too high to maximize profit

      They've created piracy.

  34. MOD PARENT UP! by zedmelon · · Score: 1
    Exactly.

    Exquisitely well said.

    --
    Mom says my .sig can beat up your .sig.
  35. From the article... by rnturn · · Score: 3, Funny
    ``Celine won't sing''

    Heck... I might pay for that!

    --
    CUR ALLOC 20195.....5804M
  36. Self destructing DVDs are fine by me by Idimmu+Xul · · Score: 1

    As it means I won't have to return to the store that I rented them from and give them back, they can just be binned instead (Although what impact this will have on the environment must be concidered of course).

    As long as they are the same (or lower) price, I don't see a problem.

    --
    The problem with slashdot is that most of its users were bullied and stuffed into lockers as kids!
    1. Re:Self destructing DVDs are fine by me by jtshaw · · Score: 1

      You remember DIVX? (Not the MPEG-4 decoder, the attempt to make limited use DVD's for rental purposes so you don't have to take them back).

      Unfortunetly DIVX went out of business. I know alot of people didn't like DIVX, but quite frankly I don't buy most of my DVD's, I rent them from the video store. I also have a terrible time remember to return them and thus have paid a fair amount of late fees in my time. Degrading media would be just fine for rentals as long as a) they don't cost more, and b) they play in all our players, and c) they were actually bio degradable/recyclable so they don't quadruple the land fill size.

    2. Re:Self destructing DVDs are fine by me by ShieldW0lf · · Score: 1

      That would be cool.. instead of having to keep tons of vobs on my hard drive because the movies are due back, I could just leisurely rip n crunch em one at a time.

      Nice to see they're making things easier for the little guy for a change.

      --
      -1 Uncomfortable Truth
    3. Re:Self destructing DVDs are fine by me by mbbac · · Score: 1
      As it means I won't have to return to the store that I rented them from and give them back, they can just be binned instead (Although what impact this will have on the environment must be concidered of course).

      I can tell you right now. It's going to have a negative impact on the environment.
      --

      mbbac

  37. mostly content-free by kryzx · · Score: 4, Insightful
    This article is fairly content-free. It doesn't really match with the title blurb, and I don't think it really falls in the "news" category. The only part that seemed to be about something actually happening was this:

    "Sun Microsystems said this week it plans to roll out new software to protect copyrighted content stored on mobile phones and smart cards. "

    That was a bit vauge. And didn't have anything to do with CDs or DVDs. The rest was pretty much fluff. And the winner for most amusing paragraph was this:

    "Ravaged by piracy, movie studios and recording labels have been fitting new CD and DVD releases with layers of computer code with the aim of preventing or limiting users' ability to copy, or "rip," them onto a blank disc and trade online."

    OOoo! Layers of computer code! Sounds so mysterious! And someone was Ravaged!!

    Summary: Unfortunately I read the whole article, but maybe I can save you the trouble.

    --
    "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like, and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve."
    1. Re:mostly content-free by sulli · · Score: 1

      The key is that AOL Time Warner published this otherwise crap article (admittedly from Reuters, but they could ignore it), because they want people to believe it's inevitable. Yet every fake-CD they sell fails in the market. The latter fact is the relevant one.

      --

      sulli
      RTFJ.
    2. Re:mostly content-free by aborchers · · Score: 1

      This article is fairly content-free

      Sometimes I think /. editors just like to watch the righteous indignation ensue when they post one of these DRM stories. There was nothing in that story (other than the tidbit you mentioned, which could have easily been sourced to a more informative read if the intent was to inform of Sun's work) about which even casual readers of this board aren't already well informed,

      --
      Trouble making decisions? Just flip for it.
    3. Re:mostly content-free by sklib · · Score: 1

      And someone was Ravaged!!

      I think the quote they wanted in the article is the following:

      "Hackers penetrate and ravage delicate public and privately owned computer systems, infecting them with viruses, and stealing materials for their own ends. These people, they are terrorists."

      --
      -S
    4. Re:mostly content-free by ldspartan · · Score: 1

      Kudos for the reference. Great flick :).

      --
      Phil

    5. Re:mostly content-free by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1
      " This article is fairly content-free...."

      One thing I was curious about was:

      "Consumer electronics companies such as Sony... have stepped into the mix too, installing DRM systems into new hi-fi systems..."

      Anyone know what this referrs to, which devices, specs, etc? I know about their stupid Magic gate crap, is this the same?

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    6. Re:mostly content-free by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      you have to take it with a grain of salt... cnn is owned by AOL Time Warner... it's sad when a somewhat respected news source is nothing more than a propaganda machine.

      welcome to germany circa 1940, iraq circa a few weeks ago... etc.

  38. Two things... by Newer+Guy · · Score: 1
    First, didn't the RIAA guy who debated with Lessig just last week claim that this WASN'T going to happen? Typical RIAA lying bullshitter I guess.

    Next, didn't the software industry try these type of copy protection things a decade ago? If I recall, they gave up because they turned out to be a joke...the people who really wanted to break them could (and did), yet the others (read: honest people) suffered because of them. I guess it does prove that if you can't/won't learn from the mistakes of the past then you're destined to repeat them...

    1. Re:Two things... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would they send out anybody important to debate Lessig.

      I'm sorry. Lessig may have 'credentials' in this community, but any schmuck can get a law degree and use the air hose at the gas station to inflate up with bombast.

      It had to be said. Flame away.

  39. Crappy by rmadmin · · Score: 1

    I really hate this. I bought a "Low end" ($100)DVD player 3 months ago to replace the nice DVD player that got nailed by lightning. The DVD player is only 3 months old and I've had quite a few DVD's that just plain out don't work on it. :-/ And once you tear off the plastic, the stores won't take them back anymore. This also goes for almost any DVD I rent. I think like 2 of the last 20 DVD's I've rented have actually played all the way through the movie without totally fscking up like 1/2 way through and ruining the movie experience. I've been renting VHS lately... I'm quite happy using our "I got this on clearance for $10" VCR. :-/ I really can't offord to buy a new $150+ DVD player every 3 months when these retards change their copy protection. Hey MPAA.... BITE ME! :-/

    1. Re:Crappy by SuperDuG · · Score: 1

      Go get a $60 APEX ... best machine I ever bought. Digital outputs too ... excellent machines at excellent costs ...

      --
      Ignore the "p2p is theft" trolls, they're just uninformed
    2. Re:Crappy by ZorinLynx · · Score: 1

      This is likely more due to the DVD player being crap than any copy protection.

      You get what you pay for, buy a decent name brand DVD player and you should be okay.

    3. Re:Crappy by Zathrus · · Score: 1

      As others have said, it's your player, not the DVDs. Return the player on the basis that it's defective - which it is - and get a different one. Yes, the store you bought it from will take it back - it's a warranty issue. Odds are they don't carry that brand anymore, in which case you'll get credit for another one.

      As far as cheap DVD players go, Apex doesn't have that great of build quality, and their remotes suck ass, but they work pretty consistantly and aren't horrid in the output side of things.

      Oh, and before you think otherwise -- DVD copy protection has not changed since the initial release of DVD. There was one small change regarding region encoding, but very few disks are affected and DVD players are only affected if you've modded it to be region free. And that occurred over a year ago.

    4. Re:Crappy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or consider a Cyberhome CH500. Progressive-scan, component outputs, digital audio out, 5.1 decoding, region-free, MP3 player, etc. Bought it for $40 at BestBuy.

  40. I for one am voting with my pocketbook by earthforce_1 · · Score: 1

    I am looking at a very expensive plasma HDTV home theatre system in the not too distant future, but I have omitted any company (are you listening Sony?) with their fingers deeply into the DRM pie from the bidding, and reccommend others do the same. When you shop for any high end A/V gear, make sure you mention lack of DRM as a critical concern to the salesman. It only takes just a few lost high end sales before they clue in. Remember the tax software fiasco? We can force them to back down if we hurt them in the pocket boot.

    --
    My rights don't need management.
  41. boycott by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    A boycott is beginning to look more and more attractive all the time. Celine Dion? Shakira? Steely Dan? Who needs'em. Steely Dan were cool, what, 20 years ago? Celina and Shakira never were cool and never will be.

    I think I can buy all my music from independent labels from now on and not even the slightest hint of regret.

  42. Vote with your dollars!! by chunkwhite86 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I personally despise the recent trend towards DRM protected media. How the hell am I supposed to make a backup of my CD or DVD? We all know that they designed the damn things to be so scratched up, that within a year they become unusuable ;-)

    Seriously tho, I vote with my dollars and urge you to do the same. The solution is simple - Don't buy it!. I refuse the purchase a CD or DVD that I am not able to make a backup copy of.

    --
    I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
    1. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by garcia · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ok so you don't buy it and then you don't watch the movies either... Sorry but once all DVDs are re-released under DRM no classics will be able to be used.

      Excuse me but I would prefer not to live in a world without entertainment.

      Crawl back into your hole.

    2. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by chunkwhite86 · · Score: 1

      ok so you don't buy it and then you don't watch the movies either... Sorry but once all DVDs are re-released under DRM no classics will be able to be used. Excuse me but I would prefer not to live in a world without entertainment.

      You assume the glass is "half empty", and that it is too late to effect change.

      My glass is "half full" and I'm saying that now is the time to voice your opinion to the record/movie companies who choose to use DRM.

      I suppose that if you were IBM, you would just settle with SCO and pay them the $3 Billion because you would prefer not to live in a world without UNIX?

      When you give up before the fight has even begun, you've already lost.

      --
      I'd rather be a conservative nutjob than a liberal with no nuts and no job.
    3. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by workindev · · Score: 1

      Excuse me but I would prefer not to live in a world without entertainment

      Then you prefer to live in a world with DRM. The only way you can legally get entertainment is to get it directly from the entertainment and content providers, and the only way the entertainment and content providers will provide entertainment is if they know they are going to get paid for it.

    4. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by Blackknight · · Score: 1

      Bah. If every movie, tv show, and song recording on the earth disappeared, I wouldn't miss them.

      Go outside, do something, and make your own entertainment.

    5. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by Kwil · · Score: 1
      It's a two part strategy.
      1. Don't buy it.
      2. Write to the company explaining (politely) to them why you're not buying it, and why you will be encouraging your friends and others not to buy it.
      If you can, show them that there are alternatives you will use instead -- even if those alternatives may be somewhat inferior.

      For example, have you checked out a play recently? Cheap seats can often be had for less than the price of a movie ticket these days. Watch the local bar scene in your town and check out some of the groups that come through. Most will be happy to sell you a CD or tape if you want it. Explore the world of foreign films -- unless you're living in the equivalent of Podunk, Nebraska, there is usually at least one theatre somewhere in town playing more unusual (read non-MPAA) stuff. And if you *are* living in Podunk, I hear that camping is an excellent past-time.

      Other entertainment options include board games, parlor games, physical activity of some sort (I hear paintball is popular among the geekier set, you could also try curling if the whole idea of fitness sends shivers down your back-fat..)

      Basically, if you think avoiding MPAA and RIAA limits your entertainment options, they're already too limited.
      --

      That Jesus Christ guy is getting some terrible lag... it took him 3 days to respawn! -NJ CoolBreeze

    6. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by DASHSL0T · · Score: 1

      Sorry but once all DVDs are re-released under DRM no classics will be able to be used.

      If nobody buys them, they won't be released with DRM. The media companies are there to make money. It is people that shrug their shoulders and buy them anyway that are allowing them to widen the scope.

      As for no entertainment, buy a concert ticket, see a broadway show, do any one of a number of things. Movies and bad spoon fed music aren't the only games in town.
      --
      Vote on the AIX license revocation.

      --
      Freedom Is Universal
      Linux-Universe
    7. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by pmz · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Excuse me but I would prefer not to live in a world without entertainment.

      A world without entertainment is not possible.

      For example, I find watching a trail of ants to be much much more entertaining than shit like "Real TV" or "CNN Headline News". Ants are really amazing (I'm serious).

      Here are other things that can be entertaining:

      1) Talking to a spouse. If the marriage is right, then talking to a spouse is like talking to a best friend. Talking to children is a good thing to do, also. Kids might even be more amazing than ants!

      2) Climb to the top of a small mountain (1000 ft. should do it). Now, look.

      3) Go to a museum. Train museums are very nice, because they usually have a big train set in the basement. Good family fun.

      4) Good authors write good books. Perhaps there is a book out there whose plot hasn't been done 50 times over and ruined by a made-for-TV studio.

      5) Taking a small boat or canoe out on to a lake is fun, good excersize, and can be a confidence builder for people who are otherwise shut-in.

      6) Lots of people go bowling or square dancing, etc.

      7) It's been a long time since I've seen a really good set of stars, due to light pollution. The last time I was really out in the boonies, a friend pointed out some really neat stuff (some satellites are visible with the naked eye, for example).

    8. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The solution is simple - Don't buy it!

      If everybody stops buying it than it must be because of computer piracy. They'll convince lawmakers of that and there will be a surcharge on the purchase of computer hardware to keep the RIAA members in business. If you stop buying the computers they'll add the fees to the electricity. Good luck.

      (I've only bought CD's directly from local bands for the last 5 years.)

    9. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      sure, but there are also classic movies.

    10. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by Blue+Stone · · Score: 1
      "The solution is simple - Don't buy it!."

      I would like to add to that - Complain to your Trading Standards body!

      These things are being sold in ways that disguise their true nature. Sold as compact discs, when they're not. Sold amongst standards compliant discs when they themselves are not standards compliant.

      Report the stores that are doing this, or the issue as a whole to your trading standards body, ask them to make the stores sell them in a seperate section where they will create no confusion and consumers will not be mislead.

      I know I have (just 30 minutes ago.)

      If you're in the UK, go to, http://www.consumercomplaints.org.uk/index.asp

      --
      Corporation, n. An ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility. - Ambrose Bierce
    11. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      ok so you don't buy it and then you don't watch the movies either... Sorry but once all DVDs are re-released under DRM no classics will be able to be used.

      Excuse me but I would prefer not to live in a world without entertainment.

      Unfortunately, entertainment is only available on DVD nowadays...
    12. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by vidnet · · Score: 1
      Ants are really amazing (I'm serious).

      Indeed. They're great for compiling java code!

      (Sorry)

    13. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by Vaughn+Anderson · · Score: 1

      You see this is the benefit of not having any dollars to vote with in the first place, every dollar I don't have is an automatic vote against the evil corporations...

    14. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This explains java's speed problems...

    15. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Here are other things that can be entertaining:

      1) Talking to a spouse.


      There's other, even more entertaining things you can do with a spouse... they're even good for burning calories.

      Now if I could just find a suitable spouse...

    16. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by goat_attack · · Score: 1
      Um, if you need DVDs and CDs, why not buy used?

      The MPAA/RIAA doesn't get any of your money, and you get your dose of pretty pictures.

      Plus, you can find some of the craziest shit in used book stores.

    17. Re:Vote with your dollars!! by intermodal · · Score: 1

      A world without big-budget movies and manufactured music != a world without entertainment.

      I quit watching TV over two years ago. I'm not fanatical about it, and I don't go running and screaming if I happen to catch an old episode of MASH when i'm over the inlaw's house. However, I find that I not only get a lot more done, but that I do a lot more things I used to wish I had time to do as a result. There's more to entertainment than consumption.

      --
      In SOVIET RUSSIA... erm...NSA AMERICA, the Internet logs onto YOU!
  43. interesting "related links" by jeffy124 · · Score: 1

    The CNN article contains a box of "Related Links" - one of them a Business 2.0 article about the Intuit TurboTax fiasco, another about Metallica offering MP3s on their website. Wonder if they're trying to send a message?

    --
    The One Rule Of Chess You'll Ever Need: Don't play someone who carries a kit in their bookbag.
  44. Not one mention of fair use by ItWasThem · · Score: 1

    Ravaged by piracy, movie studios and recording labels have been fitting new CD and DVD releases with layers of computer code with the aim of preventing or limiting users' ability to copy, or "rip," them onto a blank disc and trade online

    Right, because as we all know CDs and DVDs are indestructible and never scratch or degrade. There's no other possible reason anyone would ever want or need a copy of the music or movie they paid $25 for nope. Heck just buy it again right? Prop up the ol' economy, it's the patriotic thing to do. Fair use anyone? Hello?

  45. DAC by gumpish · · Score: 1

    As far as audio is concerned, I think the masses would be perfectly happy with a high-quality analog "rip", converted back into a digital format without any DRM.

  46. Don't buy. by grub · · Score: 1


    Just two stories ago, some people were commenting that MS has bowed to public pressure. The best way to voice your opinion is to not buy any protected music or movies. Ensure that the media firms know why, lest they attribute the lost sales to piracy.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:Don't buy. by Captain+Pedantic · · Score: 1

      The best thing to do is to buy it, and then return it and ask for a refund when it doesn't play. As it is copy protected, you can argue that they have to take it back as you couldn't have possibly made a copy of it.

      Simply not buying something is not as effective as making the manufacturer/distributor pay for returns. Especially when lost sales will be attributed to piracy.

      --

      None are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
  47. Yet another incentive by dubbayu_d_40 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    to download pirated copy. The fools are leaving customer satisfaction out of the equation...

    1. Re:Yet another incentive by PhxBlue · · Score: 1

      The fools are leaving customer satisfaction out of the equation...

      Let's be honest: someone who's going to pirate music is going to do it and then find a reason to justify it, more often than not. But ultimately, it comes down to: they don't want to pay for what the recording studios are offering. And you know, if you don't want to pay for something, fine. But as limited as your rights may be to an artist's music even if you do pay for it, your rights to it are zero if you don't.

      --
      !#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
  48. shhhh by newsdee · · Score: 1

    It seems that nobody has told the media executives what is a "screener".
    And with tripods, high-def DV cameras, and increasingly-better sound recording equipment, they're likely to improve in quality.

    This holds for music as well, although "microphoner" or "subwooferer" is not as sexy as a name. :-)

    So, as other have posted, "as long as we can see/hear it, we can record it"...

  49. Everything old is good again by Azahar · · Score: 1

    Don't throw away those backups, nor the machinery that you backed them up on.

    --
    Cuiusvis hominis est errare; nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare.
  50. It ain't the medium, it's the *content* by mousse-man · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm buying fewer and fewer DVDs and CDs. It ain't because they're copy-protected (usually, you can rip that, or if that's impossible, your friendly neighbor has a sound studio and you can rip them easily.

    It's because the content sucks. Profusely. I haven't been in the cinema for now something like 6 months. I buy relatively few CDs, most of the Heavy Metal and Death Metal bands started producing lousy music. There's little left to buy. Metallica? Became "Selloutica". The latest Sepultura stuff sucks as well.

    Now if I can't play a DVD in my laptop, I simply won't buy it. The test is thanks to the fact that my machine is luggable, doable at my preferred store and quickly accepted as final judgement.

    Maybe in Winter, we'll have some better stuff to buy, but before, revenues won't go up in the media industry.

    1. Re:It ain't the medium, it's the *content* by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      "most of the Heavy Metal and Death Metal bands started producing lousy music"

      Do you mean there was a time they produced non-lousy music?

    2. Re:It ain't the medium, it's the *content* by Cave+Dweller · · Score: 1

      Death metal? Sepultura/Metallica? HA-HA!

  51. Screw 'em by jjhlk · · Score: 1

    If I can't rip the CDs/DVDs I buy, well then I won't buy them. That is something I consider a feature, because who wants to carry around a thousand CDs. I guess that's a load of though, I was actually planning to pay money for things, but now I can use that money for tuition :).

  52. Forced to backup by Shuasha · · Score: 1

    Rip-proof and self-destructing seems to be the latest DRM craze.

    So now we'll be forced to create backups seeing as they destroy themselves? Once they're cracked, it's all over.

  53. We're talking standards, something you missed... by Viewsonic · · Score: 4, Interesting
    DVD format is a standard, and to stay compatable, it must conform to those standards. If everyone starts doing their own thing and ignoring the standards, then they deserve to be ignored, not bought, made fun of, and dumped into the garbage.

    Comparing Windows and Linux is not a good analogy. They're two totally different things. If Linux apps were SUPPOSED to run on Windows or the other way around out of the box (Please dont talk about Wine...), sure..

    Self Destructing DVDs will simply not be bought unless the pricing ratio is well worth it. If rental places can offer then for $1 a rental that lasts 2 days, sure, thats something most people can afford. But if the price is static, then people wont bother. Everyone is used to buying DVDs for $15-20 that they can keep forever. Change that, and people wont bother buying. People just wont "give in" unless you give back, and with the DVD industry, the only way they can possibly give more is by lowering the price. Added features? Already got em.

    Non-Destructing DVD and Audio has been mainstream too long for anything to sway it. If they dont work in certain players, people will avoid buying them, or will just find a pirated version that they are certain 100% will work on their system. People take the path of least resistance. This is one the companies will have to learn about.

  54. Yep. Confused. by curtisk · · Score: 1
    "It's very important to have collaboration and not confuse the consumer," said Mike Tsurumi, the European chief of Sony's electronics arm.

    Yep, being "confused" is probably the last thing on the consumers mind when they are dealing with the "bugs" of the DRM system and the added restrictions on use. Heh.

    Or when they are in the throws of being bent over and treated ummmm...roughly by the MPAA/RIAA, the consumer is probably more thinking about how they had to "pay for the date" and are still getting screwed, literally and figuratively.

    --

    Sehr geehrter Toilettenbenutzer!

  55. Office 2003 by Inexile2002 · · Score: 1

    Can any of you who work in a corporate environment actually envision people accepting doc format where people had to specify who could read, print or forward what? People would hotkey the "allow all" option or set it as a default and life will go on. Anyone who is going to go to the trouble of placing restrictions on their content can already do it now. M$ is MUCH more worried about DRM than their clients.

    I work for an auditing firm and this nonsense would been seen for exactly what it is, one more layer of administrivia preventing me from doing what I'm paid to do. I actaully audit other companies complaince to their privacy policies (among other things) and I can tell you that this "important new feature" is going to be viewed as an obstacle 99% of the time. And just wait for the first time some idiot CFO accidentally locks himself out of his own files...

    1. Re:Office 2003 by ItWasThem · · Score: 5, Funny

      And just wait for the first time some idiot CFO accidentally locks himself out of his own files...

      Heck, the CFO could just circumvent the copy protection on those files. What's a DMCA violation on the criminal record of a CFO these days anyways? It wouldn't even show up until the 8th or 9th page.

  56. RIAA/MPAA strategy by ItWasThem · · Score: 1

    Gosh they sure complain a lot. It seems like the RIAA/MPAA's big problem is those damn consumers. Always wanting to actually use what they paid for. Tsk Tsk. So demanding.

    If they could just not sell to consumers...

  57. Steely Dan -- How far they've come... by dwm · · Score: 1

    AOL Time Warner, released the new Steely Dan album "Everything Must Go" on CD and DVD Audio, the latter being an encrypted, "rip-proof" format.

    How sad. Fagan and Becker used to be trend-setters with their music; now they're being used to prop up a failing business model.

    Reeling in the Years...

    1. Re:Steely Dan -- How far they've come... by Ella+the+Cat · · Score: 1

      As a Steely Dan fan who bought most everything they did on vinyl and again on CD, I wonder if they know about this and I wonder how much they care one way or the other.

    2. Re:Steely Dan -- How far they've come... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't buy the DVD-Audio version, buy the CD then. Unless it turns out that is also copy-protected; guess we'll have to wait a few weeks to see if it shows up on fatchucks.com.

      Hey, does anyone else get an "account suspended" message when they try to access that site?

    3. Re:Steely Dan -- How far they've come... by angle_slam · · Score: 1

      DVD Audio may be "rip-proof", but it is also of much higher quality than a CD.

    4. Re:Steely Dan -- How far they've come... by angle_slam · · Score: 1
      Hit the button too fast. I think many people here have no idea what DVD-Audio is. DVD-Audio is a new format that, like SACD, presents a higher quality than the 16bit/44.1 kHz sampling of normal audio CDs. They also allow multi-channel recordings. They are a niche product now, and will probably stay that way for a long time. There isn't a single release on DVD-Audio or SACD that isn't available on CD.

      The reason for DVD-A and SACD is higher audio quality, NOT copy protection (though that is surely a bonus to the record companies). Oh, and Steely Dan is well known for their audio quality. You can surely believe that they are aware of DVD-Audio.

    5. Re:Steely Dan -- How far they've come... by SN74S181 · · Score: 1

      How sad. Fagan and Becker used to be trend-setters with their music; now they're being used to prop up a failing business model.

      Music isn't about 'business models'. Perhaps it's you that has changed more than they have.

  58. What if we had a boycott, and no one came? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think the better question is. Since we're boycotting the RIAA/MPAA because we don't like their policies. Why is the "Can't play it on..., and CD go BOOM" even an issue?

  59. Lessons not learned by reimero · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Have they already forgotten the lessons of the old Divx players? No one wanted an inferior, crippled product. The market already spoke. I have a hard time imagining they'll get it "right" this time.

    Digital piracy will always exist. For every mousetrap, someone will build a better mouse. So why should we law-abiding citizens have to pay the price? If I want a DVD or CD, I'm going to buy it. Period.

    --

    ----------

    Something clever
    1. Re:Lessons not learned by garcia · · Score: 1

      but there was a choice of another product. They want to make it so that there is no other choice. You buy what they offer or you don't buy anything at all.

      The market can't do much talking when you MUST buy a DRM product.

      Windows is supporting it thus ALL other OSs will have to support it in order to compete.

      Digital piracy might always exist but how's that to say that DRM enabled *machines* will allow it to be played?

    2. Re:Lessons not learned by Alsee · · Score: 1

      Have they already forgotten the lessons of the old Divx players?

      And Digital Audio Tape (DAT).
      DAT was a perfectly good technology that was thoroughly slaughtered by the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 which mandated that any digital audio recording device MUST contain DRM technology. No one is willing to buy a crippled product.

      The Audio Home Recording Act is still on the books and it still applies to absolutely any and all digital audio recording devices. It's been over a DECADE and you STILL can't walk into the mall and buy a digital audio recording device of any sort. It's a textbook case of how a law mandating DRM can KILL a technology.

      And now the FCC is trying to push for a fast rollout to high definition digital TV, then they want to push for a fast switchover to 100% digital TV so that they can terminate analog broadcasts and free up a huge chunk of radio spectrum for other uses. And they are busy hammering out what sorts of DRM they are going to mandate for digital TV. Not whether to mandate DRM, but what sort of DRM to mandate. And all VCR's and similar devices MUST comply with these restrictions. Well DUHH, if they mandate DRM then once again people simply will not buy these TV's. The switchover will completely stall and they can never phase out the analog broadcasts. Fscking idiots.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  60. Gimme Gimme by Todd+Fisher · · Score: 1

    All I want is free music/movies. Until the corporations can give me that I'm not buying another CD/DVD!

    --


    --I'm not talking about dance lessons. I'm talking about putting a brick through the other guy's windshield.-
  61. Yes, it matters. by RatBastard · · Score: 1

    It matters because this is another expensive boondogle. It won't work. It will never work.

    The problem is NOT the technology and it never was. The problem is the draconian nature of the entertainment industry and the rediculous prices they charge.

    As for protecting the rights of the artists and content creators, we already have laws that do that.

    --
    Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
    1. Re:Yes, it matters. by Kpt+Kill · · Score: 2, Interesting

      i still love how in many places the audio casettes (for those who still carry them) are cheaper than the cd despite costing more to produce

  62. Yeah yeah, heard it before by t_allardyce · · Score: 1

    Microsoft, which will equip its Office 2003 software suite with user controls designating who can print, copy or forward data.

    Thats brilliant! they havnt even got around to Palladiumising hardware but they are gonna release this in software form anyway! I think this will change the world for the better - unsuspecting people will trust the security of their documents to this, i will be able to take advantage;) Hmm i wonder when the crack will be out...

    Anyway i hope all these new million dollar rip-proof technologies wont be to hard to rip, good luck everyone in circumnavigating them with $1000 home computers.

    --
    This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  63. it bites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The Enhanced CD format is software based. The new Police CD is just unplayable. Along with the Blondie release, and the Stones compilation.

    I bought 35 CDs in the last years, including a Zydeco cover of Beatles hits (just great), and a bunch of other jazz stuff at the New Orleans Jazz Festival.

    The new formats mean the end of purchases, but not the end of collecting (hahahahaha). Take that, greedsters.

    1. Re:it bites by JebusIsLord · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My new radiohead disc has 1300 intentional C1 errors on it, rendering it extremely prone to scratches and (ironically) making a backup copy pretty much a necessity.

      Took over 8 hours to rip using EAC though... owch.

      Basically I could have stolen it from Kazaa and saved a lot of trouble, but because I am actually a paying customer I was charged $12, 8 hours of labour and was rewarded with an intentionally damaged CD. What a bunch of fuckers.

      As return punishment, I have made the CD available for all my friends to download, and I am encouraging them to use my error-free, DRM-disabled MP3s instead of that horrid disc.

      --
      Jeremy
    2. Re:it bites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      weird. mine ripped fine the first time. maybe becaues i have a mac? or maybe only some have the scheme?

    3. Re:it bites by Mikey-San · · Score: 1

      Yeah. You only need one copy on the 'Net to make copy protection irrelevant, I always tell people.

      Off-topic: Apparently, only the U.S. copies of the new Radiohead record are supposedly DRM-unladen (mine is). No, no typo there. I believe there's a note about it in greenplastic.com's news somewhere, but I can't find it.

      --
      Mikey-San
      Karma: +Eleventy billion (mostly affected by watching Celebrity Jeopardy)
    4. Re:it bites by JebusIsLord · · Score: 4, Informative

      The non-US version is DRM protected and labeled as such on the back. Your's probably isn't. C1 errors affect everyone, even stand-alone players. Faulty error correction information means that the disc will never be able to recover from scratches. They do this to make CDROMs think it's data not audio. This is easy to circumvent but man did they fuck up the disc.

      --
      Jeremy
    5. Re:it bites by ctve · · Score: 1
      I thought Radiohead were anti-capitalist, anti-globalisation, pro-Napster guys.

      Or was that just a marketing ploy?

    6. Re:it bites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I love this.. we need more of this stupid mistakes.. let them annoy a large part of their customers, so what will be left of them in a few years ..

    7. Re:it bites by xtermz · · Score: 1

      And ya know what? Next time Radiohead comes out with a new album, are you going to buy it?

      ....probably.... because nobody speaks with their wallet like they should...

      --


      I lost my concept of community when my community lost all concept of me.
    8. Re:it bites by labratuk · · Score: 1

      Yeah, hence people were getting a bit pissed off.

      If it were some other random cd like Sting or Phil Collins or any of the nu-metal shite, you wouldn't have heard a peep.

      But it was most likely a decision made by EMI that they had no power over. Ah well, it's their last LP on their Parlophone/EMI contract anyway.

      --
      Malike Bamiyi wanted my assistance.
    9. Re:it bites by labratuk · · Score: 1

      The UK (Parlophone) version is completely fine. Normal CD. I checked very carefully before I bought it.

      Interestingly, the places on the insert inside where it usually has the 'compact disc' logo in the top right & bottom left were blank.

      From what I hear, the Australian & European versions have copy protection.

      --
      Malike Bamiyi wanted my assistance.
    10. Re:it bites by JebusIsLord · · Score: 1

      I would also like to point out that the audio is compressed to high-hell, as is the audio on most modern and "remastered" discs. Puts a real bad taste in my mouth for shelling out $$$.

      --
      Jeremy
    11. Re:it bites by JebusIsLord · · Score: 1

      Don't blame radiohead - the next time EMI releases a new CD, don'py it!

      --
      Jeremy
    12. Re:it bites by JebusIsLord · · Score: 1

      Is slashcode garbling anyone else's posts lately? I said: "don't buy it!"

      --
      Jeremy
    13. Re:it bites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Newsflash, newsflash! The so-called United Kingdom is just a country in Europe like any other!

    14. Re:it bites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Take one good CD player, and one PC with a decent sound card (eg M-Audio etc). Hook them up and record. So the sound goes analog and back to digital again JUST ONCE. If the levels were set correctly (to hit 0dB at the peaks), will anybody notice it? Compare the small amount of degredation introduced with the artifacts and loss inherent in the subsequent conversion to mp3/ogg/etc. Seriously, only a keen audiophile with a very competent hi-fi system would hear the difference. And they don't tend to listen to Eminem and Madonna anyway, so DRM is basically irrelevant as far as mass market audio goes. There, I feel better now.

    15. Re:it bites by hyphz · · Score: 1

      > The UK (Parlophone) version is completely
      > fine. Normal CD. I checked very carefully
      > before I bought it.

      Well, my UK version had some of the best rip protection I was ever seen: the CD was slightly warped, making it play fine in players and computer CD drives, but making it impossible to spin in faster than 1x or to hold the rip sync for more than a few seconds. I'm heading to the patent office..

    16. Re:it bites by SoCalChris · · Score: 1

      I've noticed that a lot on /. recently. Firebird is rendering the garbled text as a question mark in a diamond. Weird.

    17. Re:it bites by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am in the UK. play.com supplied me with a Canadian import which was marked as copy protected; I returned it unopened. A store-bought copy did not claim to be copy protected and I had no problems getting its contents onto my PC.

    18. Re:it bites by pla · · Score: 1

      Took over 8 hours to rip using EAC though... owch.

      Buy a cheap older Plextor drive, download a copy of BlindWrite, and tell it to use the "alternative read method".

      That 8-hour rip due to a "defective" disk will drop to 15-30 minutes... Soft C1/C2 correction takes FAR less time (and wear on the drive from constant re-seeks) than letting the drive do it.

    19. Re:it bites by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      Mozilla renders it as just a ? mark. I've been noticing it too...

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    20. Re:it bites by JebusIsLord · · Score: 1

      ...but lots of them DO listen to Radiohead and Placebo for instance, two of the most recent DRM disasters I have purchased.

      I prefer to make digital copies while they are still possible. Either way, analog or digital, it is a nuisance I actually paid good money for.

      --
      Jeremy
    21. Re:it bites by JebusIsLord · · Score: 1

      Oh, and I guarantee the artifacts from an analog rip are noticable (if slight), while even to a trained ear LAME mp3s with --alt-preset standard are impossible to identify 99% of the time.

      --
      Jeremy
    22. Re:it bites by labratuk · · Score: 1

      Well yeah, in my eyes too, but the people who organise the distribution decided that the UK should have its own version.

      *shrug*

      --
      Malike Bamiyi wanted my assistance.
    23. Re:it bites by rkz · · Score: 1

      /. has a bug in their bug db, it says that pages send wrong char set. try changing it manually to another one.

  64. 10 replies in 10 minutes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Ineffective indeed.

  65. But... by mgcsinc · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I thought âoerip-proofâ was pretty much done when some genius figured out it could be superceded with a marker? And whatâ(TM)s to prevent me from just ripping a self-destructing media (that concept I still find amusing) once, and keeping the digital content for an extended period? IMHO, these companies should be spending more of their money on trying to produce better music than this feeble attempt to protect what they're turning out.

  66. All politics AND ART is local, people... by pjt48108 · · Score: 1

    If you don't like DRM, don't buy the product. If you really like good art, find some locally. Believe it or not, California is not the mother lode of all art. There is great music, theatre, etc., being created all over the US and the world. The more you patronize local artists, the less Hollywierd profits from your patronage. The more $$ local artists receive from you, the better equipment they can purchase. The better the equipment (such as for recording) the easier it is for you to enjoy their art outside the pub/bar/city park concert.

    In short, the best way to fight RIAA and MPAA is to simply stop eating the shit they are labeling as art.

    Additionally, the more money that is spent within the local community for artists, the more money remains in the community, thus helping local economies. I mean, who the fuck believes that sending money to California is gonna help people eat in the heartland? I certainly don't. I'd rather help out when a band passes the hat in the local pub than spend blood money for some Hollywood hack art/music that I will actually listen to about twice before converting it to a dust-collection unit.

    --
    Mmmmmm... Bold, yet refreshing!
    1. Re:All politics AND ART is local, people... by SN74S181 · · Score: 1

      I doubt if the RIAA and MPAA label all of their members' output as 'Art'. Most of it's just plain entertainment. People go out to listen to music and dance, etc. with the music as the background. People go to movies because they're fun.

      I'm not trying to place 'art' on a pedestal, some of the greatest art is very close to it's audience. But 90% of everything is low quality dreck.

  67. A corny idea by whovian · · Score: 1
    Just had a thought. They could make CDs and DVDs out of "corn plastic" (see recent story).

    Notable advantages:

    finite time in the landfill (compare AOL CDs)

    hence, management of user making copies

    fewer greenhouse gases produced

    hence, can initially charge the cornsumer more

    --
    To-do List: Receive telemarketing call during a tornado warning. Check.
    1. Re:A corny idea by Mad+Bad+Rabbit · · Score: 1
      Just had a thought. They could make CDs and DVDs out of "corn plastic" (see recent story).

      Good idea: after you've used up the single-play rights, they'd make a delicious snack!

      And now every movie and album could be available in multiple tasty flavors. Hah, P2P pirates!
      Maybe you can download the songs, but you can't download them in teriyaki or cheddar...

      --
      >;k
    2. Re:A corny idea by Zan+Zu+from+Eridu · · Score: 1
      • everybody loves homemade popcorn
      • hence, new business opportunities for the cdwriter and popcorn popper industries
  68. Do what I did.. by MP*Birdman · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I wrote a letter to the record label after I ran into the first CD (Radiohead's Hail to the Thief) that wouldn't play in the player I wanted, and have now stopped buying any CDs from that label (EMI). In fact, only 1 of the computers I tried it in even could read the data files that allowed you to install the audio player. Since said players are only available for windows and some versions of Apple operating systems, and only installable if you have admin on your computer (making it less than ideal in an office environment) I am allowed under Canadian "fair dealing" rights (http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/C-42/38266.html#rid- 38379) to copy from audio CD to "a recording medium, regardless of its material form, onto which a sound recording may be reproduced and that is ordinarily used by individual consumers for that purpose..". Ie, a computer hard drive, or another CD. This is similar to the fair use rights in the United States.

    Unless everyone writes a letter at the least, then it's only a matter of time before every CD will work only in stereos and on machines which have specific versions of software like Windows.

    I should add that the CD in question would play on Windows only if you installed "upgrades" to windows media player... I cancelled that, and am ripping it with a line in feed tonight.

    1. Re:Do what I did.. by Suidae · · Score: 1

      I wrote a letter to the record label

      Good. For every customer that will actually make the effort to sit down and actually write a physical letter, there are about ten thousand more that are pissed off about the same issue. Big companies know this, and they usually take real letters much more seriously than email or those worthless online polls.

    2. Re:Do what I did.. by scottme · · Score: 1

      I was all set to return that disc and complain when I saw the "copy protected" labels on it. I ordered it from play.com, who described it as a CD, but what arrived is certainly not a regular CD, in that it has none of the CD logos, and it has a "compatibility" box on the cover that says what it will or won't play on. (BTW I received the Canadian version although I am in UK.)

      But I thought, what the hell, I'll try it and see. Stuck it in the drive and fired up K3B, which promptly asked me if I wanted to mount the data part or the audio part. Chose the audio part and proceeded to rip all 14 tracks straight off, no problem :-)

      Guess what? Linux is one of the things they say the disc doesn't work on. In fact, the only things that don't work on Linux are the dumb "copy protection" and the stupid Windows executables for their lame reduced quality player, and who cares about that?

      Despite rumours, I can also report that this CD works as normal in both my cars' CD changers (Ford and Audi), and in all 5 of the the "regular" CD players in the house. In fact, the only place I've found it doesn't work is on Windows 2000; for some reason when I insert the CD under W2K, nothing at all happens. Attempts to play it with Winamp cause that app to hang in a serious way. Since W2K is an environment that they advertise it explicitly should work on, I believe I might have a basis for getting a refund...

    3. Re:Do what I did.. by Quikah · · Score: 1

      I would, except my copy of Hail to the Thief is not copyprotected. (the title is takes on new meaning due to this) I ripped it and can play it in all my players, looks like a standard CD to me. Looking around it appears that the US version is not copyrighted (the only one according to several sites).

      You should return the CD, it will send a louder message than a letter.

      --
      Q.
    4. Re:Do what I did.. by Billobob · · Score: 0

      Interestingly enough, I did a search for "hail to the thief" on mldonkey, and every song on the album popped up. Some good this "protection" technology is doing.

      --
      If you have to ask, you'll never know.
    5. Re:Do what I did.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I wrote a letter to the record label

      Fat lot of good that will do. You still payed for it. As long as the music industry gets your money they won't give a shit about your opinion. What you should have done is returned it immediately. When the music industry starts seeing massive returns of broken CD's, then maybe they'll rethink their deal of ruining CD's.

    6. Re:Do what I did.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Looking around it appears that the US version is not copyrighted

      Clarification: You mean "not copy-protected". Otherwise, the Bono estate has something to tell you.

    7. Re:Do what I did.. by Chuck+Chunder · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Despite rumours, I can also report that this CD works as normal in both my cars' CD changers (Ford and Audi), and in all 5 of the the "regular" CD players in the house.
      Which is all well and good. But what about your next car or the next media center you buy? An often unconsidered problem with these things is the future. As a consumer I can be safe in the knowledge that barring physical damage every CD I buy will be playable in any device bearing a Compact Disc logo. With these "copy controlled" discs I have no such garauntee.

      If you have one of these things and didn't buy it knowingly send it back and complain to you consumer advocates about innapropriate labeling.
      --
      Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
    8. Re:Do what I did.. by Quikah · · Score: 1

      Hehe, oops. :)

      --
      Q.
  69. Insightfull my hairy butt. by RatBastard · · Score: 1

    You need to have your XBox looked at. Maybe there's dust on the lens. My copy works just fine on my XBox. And my friend's XBox.

    --
    Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
  70. thank god for chinese imports by azoidx · · Score: 1

    they dont give a crap

  71. You are still free to use alternative solutions... by PseudoThink · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Don't want the government to control you? Leave society and become a hermit...but you lose lots of practical benefits, like convenience stores, electricity, the internet, public sanitation systems, health insurance, etc.

    However, when there are few or no lost benefits, people won't hesitate to use alternatives. Same thing applies to DRM...the more they clamp down, the more consumers squeeze through their fingers and start using consumer-friendly alternatives like ogg and mp3.

    It's a funny cycle...raw CD audio isn't portable enough, so they create MP3s, leading to rampant file sharing and eventually Napster, leading to RIAA's unholy crusade for DRM, leading more people to use MP3...it will only end when consumers have no control over data. A bit late for that...

  72. How will the stores know if it is defective? by dsmoses · · Score: 1

    Here's a thought.

    What is to stop a consumer from purchasing a self-destructing DVD, then watching it, ripping it, whatever... Then, once it has self-destructed returning it to the retailer complaining that it was defective, wouldn't play on their system, and that they want a new copy or their money back?

    Sounds like Netflix is doomed with this new Free Rental program.

  73. Consumer Electronics learns about vaporware by appleLaserWriter · · Score: 1

    For years and years the technology industry has been shipping shoddy half-baked products and generating enormous profits.

    The consumer electronics industry, on the other hand, has bee shipping simple reliable products like the walkman and CD players just as long.

    I think what has happened here is that some bright young MBA studied the two industries and discovered that the only tangible differentiating factor between them is that high tech products are often broken out of the box, or shortly thereafter.

    The next step was to investigate consumer electronics products that could be taught to "break" just like high tech. DVD and CD media were obviously selected as initial products, and the DRM schemes we see today are the result.

    Soon, our bright young MBA friend will discover that crappy products don't lead to increased revenue. He will then learn the latest tech-industry skill: how to collect unemployment!

  74. Self-Destructing by Teppy · · Score: 1

    ...Finally a technology they're comfortable with.

  75. Decay of entire entertainment industry, society... by Nick+Driver · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As far as I'm concerned, the industry is already shipping pre-destructed material. Shoddy plotlines. Crappy acting, B-stories with A-budgets. "Adaptations" of classics. Bah.

    Good.

    Maybe more and more people will slowly wake up and realize that the whole "entertainment industry" is rotting and dying, and instead of numbing their minds sitting in front of the boob tube, wasting their lives away filling their brains with knowledge-pollution, they need to instead spend their idle time pursuing worthwhile hobbies, projects, sports, adventures, etc and actually doing something bigger, better and more important with their lives...

    Fat chance that is likely to happen any time soon though :-(

  76. Next up... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Next up, the special dvd players will have built-in scanners to count the number of eyes in a 30-ft arc in front of it and charge accordingly...

    1. Re:Next up... by tanguyr · · Score: 2, Interesting
      welllll... i just had to steal the following from Lessig's latest book, The Future of Ideas - hope he (well, his publisher) won't mind:

      In the 1970's RCA was experimenting with a new technology for distributing film on magnetic tape â" what we would come to call video. Researchers were keen not only to find a technology that could reproduce film with high fidelity; they were also keen to find a way to control the use of the technology. Their aim was a technology that could control the use of film distributed on video, so that the owner of the film could maximize the return from the distribution.

      The technology eventually chosen was relatively simple. A video would play once, and when finished, the film would lock into place. If a renter of the video wanted to play the video again, he or she would have to return the video to the store and have the tape unlocked. In this way, the owner of the film could assure it was being compensated for every use of the copyrighted material.

      RCA presented this technology to the Disney Corporation in the early 1970s. In a room with just five of the senior executives from Disney, a young RCA executive, Pat Feely, demonstrated RCA's device. The executives were horrified. They would "never", Feely reports their saying, permit their content to be distributed in this form. For the content, however clever the self-locking tape player was, was still insufficiently controlled. "How could they know," a Disney executive asked Feely, "how many people are going to be sitting there watching" a film? "What's to stop someone else coming in and watching it for free?"

      The thing to realize is that DRM is something that people like the **AA have wanted for years... and we the geeks are the people who gave it to them... Odds are the eggheads behind the implementation of this latest version are people not that different from us... /t
      --
      #!/usr/bin/english
    2. Re:Next up... by Methlin · · Score: 1

      Followed by the next advance in entertainment "piracy": Eye patches! Arrrr!

  77. Remember phonograph cartridges? by thogard · · Score: 1

    The old record store would have a poster with about a hudred different types of cartidges and none of them would match then one you just broke. If you did find the one you were looking for, they never had it in stock and you would have to go on a hunt. The result was the record store didn't sell you any more records till you got a new needle for your turntable.

    You would think the RIAA would understand that. It was one of the reasons they liked the idea of CDs.

  78. Messy consumerism. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "The only way to stop piracy is a zero-use DVD...once you buy it, it blows up in your car on the way home."

    Customer:Uh honey is The peach Pits a good...BOOM!

    Clerk:Cleanup in aisle 12.

  79. AOL is whack. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Meanwhile, Warner Music, a division of CNN's parent company AOL Time Warner, released the new Steely Dan album "Everything Must Go" on CD and DVD Audio, the latter being an encrypted, "rip-proof" format.

    I don't think having Steely Dan cut a CD counts as rip-proof... I mean, come on; who wants a Steely Dan album?

  80. Sigh by azav · · Score: 3, Interesting

    This is one more reason why I am a geek.

    I have 5 macs at my house and one pc.
    I have two turntables, a mixer and loud speakers. : ]
    I'm glad I can listen to ProtonRadio, check the playlists of the mixes I like, find and buy the buy vinyl, record it to my mac and put it on my internal server.
    I'm glad because more of the money MUST go to the artist AND I can buy and remix the songs I actually like!

    I don't have to worry about incompatable dvds and cds.

    Screw RIAA. Spend a little more money to create your own purchase, playback/recording system. You'll be glad you did and you can still support the artists.

    --
    - Zav - Imagine a Beowulf cluster of insensitive clods...
  81. RIAA? MPAA?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    iTunes, iMovies (don't tell me that's not feasible... don't tell me I have to care that YOU'RE using a dial-up...), iGames, iApps!

    The rest is already history.

    Note that I use i* to make sure you get what i mean, not because I love Apple so much.

  82. WTF?! Piracy caused by open formats? by gosand · · Score: 1
    "We have to find ways to mitigate piracy caused by open [technology] formats. But at the same time we have to meet consumer demand for these formats," said Barney Wragg, vice president of Universal Music's eLabs, a technology R&D unit for the world's largest record label.

    Piracy is caused by open formats?! And this guy is a VP of a technology R&D unit?

    --

    My beliefs do not require that you agree with them.

  83. Norah Jones by Azahar · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I am a Sonyphile from the 1970s and Sony have never let me down until just recently.

    I wanted to buy a Norah Jones CD but was told that it was recorded on one of the CDs that weren't recorded to the CD format and that killed Macs if played on them. My wife uses Mac so I checked and had it confirmed.

    Now no Sony product enters our house be it camera, CD or movie. They are good products but they are no longer trustworthy the way that they were.

    --
    Cuiusvis hominis est errare; nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare.
    1. Re:Norah Jones by curtisk · · Score: 1
      Thats too bad, Sony was always good in my book too. The funny, simple thing is this, who does Sony really profit from?

      The consumer.

      Why then are they cow-tow-ing to the Big Boys? Are the RIAA and MPAA going to cover their losses due to scenarios just like yours?

      Weird focus.....

      --

      Sehr geehrter Toilettenbenutzer!

  84. Fair use by Alizarin+Erythrosin · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Consumer electronics companies such as Sony and Nokia have stepped into the mix too, installing DRM systems into new hi-fi systems and hand-held devices to ensure copyrighted materials aren't reproduced and transferred from gadget to gadget without consumers paying for it.

    What ever happened to a little thing called "fair use"? If I want to make a copy of a cd for use in my car, why shouldn't I be able to? If I want to rip a cd to mp3s to play on my HTPC, why shouldn't I be able to?

    Oh, sorry... I forgot that mp3s automatically lead to piracy, as does cd copying. Yeah, I guess that all the times I've scratched up a copy of a cd that I own using it in my car cd changer makes me a pirate.

    --
    There are only 10 kinds of people in this world... those who understand binary and those who don't
    1. Re:Fair use by SN74S181 · · Score: 1

      'Fair use' means you aren't breaking the law if you make personal use copies.

      It doesn't mean the publisher is mandated to make it easy for you to make said copies. Your ghetto blaster has a built in microphone. Put it near the speaker of your CD player if you want to make a 'fair use' copy. Or do more technical things to get a higher quality copy if you wish. Your 'fair use' rights are not being obliterated if you don't own the equipment to make a copy of the quality you wish you could.

    2. Re:Fair use by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      "It doesn't mean the publisher is mandated to make it easy for you to make said copies"

      It does, however, mean that it has to be *possible* to do so - and not for technophiles only, but for the main mass of people. They are trying to make it impossible, which is a violation of fair use.

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    3. Re:Fair use by SN74S181 · · Score: 1

      Why do you presume to say it has to be possible? And can't you put your ghetto blaster near your speakers, as I said earlier?

  85. How is this relevant? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'd rather have cheap products that sometimes don't work on 10 year old players (and protects rights for a creator of art) than expensive ones that can be pirated but work on all players.

    How is this relevant to the article.

    What the article is about is expensive products that don't work on old players, and doesn't protect the rights of the creator.

    You have the worst of all worlds.

  86. slowly bringing us back to the dark ages by tuffy · · Score: 1

    It's not hard to envision a new generation of digital monks, decrypting or transcribing data from long-dead DRM technologies back to open formats. Because without something like them, this "copy protected" stuff is going to be "future protected" forever - and no one will know the artists had ever created it at all.

    --

    Ita erat quando hic adveni.

  87. Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by tx_kanuck · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Lets say I buy a DVD. Said DVD does not work on my computer (which is where I watch most of my movies b/c my computer screen is bigger then my TV). I can't return it to the store b/c they will only exchange it for another copy of the same DVD. I can't return it to the distributor b/c they say take it back to the store.

    Where does that leave me? I've just spent $25 on a movie that I can't watch. I can't return it. Hell, chances are the license I had to agree to won't allow me to sell it. So here's the problem....

    The movie was advertised as being a DVD. My player was advertised as a DVD player. DVD is (from what I understand) a fairly open standard. By advertising something as being standards compliant that really isn't, would that not constitant fraud, or at the least deceptive advertising?

    If I remember correctly, didn't the owner of the CD trademark/patent threaten to label DRM'd CD's as not being CD's b/c they didnt' conform to the standards? Should that not happen with DVD's?

    Vote with you dollars and your voices. If you buy a DVD that is not compatible, either don't buy it, or take it back and bitch loudly. Make sure other customers can hear you. Basically, make an ass of yourself so that the manager has to give you your money back to shut you up.

    Yes, I know I'm rambling.

    --
    Now, if that makes sense to anyone, could you please explain it to me? I think I've confused myself.
    1. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 2, Informative

      "Hell, chances are the license I had to agree to won't allow me to sell it."

      There's one mistake you made. You assumed you acquired a license and not a physical good. There are legitimate software licenses involving B2B transactions and actual paper documents to sign. But you bought a physical good in a retail transaction.

      It has been long established that you are free to resell the original copy that you purchased. Book publishers tried to prevent reselling over a century ago with so-called restrictions printed on inside covers, but SCOTUS disagreed.

    2. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by lobsterGun · · Score: 2, Informative

      One simple solution to your problem would be to only buy DVDs from stores that accept returns.

      That's why I don't buy software at Best Buy.

    3. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by angle_slam · · Score: 1
      Where does that leave me? I've just spent $25 on a movie that I can't watch. I can't return it. Hell, chances are the license I had to agree to won't allow me to sell it. So here's the problem.

      When you buy a DVD, you are not buying a license. You can resell it. Just put it on EBay. If it is a fairly new release, you'll lose very little.

    4. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by scharkalvin · · Score: 1

      I will only use my credit card and if I get a 'broken' disk that the store won't take back, I won't pay for it. I'll demand my credit card to get my money back from the store.

    5. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by MikeFM · · Score: 1

      Possibly incorrect but doesn't Phillips own the trademark to both CD and DVD? If they didn't like altered discs for CD's will they respond differently to altered DVD's?

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
    6. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by Tommy+Boomfiger · · Score: 1

      The problem is that you are still losing and the ones that made the DVD intentionally unplayable are gaining your hard earned money. On top of that you had to go buy the DVD and now you have to go sell it and you didnt even get to watch it.

      --
      ~Tommy Boomfiger http://www.gotapex.com/forums
    7. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by Sloppy · · Score: 1
      Hell, chances are the license I had to agree to won't allow me to sell it.
      Where the hell are you buying DVDs, that they have their customers sign sales contracts?!? They're just $10-$20 shiny disks, not houses or cars.

      Try a web store, or a mail order store, or even a conventional retail store. If someone is making you agree to a license as part of your DVD purchase, you're getting ripped off.

      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    8. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by Dalcius · · Score: 1

      It's amazing the leeway you can get by hassling managers.

      "I want to return this."
      "You can't."
      "Who is your supervisor?" ...
      "I want to return this."
      "Sorry sir, you can't."
      "Who manages this store?" ....
      "I want to return this."
      "I'm terribly sorry sir, you can't."
      "Who owns this store?" ...call him/her at home...
      "I want to return this."

      Repeat ad naseum.

      I realize that this won't work, but often managers will play the game to make you happy, or at the least, you'll annoy the hell out of them. If any substantial number of people do this (say a dozen a week or more per, say, Best Buy), the manager is likely to say something to his boss, etc.

      It'll take a lot over the board to get this noticed, as the "brass" is pretty detached from the hassles a store manager has to go through, but trends will be noticed.

      --
      ~Dalcius
      Rome wasn't burnt in a day.
    9. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by Jeff+DeMaagd · · Score: 1

      I think the article means DVD-Audio when it says DVD.

      If I remember correctly, didn't the owner of the CD trademark/patent threaten to label DRM'd CD's as not being CD's b/c they didnt' conform to the standards? Should that not happen with DVD's?

      Philips owned the CD format for the most part. Apart from the initial hoopla, I don't remember anything happening with that threat.

      The DVD format is owned by a forum of hardware, software and content producers, such as Pioneer, Toshiba, Warner Brothers and so on. I think Microsoft is in it too.

    10. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by gmhowell · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Three words: small claims court.

      Like others said, you purchased a physical item. The store you bought it in presumably did not indicate that it was anything other than a CD/DVD. They have an implied warrant of merchantibility. What this means is that they are claiming this is a CD, fit for use and sale. However, it isn't. It is crippled, and probably doesn't pay heed to the red book standard. Therefore, they have defrauded you. Now, it's probably not really their fault, as the distributor defrauded them. That's fine. But it doesn't change the fact that they sold the good. So, you sue them for cost of CD plus court filing fee. You give back broken goods. They pay you money. Then, they can sue their distributor.

      If they didn't tell you that this was not a CD/DVD in the normal sense, they are full of shit. It probably won't get to this. Sooner or later, most managers will cave. You probably won't get your money back, but you'll get store credit. If this isn't acceptable to you, sue. Even better, if you used a credit card, block the charge.

      --
      Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. -John Lennon
    11. Re:Maybe someone can explain this to me.... by evilviper · · Score: 1

      You: "I want to return this."
      Manager: "You can't. You can only exchange it for the same item."
      You: (Pulls pin out of hand grenade, throws it into DVD section. People jump from behind the shelves, and the explosion destroys everything)
      Manager: "Holy !@#$%^&*"
      You: You seem to be out of the item, can I get my money back now, or should I come back when you've got some more items in stock?
      Manager: (Runs away screaming)

      It's amazing the leeway you can get by blowing up a store. ;-)

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  88. grammar police by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    "I think your missing the point."

    I think you're missing your grammar.

  89. Steeleye Span by Azahar · · Score: 1

    Trend setting? You must be thinking of Maddy Prior.

    --
    Cuiusvis hominis est errare; nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare.
  90. And Today's Lesson is: by RatBastard · · Score: 1, Troll

    "You get what you pay for."

    Why do you blame them because you bought a piece of crap DVD player? Sounds like the one at fault here is you. Take a little responcibility for your actions and admit you screwed the pooch.

    When you do decide to buy working DVD player, do a little research first. Find out which units are crap BEFORE you waste your money on them. It doesn't take much time and it will save you money.

    --
    Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
    1. Re:And Today's Lesson is: by TrekkieGod · · Score: 1
      Why do you blame them because you bought a piece of crap DVD player? Sounds like the one at fault here is you. Take a little responcibility for your actions and admit you screwed the pooch.

      Although I agree that this is probably not because of copy protection...I don't think the one at fault is him. I think it's the manufacturer of his crap DVD player.

      Why are we consumers supposed to be responsible for piece of shit products? No matter how cheap the product is, it's supposed to do what it advertises. If one player is more expensive than another, it should be because of added features, not because the low end one won't do what it's supposed to. Instead of trying to return DVD's, he should be returning that player.

      --

      Warning: Opinions known to be heavily biased.

  91. They just saved me a bunch of money by Empty_One · · Score: 1

    If they actually go through with this, and make even more intrusive CD's and DVD's that I cannot make backups of, I simply will not buy them.

    I'll own it, that's for sure. I'll just wait for some pissed off person to post it to usenet or one of the many file sharing services at my disposal.

    Hell, I may even buy an iPod, just so I can copy songs to as many of my devices as possible.

  92. Leave society and become a hermit... by oliverthered · · Score: 1

    I tried, but unfortunatly, I don't even own the ground I walk on, I'd be quite happy to start up a commune if it wasn't so expensive to do so and get taxed just for living.

    Thousands of years ago ,or less than 100 in some parts of the world, you could be free without being a hermit.

    The comment initially came from the language used in the story.

    "The technology that makes this possible -- known as digital rights management, or DRM -- will forever change the way we CONSUME media and software, experts believe. "

    M use requires nothing to be created or destroyed so I don't consume.

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    1. Re:Leave society and become a hermit... by PseudoThink · · Score: 1

      True, true, one would have to move to Antarctica or something. That language they used only amounts to unrealistic hype, as we all know. "Forever change the way we consume media"...sh'ya! And monkeys might fly out of my butt!

  93. Sure, if you bought an old, cheap player by addikt10 · · Score: 1

    But what if you bought a higher end component, such the pioneer DVL-919 combo LD/DVD player?
    Then, would you still that old equipment should be pushed in to obsolescence?

    And if so, then what about the DVD format in general. Should we abondon the technology for something that has the rights management built in, so those millions of DVD's sold so far become worthless plastic coasters?

    No.

  94. "Rip-proof" by wiggly-wiggly · · Score: 1


    did no one else laugh at this?

    1. Re:"Rip-proof" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just don't like to laugh in public. Anyway, the technology is aimed at people who don't know how to record first and watch later.

  95. Getting there by muffen · · Score: 1

    with the aim of preventing or limiting users' ability to copy, or "rip," them

    Step 1: Stop people from ripping CDs/DVDs.
    Step 2: Detect soundcards and gfx cards in computers and don't play the media if detected.
    Step 3: Stop producing CDs and DVDs, just charge people anyways.
    Step 4: Make $$$

    Well, alright, slightly exadurated (hope I spelt that word right), but still, it shows the stupidity in some of these things.

    Now, I don't mind copy protection and I do understand the need for it, but seriously, isn't there a limit. We are getting passed the point where these things are usable all together.

  96. OK, enough with the FUD, people! by goldspider · · Score: 3, Insightful
    OK, there are 2 identified CD's that won't play on certain systems, big deal. Nothing's perfect.

    As far as the wild speculation about self-destructing DVDs and CDs, you either didn't read the article, or you are sensationalizing (as was done in the headline). Nowhere in the article were self-destructing DVDs or CDs mentioned, EVER! They were talking about downloadable music files that could only be played a few times before rendering themselves useless.

    The RIAA still hasn't come out with anything worth trying yet, but stop distorting the facts just for the sake of making the RIAA look more Evil(tm).

    --
    "Ask not what your country can do for you." --John F. Kennedy
    1. Re:OK, enough with the FUD, people! by jpetts · · Score: 1

      OK, there are 2 identified CD's that won't play on certain systems, big deal. Nothing's perfect.

      More than two: look at the Boycott RIAA website. There was also a site at http://www.fatchucks.com/ but that site has been suspended for some reason.

      --
      Call me old fashioned, but I like a dump to be as memorable as it is devastating - Bender
  97. Self destructing technology by UnknowingFool · · Score: 1

    I'm not up to speed on self-destructing CDs and DVDs, but I think that's a bad description. After all, they don't melt like in Mission Impossible. A better term would be one-time-use like cameras. Of course that name would unmask their real purpose and make consumers less likely to buy them.

    --
    Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  98. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm all up for more people getting the snip, then maybe I could be free again: too many people!!!

  99. so in other words... by sbwoodside · · Score: 1

    More discs that look like CDs and DVDs but aren't, will be coming soon.

    simon

  100. When did fair use laws get trampled on? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Does the american public care that our fair use laws are being trampled before our eyes? (or any other country). As far as i knew you could make a backup copy of anything you buy, so as not to loose the content and have to buy it again incase something happens (ie kids, scratches, dog, etc). And what is this about 1 use then it self destructs.

    Oh you can watch the matrix once for $20. But your wife, kids and dog can't. YOu have to pay an aditional $20 for each ($10 for kids).

    I mean come on. When did buying content become renting content. Where is this going to stop. Pretty soon you'll have to put a $5.00 bill into a radio to listen to it for 10 minutes.

    I for one am all for sites such as www.gamecopyworld.com , games have been trying this DRM tech for so long, and i just head over to there to get my legitimate copy.

    I can't believe that it's come down to this. Maybe if they didn't charge an arm and leg for music/movies (well first week of realease not too bad for movies) there wouldn't be so much privacy. And let's hope some judges out there will start ruling in favor of consumer rights.

    Just my 2 cents.

    -Dar

  101. Yes, it does matter by burgburgburg · · Score: 1
    I'd rather have cheap products that strike the proper balance between protecting the rights of the creator of the art and myself, the consumer. Like with the Apple Music Store: $0.99 for individual tracks, DRM to stop casual piracy but not enough to stop me from listening in a way that is convenient to me.

    I'd rather not pay good money to be treated as a criminal, have my fair use rights unilaterally taken away and lose the ability to listen to music I buy on my computer.

  102. Uncrackable, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm afraid the joke is still on the RIAA, no matter what happens.

    After all, if their claims are ocrrect and these technologies make piracy impossible, who can they blame for their piss-poor sales figures?.

    DRM technologies may make some new Justin Timberlake or Britney Spears CD uncopiable, but all the tech in the world can't stop it being shite....

  103. LoadXXX DVDs by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    While being lovely-looking and region-free, don't like multi-speed fast-forward or rewind on my DVD player. :-(

  104. Why are these companies so stupid? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    They are fighting the war on piracy EXACTLY the same way the govt is fighting the war on drugs...
    1. Come up with a solution to the problem
    2. Solution doesn't work
    3. Invest MORE money into solution #1
    4. Solution STILL doesn't work
    5. Invest yet MORE money into solution #1
    6. repeat
    Why is it so difficult to see that there is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY to make copy protection that will NOT be broken? All this does is inconvenience the average Joe and yet the songs will STILL be on the internet just as many times as they were before.

    The entertainment industry needs to learn these two principles:

    1) If you give consumers a good product at a REASONABLE price (I don't call $18-20 for a CD reasonable) they WILL buy it. It is so much less of a hassle to buy a CD for $10 than to download and burn lower quality (MP3) music with no artwork.

    2) If you keep crying wolf, no one will listen. I recently read about the MPAA complaining about the Matrix Reloaded being online... The fuckin movie has made like a BILLION dollars already (http://us.imdb.com/Business?0234215).

    One last rant... Millions of people use P2P and download MP3s, yet albums still manage to go multi-platinum. Hmmm, I wonder how that happens when so many people are pirates? I keep seeing the RIAA equating declining CD sales to piracy. They must be right, afterall, it couldn't have anything to do with the decline in the world's economy STRANGELY occurring at the same time?

    1. Re:Why are these companies so stupid? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Too bad I just used up all my mod points... And too bad we're both AC:s :) This is worth a +1 Insightful!

  105. They spend all this money on DRM... by sexylicious · · Score: 1

    When it only takes a few days or weeks for someone to crack the protection scheme. I say let them keep putting out copy-protection schemes. Then laugh when their money goes down the drain. Either the copy-protection schemes will survive, or there won't be any copy-protection schemes. (Although I'm not a fan of warezing games... I'd just like to point that out.)

  106. "Ripped" off of Yahoo news by Gothmolly · · Score: 0, Troll

    This story was on Yahoo yesterday. Nice to see the readers and editors are keeping with the times!

    --
    I want to delete my account but Slashdot doesn't allow it.
  107. So where are the consumer rights associations? by tanguyr · · Score: 1

    Over here in quaint old Europe, the UFC (Union Fédérale des Consommateurs) just sued EMI Music France, Warner Music France, Universal Pictures and the two largest retail chains over this kind of thing. They claim that:
    1) DRM violates the consumers' right to make a personal copy of CD/DVD media which they have bought.
    2) In Europe, blank recordable digital media are subject to a "tax" which gets paid to copyright associations (yes, that's right, even if you're gonna use it to back up your pc...) and that lables/copyright holders just can't have it both ways.
    3) Some of these copy-protected CDs won't play in car stereos, older CD players, etc etc

    here's the link but it's in french. /t

    --
    #!/usr/bin/english
  108. "Self-destruct you monster!!!" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Nothing better than the self-destruction of my lil' sisters entire MTV-crap-up-and-down-sampler collection including Britney Spears, N-Sync, and all these groups with their crap music and fsck-me-dances in their videos.

    Thank you RIAA!

    But besides I'm pretty happy that Michelangelos paintings won't self-destruct. You know? Because there is art that COUNTS out there. And I don't wan't to see it suffering from digital death.

  109. Simple economics & marketting by Snowgen · · Score: 1

    I'd rather have cheap products that sometimes don't work on 10 year old players (and protects rights for a creator of art) than expensive ones that can be pirated but work on all players.

    The assumption here is that companies price their products to recoup costs and make a modest profit. If this assumption were true, then your logic would be sound because, without piracy, companies could then achieve that modest profit point by selling more units at lower prices.

    But that's now how it works.

    Companies price their products to recoup costs and to maximize profits. A widget doesn't cost $23.99 because that was a number that the company decided would make it a modest profit. A widget costs $23.99 because that's exactly what the market will bear. If the company tries to sell widgets for $25.99 then people won't buy as many of their widgets, and profits will go down. If the company tries to price the widgets at $21.99, they might get more customers, but the increase in sales will not be enough to make up for the lost revenue of the lower price (or perhaps the increased production costs of trying to meet the increased demand).

    So it is with the entertainment industry. It's simple capitalism, economics, and marketting. If all piracy were to stop, the companies wouldn't lower prices, they would just make more money.

    I'll end this post with a partial syllogism:

    1. Theoretically, if all piracy were to stop, then demand for CD's (for example) would increase.

    2. As demand increases, so does price.

    3. Therefore ...

    I'll let you reach your own conclusion. Extra credit if you bring me an apple. :)

    1. Re:Simple economics & marketting by Skjellifetti · · Score: 1

      2. As demand increases, so does price.

      3. Therefore ...


      Supply will increase since the producer is making more than a normal profit thus enticing new companies to enter the market.

  110. Support your local "pirate" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
    This is why you need to support your friendly neighborhood "pirate" disk merchant. Imagine if you don't support him? He could go out of business and then you'd have no choice but to buy incompatible disks and upgrade your player whenever they thought it was time to plump up their bottom line.

    Even if you don't buy every disk from the local "pirate," you should try to buy a few now and then.

    Remember "piracy" is the only guarantee you have of:

    1. Always being able to get a copy of a disk you want. Say the powers that be decide to suppress some disk for some reason? Copyright allows them to censor something no matter whether it is important poltical speech or not.

    2. Being able to get unedited copies of disks. This is similar to the above. Just because Hollywood decided Eyes Wide Shut was to risque without censorship for Americans doesn't mean you have to live with that.

    3. Being able to get copies of disks that won't self destruct and will work in the broadest variety players.

    The only ethical thing to do is to support organized crime in their effort to provide you with disks that you actually own and don't still belong to the companies you've purchased them from after you purchased them.

  111. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's about time people stop wasting time watching TV, it really cuts into the amount of time you can waste each day reading slashdot.

  112. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by Alric · · Score: 2, Funny

    Worthwhile hobbies? Adventures?

    You mean, like, posting on /.?

  113. hey ! Boob ! by aepervius · · Score: 1

    What do you have against the boob tube :).

    --
    C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
    visit randi.org
    1. Re:hey ! Boob ! by jandrese · · Score: 1

      Not enough boobs. Darn those media censors.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
  114. Bought a 160 gigger drive and did exactly that. by crovira · · Score: 1

    Put every song from every CD and every .mov and .mpg and every piece of software and every file on it. I also bought a DVD burner to back the thing up.

    I did it NOW because I still can. As for the rest. I listen to the radio occasionally and its all the same old crap anyway but with different ads. I threw out the TV years ago. Someday somebody'll tell me about the excellent Swis crafsmanship he saw on the "Rotary Nose-Hair Trimmer" network and I'll feel sure I did the right thing.

    If only I didn't get a twinge of pity and utter contempt now and then for twho are still "Sucking on the Glass Teat" (With thanks to Harlan Ellison for that lovely concept.)

    No I HAVE a mouth and I will SCREAM!!!

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
    1. Re:Bought a 160 gigger drive and did exactly that. by JohnFluxx · · Score: 1

      160GB? I wouldn't even fit my star trek collection on that!

    2. Re:Bought a 160 gigger drive and did exactly that. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's only about 220-250 CDs, depending on length. I'd need 4 of those suckers to rip my CD collection, and that's not even getting into DVDs.

    3. Re:Bought a 160 gigger drive and did exactly that. by SpaceJunkie · · Score: 1

      I have just given up my mod points to state that for UK residents - the link in this guys sig is more relevant for us than perhaps anything else on this page.
      How tired are you of always reading US copyright law, and US copyright campaigns, and not having the slightest clue what the equivalents in the UK are?
      Anyway - this is a star link - I repeat it for the benefit of those with sigs turned off:
      The UK Campaign For Digital Rights

      --
      OrionRobots.co.uk - Robots From sol
  115. Bubba asks why CD?? by Arbogast_II · · Score: 1

    Personally, I don't really get the popularity of the CD. They are useful for installing software and "media" files when it is the only way to get the data. However, I find a Removable Hard Drive Bay is a dramatically better technology. Praise be to God (or Allah or Linus or whomever) for Linux for solutions to ignore copy protection on optical media!!!

    Hard Drives have
    Greater storage capacity, in less physical space.
    Very competative price vs CD media
    Dramatically better reliability and performance
    Security of being able to transport large amounts of data easily. For example, so at night you dont leave important files laying around office

    Personally, I avoid CD's and prefer HD's as data cartidges and file transfers by LAN and Internet.

    --


    HenryJamesFeltus.com
    1. Re:Bubba asks why CD?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Your comment makes little sence and confuses a whole bunch of issues. For example, Where to you buy music hard drives? Last time I went to a music story they didn't sell hard drives full of music. Another example, I'll let you throw my CD against the way if I can throw your hard drive.

    2. Re:Bubba asks why CD?? by Unkle · · Score: 1

      However, a removable hard drive bay is also a much newer technology (at least when it comes to mainstream availability), and CDR media is just dirt cheap--I am in the middle of using a 100 pack I bought in February basically for the tax (rebates made them free, but I had to pay taxes). I have yet to see a ~70GB Hard Drive for free after rebate. Plus, while a HDD might be a little more reliable (I personally wouldn't say there was a major difference-I have not ever had a CD fail on me, sure I get scratches once in a while, but nothing that has prevented me from listening to my music in the 13+ years I have been using CDs), CDs are also more phsyically robust--drop a HDD and a CD from your side onto pavement and I would wager that the CD will come out a little more usable.

      --
      Against stupidity, the gods themselves contend in vain.
  116. I have a solution by NigelJohnstone · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Don't allow copyright to be used when DRM protection is used. Its as simple as that.

    There are parallels to patents and trade secrets.

    If I choose to make my idea a trade secret then its protected forever unless someone breaks it, but if I want to use patent protection, then I have to disclose it publicly.
    Public disclosure, in exchange for legal protection.

    The same should be applied to DRM & Copyright. if I choose to DRM my protect, fine, good, but then its not in the public domain, so it can't be protected by copyright.

    You want copyright protection, then you have to give *your* side of the bargain too, and put it in an unprotected format, so that it is available when the copyright expires. How can I know if you will be around next year, let alone in 120 years when your copyright expires? I can't, so if you won't put it into public domain, then you can't get copyright protection.

    Thats the solution.

    1. Re:I have a solution by tanguyr · · Score: 1

      hmmmm, that's funny, Windows is patented but there hasn't been any public disclosure of its source code - not even to the patent office... /t

      --
      #!/usr/bin/english
    2. Re:I have a solution by Prince_Ali · · Score: 1

      You patent processes not source code.
      For instance I would patent: "The process of increasing a variable by one by adding one to that variable."
      I would not patent: i+=1; nor would I patent: inc ax.

      Of course this assumes that Amazon does not yet have this patent.

    3. Re:I have a solution by nightsweat · · Score: 1

      I don't have mod points today, but this is brilliant.

      --

      the major advances in civilization are processes which all but wreck the societies in which they occur - A.N. White
    4. Re:I have a solution by ftobin · · Score: 1

      That's a good argument. I even extend the same argument to closed-source code. If your product is closed source, then you don't get copyright protection on it.

    5. Re:I have a solution by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      What an ingenius idea.

      I am wondering...if a manufacturer comes up with a new scheme to protect CD/DVDs, and tries to patent the process, isn't it in the public domain then? Don't they have to release the details of the process (which of course allows it to be cracked almost immediately)?

      IANAPL

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
  117. Not to sound like a NeoCon.. by dentar · · Score: 1

    but the market will see to it that this does not succeed.

    Ok, poll. Hands up, all of you who willing buy self-destructing media?

    --
    -- I am. Therefore, I think!
  118. Hit them where it hurts by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I've seen a lot of comments about checking for the official "CD" logo before buying, so you can know ahead of time that it's going to be a proper disc.

    However, here's a better idea - check your store's return policy first. If the return policy takes open CDs for a refund (if you have cause), then buy whatever CDs you want.. and if you can't play them, return the stupid things! The publisher takes more of a financial hit that way, because they have to deal with the repackaging costs and such. Far better than simply not buying, if you're trying to make a point financially with these big companies.

  119. Hamburgers are made from beef? by parkov · · Score: 1

    You mean hamburgers aren't made from ham? The horror!

    1. Re:Hamburgers are made from beef? by Xenotionar · · Score: 1

      No... they're made from people from Hamburg.

      --
      To vacillate or not to vacillate, that is the question... or is it?
    2. Re:Hamburgers are made from beef? by Thud457 · · Score: 1

      Ich bin ein Hamburger!

      --

      the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

    3. Re:Hamburgers are made from beef? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Heh; thanks for the laugh. I can't believe this hasn't been modded up, and I'm fresh out of points :(

  120. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by Nick+Driver · · Score: 1

    I have mod points right now... too bad I can't use them here to give you a +1 Funny.

  121. Funny? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This "joke" may have been funny the first time around, but come on...this is what, the 5 billionth time that someone has said "Celine Dion can't play? This is a bad thing?"

    Har har. Try "I didn't do it" the next time, it might get more of a chuckle. Or maybe "where's the beef?"

    1. Re:Funny? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Q: What do Celine Dion, Bart Simpson's catch phrase, and Clara Peller's catch phrase have in common?

      A: All three of them are jokes!

  122. Who Cares? by stuckinmaine · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The way I see it DRM solutions are going to be self-policing. The ones that are incompatible with most of the hardware are going to have users returning the items or refusing to buy more items with the same DRM solution. The ones that do work just give crackers something new to work on. This is a rare point in history where companies are trying to make their product less user friendly. I predict that companies who adopt strict DRM solutions are going to have a harder time competing with the smaller organizations that do not. Once someone supplies artists with a method of getting reimbursed for their efforts that cuts out the overhead that is evident in the motion picture and recording industries the point will be moot. The only thing that can change this outcome is a combination of a monopoly and the "Super DMCA" or similar legislation that is being pushed in some states.

  123. This will make Ripping more prevalent by HermanAB · · Score: 1

    since everybody and his dog will copy the discs immediately after purchase, in order make a copy that will actually be useable without the hassle and that won't self erase.

    So, the main point of this is probably to improve blank CDR sales...

    --
    Oh well, what the hell...
  124. This will drive people to iTunes by BeowulfSchaeffer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When you can download an album or a song for .99cents a track and burn them without issue, and without going to the store, what benifit do you have going down to Sam Goody if the CD's they sell you there are DRM? No, this will drive people to use iTunes even more.

    1. Re:This will drive people to iTunes by t_allardyce · · Score: 1

      No, this will drive people to file-share more - who wants to pay money to "support" so-called "artists" when you can just download stuff for free?

      --
      This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
    2. Re:This will drive people to iTunes by BeowulfSchaeffer · · Score: 1

      This may sound hard to believe, but some people actually prefer legal music and software.

    3. Re:This will drive people to iTunes by slvr_dagger · · Score: 1

      This may sound hard to believe but there is music that you can download legally for free.

    4. Re:This will drive people to iTunes by t_allardyce · · Score: 1

      yeah there are people who like being fucked by horses, im not one of them.. tried it once, never again.

      --
      This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
  125. Why stop there? by crovira · · Score: 1

    "it's only a matter of time before every CD will work only in stereos and on machines which have specific versions of software like Windows."

    How about we key the media to the player so that YOUR CD will ONLY play on YOUR CD player. Its 128 bit encrypted at the time of purchase and if your hardware breaks, kiss your collection goodbye.

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
  126. Rip it yourself! by temojen · · Score: 1

    mount /dev/scd0 /mnt/tmp
    mkdir image
    cp -R /mnt/tmp/* image
    umount /mnt/tmp
    mkisofs -dvd-video -udf -o nodestruct.iso image
    growisofs -dvd-compat -Z /dev/scd0=nodestruct.iso

    1. Re:Rip it yourself! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Or just use acidrip.

  127. Huh? by metamatic · · Score: 1

    I bought Hail To The Thief and it was a perfectly normal CD.

    --
    GCHQ Quantum Insert installed. If only our tongues were made of glass, how much more careful we would be when we speak
  128. Self destructing files? It's called the... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...FAT16 filesystem.

  129. rights and copyright by Azahar · · Score: 2, Informative

    I write and have recently taken up painting. My wife is a graphic designer.

    If you make it then you are the copyright holder. If you make it for someone else you are still the copyright holder but the person who contracted you can use your work as the contract states. If you are employed then your work belongs to your employer.

    I would imagine that most musical artists hold the copyright to their own music. If they wrote the music then they own it twice.

    That said, the companies are big and know how to steamroll.

    --
    Cuiusvis hominis est errare; nullius nisi insipientis in errore perseverare.
    1. Re:rights and copyright by CorwinOfAmber · · Score: 1
      If you make it then you are the copyright holder. If you make it for someone else you are still the copyright holder but the person who contracted you can use your work as the contract states. If you are employed then your work belongs to your employer.

      Not necessarily. The US Copyright Act allows for "Work for Hire" contracts, in which the copyright for a work goes to the employer who hired the creator to make the work, not to the creator. It all depends on the contract.

      I would imagine that most musical artists hold the copyright to their own music.

      I'm not going to do the legwork for you, but I imagine you are mistaken.

      Well, maybe a little legwork. Start here and here.

      --
      My future's determined by Thieves, thugs, and vermin -- The Offspring
    2. Re:rights and copyright by Sven+The+Space+Monke · · Score: 1
      If you are employed then your work belongs to your employer.

      I guess I'm REALLY lucky. I (sort of) do creative work, but I NEVER signed any contract saying that I handed rights over to my employer. In my line of work, I was never expected to do any creative/design work - they just found out I had programming skills after I had a no-brainer job, and occasionally ask me to do some custom stuff. Nothing to heavy, but I still own the rights (I program everything on my own personal laptop). I also put copywight notices in everything. Go me!

      --
      A man who can't pronouce "nuclear arsenal" shouldn't have one -sig ends here.
    3. Re:rights and copyright by hazem · · Score: 1

      Speaking of painting, here's a quick question I've wondered about.

      I paint every now and then. I usually give my best paintings to my friends. You know, when I'm famous and dead, the paintings will be worth millions. Okay, maybe 10s!

      So, if I give the painting as a gift, with no contract, do you have any idea how that works? Do I retain the copyright? I know they can sell the painting, but can they make their own prints of it?

      If I want them to be able to make prints, do I simply write a letter saying "I made this. I give all copyright to ___"?

    4. Re:rights and copyright by LetterJ · · Score: 1

      You retain the copyright and copyright is automatically covers it when you create it. Current law has all rights default to the creator unless someone has legal documents proving you signed away some of those rights.

    5. Re:rights and copyright by hyphz · · Score: 1

      > they just found out I had programming skills
      > after I had a no-brainer job, and occasionally
      > ask me to do some custom stuff. Nothing to
      > heavy, but I still own the rights (I program
      > everything on my own personal laptop).

      In the UK at least they wouldn't need to give you a contract. Anything written using work resources as part of work, is automatically the employer's copyright. Work time counts as "work resources".

    6. Re:rights and copyright by JaxGator75 · · Score: 1

      Is that enough, or are there legal actions you must take to enforce that copyright?

      I thought it you got paid by XYZ for producing Product A, then XYZ owns Product A.

      --
      Come and see the violence inherent in the system!
    7. Re:rights and copyright by Sven+The+Space+Monke · · Score: 1
      That's the best part - they never paid me to make this program, I just did it on my own personal time (breaks, lunch, hometime, etc) just to make my job easier (using my laptop and my compliers and such). I showed my boss to ask her who I would need approval for to use it, and it's now been implimented for everyone who does my job. I never signed any forms. In fact, the closest thing to a formal agreement was "Do you mind if we put this on everyone's system?" - I don't mind everyone using it at all.

      I even bought the laptop before I got this job

      --
      A man who can't pronouce "nuclear arsenal" shouldn't have one -sig ends here.
    8. Re:rights and copyright by Sven+The+Space+Monke · · Score: 1
      They would have a hard time enforcing any such claims. They never paid me, and never even asked me to make it. I did it on my own time, on my own equpiment, for my own use. It was only after it was done that I was asked if they could use it. They'll also have a REALLY hard time claiming they own it because of them owning the systems, or such. The source code is on my systems entirely, and backed up at home. I never put it on work machines because I don't have access to a compiler at work. Plus, I put in an Easter Egg that only I know about (so far), so that may come in handy.

      Besides, I only have to take legal action if they try to infringe on the copyrights. They haven't done that yet.

      --
      A man who can't pronouce "nuclear arsenal" shouldn't have one -sig ends here.
    9. Re:rights and copyright by PunchMonkey · · Score: 1

      If you make it then you are the copyright holder. If you make it for someone else you are still the copyright holder but the person who contracted you can use your work as the contract states. If you are employed then your work belongs to your employer.

      Interesting.... I tend to get skewed views and sometimes outright false information from my coworkers and employers.... I work at a major record label :-) They look at me funny when I ask too many questions about copyright law, etc, so I generally keep my mouth shut.

      --
      I'll have something intelligent to add one of these days...
    10. Re:rights and copyright by HTH+NE1 · · Score: 1

      It was only after it was done that I was asked if they could use it.

      So they have a verbal license for it, but not a copyright; that remains with you.

      But I hope the license isn't just verbal.

      --
      Oh, say does that Star-Spangled Banner entwine / The myrtle of Venus with Bacchus's vine?
  130. All this DRM talk is funny... by Ghengis · · Score: 1

    As far as music goes, as long as there's a wire carrying a signal to a speaker, ripping music will be do-able. As far as that goes, as long as there are regular TV's (i.e. we don't require *special* DRM TVs) which can display the video images, DVD's will be rippable too. For that matter, as long as we're using a CRT or any of the current LCD or Plasma displays, we could break open the box to get to the signal. It may be harder and require some soldering and what-not, but it WILL be do-able.

    --

    "The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft agley..." - ROBERT BURNS

    1. Re:All this DRM talk is funny... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "as far as music goes, as long as there's a wire carrying a signal to a speaker, ripping music will be do-able"

      Yeah, but the quality won't be as good as the original because of the analogue in the middle (apar from these new digital optical cables).

      And I wouln't be suprised if the RIAA was looking into closed systems - speaks and stuff all in one sealed (by the design of the electronics I mean, not just inside a sealed box) unit.

    2. Re:All this DRM talk is funny... by Ghengis · · Score: 1

      But they can't force me to buy a sealed home theatre system, can they?

      --

      "The best laid plans of mice and men gang oft agley..." - ROBERT BURNS

  131. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by lildogie · · Score: 1

    >Maybe more and more people will slowly wake up and realize that the
    > whole "entertainment industry" is rotting and dying...
    > they need to instead spend their idle time pursuing worthwhile
    > hobbies, projects, sports, adventures, etc ...

    I agree wholeheartedly. What would be best, IMHO, is if people re-learned how to entertain each other through local theatre and musical performance groups.

    Similar to baseball in the US during the strike. A lot of fans actually went out and _played_ the game, instead of being stadium potatoes. People who couldn't/didn't play could still watch the local teams to get their baseball fix.

    Once upon a time, there was no recording industry. To enjoy music, people played instruments and sang with and to each other. Professional musicians were more in demand, since you couldn't use a recording as a replacement for live music. If this all came back, I don't think it would be particularly tragic for anyone but the recording industry (and for them, it would be tragic in the Greek sense).

  132. Protecting things that aren't worth protecting by Go+Aptran · · Score: 1
    Not to advocate DVD duplication or anything but... has anyone else noticed the tendency to pad out mediocre film releases on DVD with extras in order to make it impossible to fit a copy into a standard DVD-R?

    But most serious or alternative work that I've come across concentrates on the film and not the fluff and fits just fine

    --

    "Under the spreading chestnut tree, I sold you and you sold me."

  133. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by DocTBone · · Score: 1

    Include in that list of hobbies playing music, as well as listening to live performances of local artists. I have to wonder whether the 20th and early 21st centuries will eventually be seen as an aberration from the normal view of music as something you actively participate in, rather than passively listen to.

    --
    To swim, only to die at the edge.
  134. Analog Hole by democritus · · Score: 1

    Say it with me now folks: Analog Hole. And as the quality of recordings and video goes, up, the extra DAD conversion will be barely noticable.

    1. Re:Analog Hole by stanmann · · Score: 1

      I got your analog hole

      --
      Food not Bombs is a nice platitude but it breaks down when you notice that the Bombees are usually well fed
  135. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by Metropolitan · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Actually, the creative aspects of that 'industry' are doing just fine, but are hampered by a multi-gazillion-dollar corporation-controlled financing and distribution network. People with money don't want to lose that money, they think people are sheep, they keep funding Nightmare on Elm St. XXVII and the like.

    If we as their audience stop attending movies and buying recordings they release, then something will happen. Until that point, when the huge numbers of people stop thinking that Top 40 Radio is all there is, when they stop heading in to see Dumb and Dumberer and the latest Rocky franchise, then they will continue reaping huge profits and controlling what we see and hear.

    If it really bothers you, do a couple of things:
    - Go see local bands, and support them directly.
    - Watch movies at your local art-movie house, made by someone other than Sony, Fox, etc.
    - Write to your elected representatives with your concerns about copyright and ownership. Be clear, intelligent, and specific.

    Karl Schroeder has some interesting ideas on something called the Rights Economy in Permanence. Amazon carries it.

    If we cannot step our little feet out of the basket, then we will just have to enjoy things as the trip gets warmer and warmer.

  136. More shit I won't buy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Smart move. Start selling damaged good in a bad economy when people have less discretionary income to begin with to almost completely ensure they don't spend thier money buying your pieces of shit cripplewares. Hmm, 2 broken CDs for 40 dollars or any other way of spending that money? I know which will win. I hope all the investors pull out faster than these pricks can say TurboTaxDRM.

    by the way, I didn't read the article and I posted this off the cuff without reading any other comments. And I'm gonna be anonymous coward because it's Tuesday.

  137. somewhat offtopic radiohead question by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    i'm dying to ask american slashdotters a drm question. in canada, the new radiohead album is clearly labeled "copy-protected." of course, i refuse to buy it. would a trip to america get me a real radiohead cd?

    dvds form and content can handle drm. commercial music cds cannot. they need their every bit of space for music, not drm. what's more, making mixes has been part of mainstream music culture for at least twenty years. consumers cannot be expected to give up this ability without a fight.

  138. well said -nt- by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    well said -nt-

  139. Yes, music!!!! by Nick+Driver · · Score: 1

    As an amatuer musician myself, I'm now quite ashamed that I forgot to put that in the list.

  140. This WILL ALWAYS work by Ralph+Spoilsport · · Score: 1
    To defeat video DRM: spend a few hundred bucks on a video time base corrector (TBC). You can get one used on eBay fairly cheaply for about $200. Plug your DVD player's video out into it's video in, and put a DV camera with analogue IN on the TBC's stabilised video out. The DRM usually skips the audio portion, so you can (usually) string the audio right across from the DVD player to the DV camera.

    The TBC will strip out the DRM / Macrovision bullshit, and replace it that track with blank information, giving you a completely stable video signal. done.

    Now: DRM'd audio CDs?

    This is harder and it will take some serious programming chops, but it's pretty much a permanent solution to the whole damn thing:

    write a program that takes the digital audio data just prior to it going to the DAC. This will require someone reverse engineering a part of the audio driver in the OS du jour. Once you have that datastream, you dupe it: half go to the DAC (As expected, so this way, if the DAC has some kind of checksum going, it won't notice) the other dupe gets saved directly to the hard drive as an MP3 / OGG / WAV / AIF / whatever floats your boat file format.

    best,

    RR

    --
    Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
    1. Re:This WILL ALWAYS work by Cid+Highwind · · Score: 3, Interesting

      write a program that takes the digital audio data just prior to it going to the DAC. This will require someone reverse engineering a part of the audio driver in the OS du jour.

      There are dummy sound drivers available that do this now. The problem is MS driver signing. Windows 2000 checked for digital signatures on drivers. WinXP spews dire-sounding warnings if you try to install unsigned drivers. Who wants to bet that windows media player n+1 will refuse to play DRMed content through unsigned video and sound drivers? The infrastructure is there now, all it takes is a few lines of code in WMP.

      Sure, it'll still work on open platforms like Linux, but what's the point if nobody even releases DRM-enabled media players for it.

      --
      0 1 - just my two bits
  141. Price vs Cost by uberdave · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Never, never, never confuse price and cost. The two are independant. The price of a product is what the consumer will pay for a product. The cost is the amount of money it took to produce the product. Right now, the consumer is willing to pay more for music on CD than on tape. That is why the price for CDs is higher. The fact that it costs less to produce a CD is irrelevant. The consumer is willing to pay the higher price.

    1. Re:Price vs Cost by sn00ker · · Score: 1
      The consumer is willing to pay the higher price.
      The consumer is given a choice in the matter? Where're you living? Because where I live, the consumer pays the sticker price and that's the end of the story.
      Either the consumer pays, or they go without. Their willingness to pay never comes into it, other than whether or not they want the music on a format they can use - Lots of people don't have tape players anymore, certainly not in cars or that they can carry around with them.

      --
      "God, root, what is difference?" - Pitr, userfriendly
    2. Re:Price vs Cost by uberdave · · Score: 1

      Price points are set based on the results of sales in test markets. But, like you say, the consumer has a choice: Pay, or go without. If more people pay, the price goes up. If more people go without, the price comes down. You're also reght about another thing. We've lost the art of haggling.

  142. Dear RIAA/MPAA by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Having followed the progression of DRM from non-existent to testing to production, and assuming the next step of ubiquity, I say thank you for your draconian measures. What you assert is protecting your business model has alientated this consumer from the equation and the results are quite enjoyable.

    I used to see movies all the time in theatres, three to four a week. I enjoyed the bad stories as well as the amazing effects; the cinema was a hobby I did not mind spending a couple hundred dollars a month on. Simultaneously, the captains of your industry made two fatal errors: a bad, original story is more seductive than a formulaic reprise of a plot done over and over already. Secondly, the noise over DRM, the jostlings of Tivo, and lobbying governmental bodies has resulted in me willing to sacrifice my entertainment values for a cause.

    I used to buy CDs all the time, up to ten a month. Napster catalyzed me to buy more CDs as I'd often get a few tracks, often with compression hiccups and that would entice me to learn more about new artists and explore their catalogs. I spent a few thousand a year on new music and I would often rip the CD to my laptop and, when traveling, would play these new artists and catalyze others to explore their catalog. The captains of your industry have made the same fatal error as those in the movie business: all the artists sound the same and your draconian mindset and treating customers as the enemy have catalyzed a cause against you.

    There is much conjecture regarding the moral code governing your businesses, respectively. You think stealing is wrong and have a responsibility to protect your investments and the consumers see sharing as a step forward in the artistic movement and find your profit margins to be obscene and your attitude ungrateful.

    You do have the right to seek substantial return on your investment, the artist have a right to spend less money making their products (I've known a few bands and filmmakers that got signed and they partied up on the advance like it was free money), and the consumer has a right to purchase the media unencumbered. Everyone is so busy seeing what's wrong, few are approriating solutions.

    What does it mean when Apple, a computer hardware company with no experience, can eclipse your, two entire industries with probably two hundred years combined experience in the field, "best" efforts into online distribution?

    But I digress. Thank you for saving me money and waking me up. I was a good consumer until there was a reason to fight my handlers and now, frankly, I am enjoying the fight.

    In the vaccuum of your corporate-backed media in my life, I have taken to finding new avenues of entertainment. With the several thousand dollars a year I am saving, I have been able to buy more books to read, go to more local bars and see live performances of some suprisingly good artists who would never appear on your radar, I've seen cool films in basements, and even used a little of my extra money to invest in a small budget film.

    I enjoy the community of intellectuals this scuff has given rise to. We may not be a cadre of lawyers, but we are learnign the law and how it affects us daily as we are fascinated by the game you are playing. For us it is an exercise and for you it is life or death. There's a lot less pressure on us and many more of us, and we control the money you so desire, so I think we're pretty much assured victory in the long run, but thanks for coming out to the skirimish.

    I've seen more plays and art exhibits, I've spent more time with my friends and family in social settings instead of anti-social movie theatres, I exercise to muscians whose only identification is Jonathan Wong Set 1 (Jon has no contract, he's a bedroom DJ putting mixes out there for the love).

    And it's great! I feel so free and uncumbered. You tried to tell me what to think and that challenge freed my mind in many ways.

    So I say thank you, MPAA and RIAA, please continue your legal rabb

  143. Re:We're talking standards, something you missed.. by Suidae · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Self Destructing DVDs will simply not be bought unless the pricing ratio is well worth it.

    I expect that they will be pretty popular actually. Its just like a rental, at the same price point, except there are no late fees, and you never have to remember to return it. This lets all regular retail places in on the rental market, because they don't have to maintain customer databases or return procedures. Instead of going to blockbuster, you can just drive down to the 24 hour convienance mart and get any movie you want.

    Hell, I wouldn't be suprised to see a system where they have a kiosk with a DVD burner that will put whatever movie you want onto a special chemically limited DVD-R so that stores won't even have to maintain a stock of disks. It would be like an ATM machine, just put it in the store and some guy comes around and services it every couple of weeks, loads up new blank disks and new releases. Put it on a web page, order up your movie before you leave the house, and it will be ready to pick up when you get there.

    I'd buy that. Specially when someone comes out with a specially treated wetwipe that prevents/reverses the chemical process that disables the disks after exposure to oxygen.

    People take the path of least resistance.

    Thats precisely what these companies are counting on. 99+% of the DVD watching population wouldn't know what to do with a DVD rip if it came with instructions. Nor will they care; if a DVD won't play in their consumer player, they'll assume its a bad disk and go get another or get their money back.

  144. See the rest of the post. by Andy+Dodd · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Like the "safe deposit box" part.

    Yeah, CDs will fall apart or die faster in non-optimal environments. But a safe deposit box is not one of those.

    --
    retrorocket.o not found, launch anyway?
    1. Re:See the rest of the post. by zero_offset · · Score: 1
      Like the "safe deposit box" part.

      Indeed -- one factor among many (the rest of my post).

      Unless your backup is so precious that you have it in a sealed nitrogen-filled Swiss vault somewhere, perhaps. Look, I have literally hundreds of backup CDs (used to be in the multimedia biz) and the great majority of them are just fine (I grab a few beers and sit down to test-read all of them once a year or so)... but the fact is, some just die for no good reason. It has happened to me and others I know often enough that your claim of 50 years is weak at best.

      But do whatever floats your boat, I was just trying to help.

      --

      Slashdot quality declines as the number of hot grits posts decreases. - Provolt's Law, Apr-09-2005

  145. Sadly misguided.. by Slashdolt · · Score: 1

    If copying CD's is tantamount to stealing, why would anyone in their right minds want to invite criminals into their store?!!!

    They're trying to get people to buy these DRM CD's that would rather "steal" the content. Would Walmart try to lure more shoplifters into their store?

    So, what does this really do? It makes DVD's and CD's a little less useful for the people that buy them, which means that they buy less of them, which in turn means that they sell fewer. And of course that drop is business, is all result of piracy. Right?

  146. Future threat of lost culture by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I haven't seen anyone mention the threat that future generations may lose whole sections of DRM "protected" culture because the machines which decode that culture are no longer available.

    This is not unlike simple obsolecense (e.g. how can anyone who finds an ancient 8 inch floppy disk manage to read what's on it?) but seems worse, because at least nobody was actively trying to prevent you from read the damn thing. In 50 years, it may be the case that culture of today, protected by some failed (read: not popular) DRM strategy is simply inaccessible, and lost forever.

  147. Rip Proof and Self Destructioning? Purchaseproof! by AC5398 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Lemme get this straight? I go out and buy ArtistX's latest cd/dvd. Costs me $20 bucks. What do I get for this? The DVD player refuses to play the cd. The Imac freezes solid. Getting it unfrozen means I gotto trek down to the pc store and fork out an extra $120 for the service fee. I gotta reboot the pc. And Zonealarm goes freaking crazy because program X keeps trying to dial out. Don't call me paranoid here -- it'll happen, it's just a matter of time. To play the godforsaken audio cd, I gotta put the cd into the portable cd player, feed it into the computer and record an mp3, and use that mp3 to create an audio cd that plays on the dvd player, the imac, and the pc. All this for 20 bucks. Whatta deal! OR, I could use the 10 minutes it takes to get the freaking saran wrap off of the audio cd and download the cd from Kazaa. For free. ORRRRRRRRR, I could really stick it to the music company and the f'ing band who signed off with said music company and NOT BUY THE DAMN CD AND NOT DOWNLOAD IT! When the music industry sees all interest in music cd's die utterly, both on Kazaa and in cd sales, they'll be falling over themselves to stop the DRM nonsense.

  148. New Radiohead Album by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    just a heads up, the new radiohead album has copy protection built in. It requires that you install software (that comes on the cd) to listen to the cd and is only supported in windows and mac os 9/x (also claims to be compatable with legacy cd players, but I don't own one so i couldn't test)
    well all my machines run linux so I wasn't able to play the cd (although the thought did cross my mind to use wine, but I just returned the cd)

    i've never really bought cds in the past (for various reasons, money, i could store more on my computer, etc) and now that i'm becoming more interested in certain artists I find purchasing cds allows you to feel with alot more clarity what the artist wanted you to feel, that and downloading is a hassle. Needless to say, i'm going back to downloading, not being able to play/rip to mp3 my own cds is really making me rethink buying cds.

    1. Re:New Radiohead Album by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful
      t requires that you install software (that comes on the cd) to listen to the cd

      And gosh, let me guess... There wouldn't be a bunch of ADVERTISEMENTS packaged along with this wonderful Radiohead listening software, would there? My my, the real reason for this is becoming clearer all the time...

  149. The real issue is the lost value by ShatteredDream · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Nobody I know likes being reminded everytime about the FBI. Nobody I know likes being forced to watch previews. Nobody I know likes being told what to do with their DVD when they use it for their own purposes unless they take it upon themselves to give copies away to everyone.

    It's about the content dammit! People don't buy DVDs for previews, for fancy menus or the damn FBI warning. Most people want the movie, not the 2 hours of celebrity mutual masturbation that is the typical "bonus" disk. I have a better idea for them, find a way to reduce the cost to such a point that you can buy **just** the movie for $10 after sales tax. If they want to make it sooo easy for customers to get the movies they want and make them happy they'd make it so that producing a "lite" DVD is so cheap that they could sell them so inexpensively that a $20 bill would buy you 2 movies.

    Of course that would require an entrepeneurial spirit, something they have not known for almost a century. That would require them to take a calculated risk, something that they don't understand the need for. The market won't hold back forever. Americans have technological blinders, but we're not blind. When we see nations like South Korea, Taiwan and Japan that have no analogs to the DMCA sticking their tongues out at us when their gadgets are a good 5-10 years ahead of ours because of the DMCA, et al, Americans will be mad. Why? It won't be just silly gadgets, it'll be a lot of things. First it will be the divisions that make the gadgets like the DVD-VCRs, then it will be the rest of the company that goes overseas. More jobs lost because "artists" were being "ripped off."

    I'm more musically inclined than Britney Spears and company. I say fuck the "artists" if we have to choose between their copyrights and a functioning free market. It's more important that 5,000 musicians not get paid for their songs downloaded illegally than 2,500 more manufacturing jobs or any other jobs go everseas because the companies found our copyright laws too stifling.

    Everybody has ignored the most obvious factor of musical growth: the advancement of science. The most scientifically advanced societies on Earth also have the most musically diverse cultures as a general rule. The more science has made our lives better, even in peripheral ways, the more musicians have benefited. In 100 years science took us from having a society with only a few major types of music (in no small part because so many modern musical tools hadn't been invented like electric equipment) to having dozens. It made it possible for tens of thousands of musicians to at least effectively supplement their income with their skills. Excuse the hell out of me, but science has done more for copyright holders than copyright law. It was not economically feasible for so many musicians to make a living off of their music 100 years ago, but now thanks to the explosion of technological growth it's definitely possible if you're good.

    I have one final proposal for the closet socialists and fascists of the **AA: lobby against budget deficits, pork barrel spending and the peacetime income tax if you want more money. All of the yuppies get the other 30-50% of their income back. What do they do with it? Invest it all or give little johny or suzie more allowance? A lot of the former and probably a lot of the latter as well. What is little johny or suzie going to do, buy blue chip stock shares? Hell no! They're going to go down to Sam Goody, buy an extra $100 worth Nelly, Jay Z, Britney Spears and Metallica.

    1. Re:The real issue is the lost value by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Most people want the movie, not the 2 hours of celebrity mutual masturbation that is the typical "bonus" disk.

      You misunderstood; it's the "bone us" (roughly, without lubricant) disk.
    2. Re:The real issue is the lost value by cens0r · · Score: 1

      I completly disagree. I think selling the movie cheaper won't make a bit of difference. The people who pirate will still want it for less. I think adding special features to the disc (whether cd or dvd) is the best thing they can do. If I download a movie off of kazaa, i don't get: commentaries, trailers, alternate sound tracks (DTS?), documentaries, story boards, interviews, etc. Because I enjoy that stuff, buying the movie over downloading it for free actually presents much greater value to me. Factor in the cost that most DVD's are already cheaper than a trip for me an my GF to the movie theater and I don't see the problem.

      I think the way for **AA to keep the consumers buying things, and keep them happy is to keep adding value to the product (that they can't get easily through pirating) and not increasing the price to do so.

      --
      Jack Valenti and Orrin Hatch will be first up against the wall when the revolution comes.
    3. Re:The real issue is the lost value by Catiline · · Score: 1
      have one final proposal for the closet socialists and fascists of the **AA: lobby against budget deficits, pork barrel spending and the peacetime income tax if you want more money.

      I see two problems with that suggestion that would prevent it from being implemented: first, with the War on Terrorism and the War on Drugs this country will always be at war. Secondly, after you convince the "closet socialists" at the **AA, you have to convince the professional socialists in our government that they are unwanted--and true or not, they would never (willingly) believe you.

    4. Re:The real issue is the lost value by CoasterFamily · · Score: 1

      Most people want the movie, not the 2 hours of celebrity mutual masturbation that is the typical "bonus" disk.

      I disagree. I may be in the minority of this though... I buy most DVDs for the bonus content plus the movie. Look at LotR. I am more than happy to wait a few extra months for the "extended" editions. But, New Line did those right. Two versions. One for those who want the movie, one for those who want it all.

      We all know that DVD is a better format than VHS. Part of the alure of DVDs is the extra content that you can put on them. Some of it is crap but most of it is nice to have.

      If I just want to see the movie, I'll rent it. If it's a good movie and has some nifty extras, I'll buy the DVD.

    5. Re:The real issue is the lost value by haxor.dk · · Score: 2, Funny

      'm more musically inclined than Britney Spears and company. I say fuck the "artists"...

      Oooh yes, please =)

    6. Re:The real issue is the lost value by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      I have a better idea for them, find a way to reduce the cost to such a point that you can buy **just** the movie for $10 after sales tax. If they want to make it sooo easy for customers to get the movies they want and make them happy they'd make it so that producing a "lite" DVD is so cheap that they could sell them so inexpensively that a $20 bill would buy you 2 movies.

      or 4 CDs

      This is it in a nutshell. These guys have a shrinking window of opportunity here. As long as I'm still on dialup, downloading movies is a non-starter, and I'd gladly pay $5 for an album I'm marginally interested in, rather then tie up my phoneline for hours for a likely crappy rip ... but not $15+

      The cost of producing the media is trivial, and most artists get crap. Sow where is the money going? They'd better find out and start trimming.

      If these guys think they have problems now, wait until broadband becomes the norm.

    7. Re:The real issue is the lost value by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      If these guys think they have problems now, wait until broadband becomes the norm.

      Huh? Isn't it already? Everyone I know has broadband. Move out of the sticks!

    8. Re:The real issue is the lost value by gad_zuki! · · Score: 2, Funny

      >not the 2 hours of celebrity mutual masturbation

      Err, what DVD are you referring to? I'd like to know for, umm, academic purposes.

    9. Re:The real issue is the lost value by mpe · · Score: 1

      It's about the content dammit! People don't buy DVDs for previews, for fancy menus or the damn FBI warning. Most people want the movie, not the 2 hours of celebrity mutual masturbation that is the typical "bonus" disk.

      They might want deleted scenes, maybe even a movie longer than the typical 90-100 minutes.

  150. DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by sporty · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Nothing is wrong with self destructing dvd's. Just saves you a trip of going back to the rental place. It's also stock that a rental store doesn't need to track. :P

    Netflix can really use this.

    --

    -
    ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only

    1. Re:DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by tomcio.s · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Ehm.. Don't we have enough landfill as it is. Well, especially with all those AOL cd's in there?

      Serioulsy, for renting it _might_ be convinient, but how enviromentally friendly is it?

    2. Re:DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by sporty · · Score: 1

      Well, i'm sure it can be recycled. Netflix can sponsor a recycle bin for that and aol cd's.

      Better yet, mail them to aol :)

      --

      -
      ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only

    3. Re:DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by Laur · · Score: 1

      AFAIK CDs can NOT be recycled. If anyone knows differently please let me know.

      --
      When you lose something irreplaceable, you don't mourn for the thing you lost, you mourn for yourself. - Harpo Marx
    4. Re:DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by sporty · · Score: 1

      http://www.worldwise.com/reccdsanddv.html says differently. Just google'd it up.

      --

      -
      ping -f 255.255.255.255 # if only

    5. Re:DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by marklee · · Score: 1

      Well, nothing but yet more garbage going into our
      landfills.

    6. Re:DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by dvdeug · · Score: 1

      It's also stock that a rental store doesn't need to track.

      It's also stock that doesn't need be returned to the store, so you never get late fees from, and the customers never have to return to the store and maybe pick up another movie. Furthermore, instead of having to buy one $20 DVD for 60 rentals (actually probably $10 at their prices), they have to buy a $3 DVD for each rental. Every analysis I've seen says the rental stores hate this idea.

    7. Re:DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      From the link:

      "GreenDisk
      Will accept by mail (for a small fee) all forms of electronic media â" including CDs and DVDs -- for recycling. Fee goes to pay labor fees for processing."

      There is no recycle program for CDs/etc in any city I've ever lived in...so I'm going to spend MORE money to send the media to them to be recycled, when I'm already being overcharged for renting/buying it?

      I don't think so.

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
    8. Re:DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by the+uNF+cola · · Score: 1

      No, but Netflix could do a deposit thing. You get charged an extra dollar if you don't recycle your return. Even if it was a cd, it would get credited to your account. Of course, they'd have to put osmething to make sure you dont' get credited more than you were charged.

      Not the end of the world.

      --

      --
      "I'm not bright. Big words confuse me. But Wanda loves me and that should be enough for you." - Cosmo

    9. Re:DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by Laur · · Score: 1

      "GreenDisk Will accept by mail (for a small fee) all forms of electronic media â" including CDs and DVDs -- for recycling. Fee goes to pay labor fees for processing."

      So you buy a 50 pack of CD-Rs for $20, that works out to $.40 per disk. US first classmail is what, $.37? Plus a fee? I wonder why this program hasn't taken off...

      --
      When you lose something irreplaceable, you don't mourn for the thing you lost, you mourn for yourself. - Harpo Marx
    10. Re:DRM isn't bad when applied is fine by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

      That was pretty much my thought.

      Now maybe they should take some of the blank media tax and send that to these guys....Hmmmm....

      SB

      --
      It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
  151. Disney Movies? by Titusdot+Groan · · Score: 2, Insightful
    If technology firms like Sony and Microsoft have their way, songs and movies will expire after a single play -- unless you pay the copyright holder their due.

    Wow, my kids watched Disney's Robin Hood about 50 times (the still get it out now and then). So they want $750 (50*14.99) from me for this movie? That's their due?

    They are really nuts -- people buy movies with the expectation of watching them a couple of times and maybe swapping with their friends. As soon as you want this kind of money they'll just go back to watching TV ...
  152. "Piracy" in the future... by phorm · · Score: 1

    I'd expect that we may be able to duplicate items down to an molecular level. That is, pretty much the way the food-serving devices (or transporter beams, in a sense) work in Star Trek.

    This would be great for online purchasing...buy it, have it arrive via transporter.

    However, I do see the future ??AA (hopefully the current body will be dead by then) screaming and tearing out hair when piracy can be done as an exact science on a molecular level...

  153. This isn't for most of you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    But screw it, I'm going to download the majority of the music I listen to. Yes it's stealing. They want to stop making music because no one buys it fine by me, they can stop pretending they're artists then.

    I'll just buy cd's from the bands I go listen to at a local bar/club if I like it and want to listen to it again. Perhaps I'll then share the songs with some friends and they'll like what they hear and want to go see a show next time they play.

    Sounds like a fair deal to me. You give us the music you created with your artistic talent, we'll come and pay to see your performances.

    1. Re:This isn't for most of you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is similar to how it works for me. I like certain types of music. If the only way I can get the music is to buy the CD, I'll buy the CD. If I can download it instead, I'll do that. If it's a local band and they are selling their albums on the stage, then I can safely assume looking to download it would not be possible. So, there's how to sell the CD's: Have a band so unpopular that no one cares to P2P their stuff! Gosh, but then no one would want to buy the music in the first place. What a Catch-22 world we live in, huh?

  154. Results you can count on by MattW · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A lot of the early bugs have been dealt with, and record companies say they will continue to roll out new copy-protected discs and offer online downloads that expire after a few listens based on the latest DRM systems.

    And consumers will continue to buy less and less music. You have to love the recording industry; they're probably the only group that constantly FUDs itself.

  155. That article is pretty vague by gmurnock · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If technology firms like Sony and Microsoft have their way, songs and movies will expire after a single play...

    Have either Sony or Microsoft actually said anything to that effect? I've heard talk of restricting use to the original owner, preventing copying, etc etc, but one PLAY??

  156. Thanks for that link by nuggz · · Score: 1

    That is a great link!

    I didn't have an authoritative document that said this is legal, now I do.

  157. Bogus claims by menscher · · Score: 1

    They say "rip-proof" and "self-destructing", but how can you prevent someone from copying the bits on a CD? And how does a CD self destruct?? Sounds like they're fooling with the Windoze registry. I find it highly unlikely their tactics will have any effect on Linux users....

  158. Decent article of DRM by HarveyBirdman · · Score: 1
    From out Cato way. Takes a rare middle of the road stance, and is one of the more thoughtful articles I have read on the topic. At the very least it's an alternative to the endless "IT SUUKZ!" and "QUIT YER WHYNIN!" camps.

    Link here

    --
    --- Ban humanity.
  159. I tried.. by Genjurosan · · Score: 3, Funny

    I tried to read the article, but it melted away before I could read it. It only allowed 5 minutes to read it. I suppose I shouldn't have gone to get a drink.

  160. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    "Don't want the government to control you? Leave society and become a hermit..."
    Yeah, because there's no other way, right??
    Sheesh...a little defeatist aren't we...I laugh at you from my huge party on my private island...

    "but you lose lots of practical benefits,"
    uh-huh,go on...

    "like convenience stores..."
    -because i can't live without some smelly zitfarm selling me expired ding-dongs at 300% markup...riiiight

    "electricity..."
    -cause it only comes out of that wierd hole in the wall in big cities right??
    See:solar panels, wind(mills?), wave, hydro(micro)electric turbines, woodstoves(cooking/heating alternative),etc,etc

    "the internet..."
    -so unless i'm a slave to the state, no company/friends will want to sell/share internet access via satellite or any type of wireless (shortwave, 802.11x, that new ultra-low freq. wireless coming out)...assuming i'm too far away from cable/phone lines or wireless hot-spots(ALL the time)

    "public sanitation systems..."
    -Oh, you mean your drinking water that's filled with floride/clorine/whoknowswhat from rusted pipes but still manages to get you sick/dead from ecoli/gardia??
    Or do you mean your 'waste-treatment' plants that cost you an arm and a leg and let you drink your own piss(and any medications you/anyone has had) after they've 'cleaned' it for you
    And all the time you're paying water tax,mill rates,and told when and where you can use water..
    See:The multitude of collection/filters/purification/disposal systems that are cheaper and more efficient that ANYTHING made for 'the masses'

    "health insurance..."
    -again, no company would provide this unless you're a slave of some govt??..see also;loss of convenience store ding-dongs...also;sanitation systems

    The truth is out there...but to make my point through misquoting you;

    "However, when there are few or no lost benefits, people won't hesitate to use alternatives. Same thing applies to **GOVERNMENTS**...the more they clamp down, the more consumers squeeze through their fingers and start using consumer-friendly alternatives like **INDEPENDANT LIVING** and **REVOLUTIONS**.

  161. How to Circumvent Copy Controlled CDs by robinw · · Score: 3, Informative

    I was dissapointed to discover that my copies of Radiohead's "Hail to the Theif" and Blur's "Think Tank" were copy controlled. Fortunately, I discovered that you can circumvent it easily enough with the proper software.

    That link has the entire story, and my response to Copy Control mechanisms. I too have an objection with them calling them CDs, seeing as they are not "Compact Discs" within the RedBook IEC 908 Specification.

    -RW

  162. Cost/benefit by smcv · · Score: 2, Insightful

    someone who's going to pirate music is going to do it and then find a reason to justify it

    Some people who copy music illegally feel guilty that they're doing something wrong, but carry on anyway. (Oh, and don't call it piracy, please, it has nothing to do with robbing ships.)

    The point the grandparent post is making is that, for some people, DRM-crippled media will be enough to tip the balance towards illegal copying.

    Standard CDs will play on any CD player, and there's a readily available specification for making compatible CD players. The cost of legal CDs is the price of the CD; the cost of illegal copies is the feeling of guilt and the potential penalty if you get caught. Many people feel guilty enough about illegal copying that the cost of legal CDs is less than the "cost" of illegal copies, so they buy legal CDs.

    DRM-crippled optical music media happen to play on most consumer CD players, because the makers of those CD players cut corners and don't follow the specification rigorously. The cost of illegal copies is the same as for standard CDs, plus a bit of time investment in breaking the DRM; the cost of legal non-CDs is the price, plus the inconvenience of not being able to play them in some CD players, or on a computer, or rip them for use in an iPod or similar, or use them in a PC-based MP3 jukebox without finding the actual physical CD, and so on. Depending on the relative "cost" the customer places on guilt and on this inconvenience, the inconvenience might well end up as a higher cost, so they go for the illegal copies.

    I'm not saying it's right, but if you think in terms of relative costs, you can see why the extra burden of DRM restrictions makes illegal copies look more attractive.

    1. Re:Cost/benefit by PhxBlue · · Score: 1

      The "piracy" label is just habit, that's what it's been called as long as I've been BBSing/'Net-active. :) I agree with your reasoning, I just think people who opt for illegal methods should fess up and say, "I'm doing it this way because I'm a greedy bastard." I wouldn't respect them any less for that; I'm a greedy bastard, too.

      --
      !#@%*)anks for hanging up the phone, dear.
  163. Simple Answer by serutan · · Score: 1

    After all the whining is done, the ultimate answer is don't buy DRM products as long as there are alternatives.

    1. Re:Simple Answer by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      don't buy DRM products as long as there are alternatives

      So what do we do next year?

  164. Our world is Analog, isn't it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think what most people forget is that until we get those cool holes in the back of our necks, we can't process digital signals ourselves--so, add all the DRM hardware that you want--eventually, it must pass thru an Analog converter to become useful to us.

    Tap into that circuit, play your CD, and you have a high quality, digitally mastered source to sample using your ordinary sound card. Or tap in on the digital side of that DAC and you can get a nice stream of bits to process.

    There is always a way around DRM. Always.

  165. Callin' you OUT! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gee, how much does the artist get from a CD sale? Do you know? Tell me (and then prove it, smart guy)

  166. When I first heard of it.... by Dimensio · · Score: 1

    Heh. I remember years ago when I first heard of DiVX. It was back shortly before the release of the Playstation 2 and before it was even conirmed that the console would support DVD movie playback, and someone was posting to a gaming newsgroup about how DVD may not really the future of movies, as there was a "new" technology coming out called DIVX, which was basically "DVD with encrpytion". I remember thinking at the time that it was an incredibly stupid idea, and I couldn't imagine it becoming popular with consumers.

  167. If the RIAA were serious about piracy... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seems to me if the RIAA were serious about stamping out piracy, they'd employ an army of hackers (at arms length) to sniff out illicit IRC channels, web sites, peer-to-peer networks, and either get the plugs pulled on them, hack them or DoS them. They could even set up trojaned downloads to display the message "All your base are belong to us" :) .

    Everyone knows that if you can see and hear something, you can rip it. Don't make the discs uncopiable; it's pointless. Cut off the underground distribution networks instead.

  168. another irony by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I picked up the Police CD from a chain store, it initially went for $28, I snagged it from the bargain bin for $6. It was the second or third go-round for it. Same story with the other 2 CDs.

    If you can break/work around the protection, there are a lot of good buys out there. If the labels are looking to increase their per-unit gross, it ain't workin', and the stores ain't happy about it.

  169. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Just because someone watches video, doesn't mean they are watching "TV". Which do you mean, that they are watching a glass screen with images and sound, or that they are watching network television programming?

  170. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by karlandtanya · · Score: 1
    Don't want the government to control you? Leave society and become a hermit...but you lose lots of practical benefits, like convenience stores, electricity, the internet, public sanitation systems, health insurance, etc.

    Your preface is inflammatory and irrelevant. Go look up "False Choice" in any internet reference of logical fallacies.

    Your comparison--that the DRM "outlaws" (those who choose to operate outside the law) are like societal outlaws--is correct as far as it goes, but it is incomplete.

    If we assume that only an extreme situation will persist in the end--anarchy or totalitarianism, then the appropriate action is to pick a position and push it farther to the edge. But the inevetability of extremes is not generally supportable. The world will not erupt into anarchy because a 5-year old steals a candy bar.

    In most instances, it is possible for an agreeable compromise between competing desires to be reached. Admittedly, there are sociapaths on either side of this issue that would prefer absolute anarchy or absolute regulation. But sociopaths are generally not as effective as social participants in defining society.

    For you to concede to either camp at this point is throwing in the towel way too early.

    --
    "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, it doesn't go away." - Philip K. Dick
  171. Shortsighted by themexican · · Score: 1

    Shortsighted

    One of the reasons DRM is so insane is because it is incredibly short sighted. I have records that are over 50 years old. I can play those records on virtually any turntable out there. Imagine if those records had been made with some sort of primitive DRM that required them to be played on a specific machine or required a call into a company to input a code before they would play. The truth is that most of those record companies don't even exist today. A huge cultural legacy would be lost.

    The truth is obsolescence is already built in. Formats change computer file systems change, OSes change, our standards of quality change. My bet is that 50 years from now it will be just as rare to find someone playing mp3 files as it is tto find people playing old records now. You will have find a machine to read a certain kind of hard disk, find a way to read a particular file system, and then to interpret the format. Making those formats closed is virtually insuring the digital death of the music (or the video or whatever data they happen to contain).

    I already see this problem with old software and data. I have a ton of programs from the apple ][ days. With some doing I can get that data off the old 5 1/2 inch disks and into an emulator under OS X. Most programs work and I can see the data (mainly high school book reports in appleworks), but it's a lot of effort. Luckily I was pretty good about keeping serial numbers around, but the programs that inevitably fail are the ones with anti-copy copy protection. Even back then the odd sector layout would cause problems on certain disk drives. Now the programs are essentially dead. With enough work I could probably revive them, but who has the time? We see the same problem now with certain cds with bad data written in on purpose to foil copying, but also foil playing on certain systems (actually in this case maybe it is a good thing to prevent Celine Dion from propagating her evil).

    I have the same problem with my old Mac data circa 1984/85 even without copy protection. I have data in formats of programs that simply don't exist anymore (does anyone remember Fullwrite...so far ahead of it's time, but doomed by MS Word). My only hope for reading this data is finding an old machine or waiting until someone builds a good 68000 emulator (vmac has a ways to go)

    Doing this to music (on purpose no less) is particularly insidious because music is one of the things that should live on as a cultural legacy. When I buy a CD I want it to last and I want to be able to play it whether I am here in LA or in a Kashgari taxi. I doubt that 2053 my grandkids will enjoy my Nada Surf mp3s the way I enjoy my grandfather's Vera Lynn and Tex Williams records, but I would like them to have the chance at listening to them in the first place.

  172. Current DRM applications out there? by Jubii · · Score: 1

    Does anyone know if the new Metallica had DRM/anti-copy features built-in? I was sure that their anti-Napster metalities would keep us from copying their music, but I didn't have any problem making a dupe.

    --

    I planned on inserting something witty here but never got around to it.
  173. Movie industry ravaged? by LilMikey · · Score: 1

    "Ravaged by piracy, movie studios..."

    Spiderman OW: 114m, 403m total
    Matrix Reloaded OW: 91m, 247m total (and counting)
    Harry Potter 2 OW: 88m, 261m total

    3 of the 4 top opening weekend gross movies came out with the last year. If they aren't making money it's because they're stupid. Ravaged by piracy... fsck off.

    --
    LilMikey.com... I'll stop doing it when you sto
  174. WTF by g_bit · · Score: 1

    Don't tell them that! Whose side are you on anyway!?

  175. 1.Point gun at foot 2.pull trigger -- there is NO by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    "My new radiohead disc has 1300 intentional C1 errors on it, rendering it extremely prone to scratches and (ironically) making a backup copy pretty much a necessity.

    Took over 8 hours to rip using EAC though... owch."

    Only need to rip it once, though. THEN YOU CAN MAKE COPIES FOR ALL YOUR FRIENDS ON THE INTERNET. SLEAZY FUCKERS.

  176. Consumer drugs. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Thanks for assuming I'm a pirate, MPAA. You might just've made me one. "

    No! Thank you for proving how much of a consumer you are. You WANT it SO BAD that you will not even try COLD TURKEY, but you'll immediately hit the nearest Kaaza mirror for your FIX, so you will not have to experience WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS.

    I'd say that companies much like drug pushers have already won the first battle. Now the second battle commences. JUNKIE vs PUSHER! Who will win the battle of the consumer needle?

  177. OMG, are these guys stupid... by eclectic4 · · Score: 1

    Please, for the love of god (or whichever deity you prefer), do NOT buy this crippled crap.

    It's not piracy that's killing this biz, is crappy merchandise. When do you think they will do what every other big biz does at times when sales of their "widgets" are slipping, and blame their product line? Not only are their "widgets" decreasing in true value to its consumer through a drop in quality of the product, but now it's wanting to hurt the "widget" even more by INSERTING stuff to make its"widget" even worse?! "Our "widget" sales are dropping, I know...let's make the "widget" an even harder sell by adding restrictions to it! That'll bring 'em back in droves! Who's with me!! (cheers from suits can be heard down the hall)"

    What in the hell is wrong with these people? Are they insane? Stupid? ... Greedy? (I know it's C, but you just never know...).

    They are actually making a case for STEALING the music. I swear these guys are sharing a single brain cell, and it's missfiring or something. It's just plain easier and less restrictive to download the damn music nowadays (yes, it's cheaper too, but the first two realities suffice for most of the people that I know who download music). Apple is trying to help this very perception/problem with iTunes Music Store. It's easy (I still get them from my chair at home), I can burn as many CD's as I like, and I can use them on my computer. Thank you Apple.

    They are shooting themselves in the foot while looking at $$ numbers being lost due to piracy. They choose to fix it by attacking it's consumers instead of offering more in it's product. Don't most "things" get better AND cheaper as they age in their market? Are they telling me it costs more now to put out good music (which I would STILL be waiting for)? Again, I'm not sure where these guys went to business school, and I'm no CFO, but attacking your customer by telling him that his music will now be more restrictive (how does this help sales again???) and stating the reasons as "well, we're not saying you are a crook, we just don't want you to become one" is horse shit, and just plain STUPID. These dumb asses deserve what they are going to get, and that's an angry customer base that is even MORE willing to thumb their nose at them and steal the damn music. Like others have stated, I'll buy CD's again, but they will be of good music which now means almost anything you DON'T hear on the readio, and their will be no restrictions as to how I choose to listen to the music that is ON that CD. Again, thank you Apple for allowing indie bands to join the music store.

    I'm sorry for the long rant, it's just that big music biz execs are keeping their jobs because they can point to a $avings in these implementations which the big bosses love, without seeing the long term losses and it's insane.

    Good luck.

    Launching Acquisition for my next "acquisition"...

    --

    "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
    1. Re:OMG, are these guys stupid... by eclectic4 · · Score: 1

      ...and yes, it IS a shame that music acts are "forced" to sign with these idiots if they ever want their music to be heard by large audiences, which believe it or not, is most artists desire, NOT the money.

      --

      "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
  178. PR Ho Hum... by SacredNaCl · · Score: 1

    Media firms acknowledge they are treading a sensitive line between preserving copyrights and satisfying the consumer. A system that introduces too many limitations will most certainly end in bad PR and a consumer backlash.

    Introducing ANY new restriction on what I can do with it gets a backlash from me.

    --
    Freedom is merely privilege extended unless enjoyed by one and all.
  179. Ha, this will work as well as CC's DIVX format. by zerofoo · · Score: 1

    DVD makers should learn from Circuit City's costly mistake. Consumers like the traditional media distribution model. People like to buy stuff and then OWN it. That means use without restriction. I bought it, I should be able to play it in my car, computer or MP3 player.

    The same model has made DVD a success. It would be a dumb strategy to mess with it.

    For those that don't remember; info on Circuit City's failed experiment can be found here.

    -ted

  180. WORK FOR HIRE by UncleGizmo · · Score: 2, Informative

    ...logic would say you are right, with the exception that recording artists contracted with labels are considered 'Work for Hire' status [part of the Consumer Home Recording Act, or something of that ilk]. The company owns copyright to what the artist produces, but the artist only gets paid if/when it sells [less advances, etc., which come off the top of anything that sells]. There are more particulars, and I'm sure I'm missing some parts, but that's the gist.

    The problem is that there are only a few big conglomerates that a promising artist can sign with to even have a chance to make a good living, and everybody has the same terms. An oligarchy.

    Only the biggest artists can negotiate something different. Courtney Love likened it to sharecropping [I can't find the link to the speech, but it's out there], and it's a pretty good analogy, IMO.

    --
    Who put this thing together? Me, that's who.
    1. Re:WORK FOR HIRE by tarogue · · Score: 1
      --
      Life sucks, but death doesn't put out at all. -- Thomas J. Kopp
  181. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's the very reason I got rid of my TV. I've found that the only way to force myself to not watch TV is to simply have no TV. I can highly recommend it to everyone.

  182. Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit outta my hat by Quixadhal · · Score: 1

    Again???

    PRESTO! divx is reborn, only this time you get to pay the cost up-front, and you STILL get a nice shiny coaster after you've watched it.

    Don't these clowns ever learn? I guess as long as they keep the towel wrapped around their heads, they can say whatever they want about what we really want, and it'll all look true.

    I hope that self-destructing media leads to a self-destructing RIAA. I will buy my music and movie collection again IF AND WHEN they come out with solid-state no-moving-parts lifelong media that is the size of an SD card. Then it'll be worth spending N*$20 again. Until then, I hope they enjoy their little plans -- since the first time I ever find a CD or DVD that fails outright, will be the last time I ever buy one.

  183. The End of the entire worl- no UNIVERSE! by DongleFondle · · Score: 1

    Nick Driver:
    "Maybe more and more people will continue to be lulled into the entertaiment and media industries hypnotic mind-numbing oceans of depraved soul-less hype until every person in the world becomes a slave to this constant feed of marketing sludge and every person in the world becomes so complacently hypnotised that they shrivel up, rot, and starve to death, their own brains mush in their heads before their soul-less hearts cease to beat in their sunken decaying chests and the earth stops spinning and time stands still and the entire universe implodes into nothingness!"

    This guy posts to /. and I wanna kill myself.

  184. Self Destructing leading to more piratation by Floydian123 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It seems to me that if there are self destructing discs made, it would encourage, indirectly, pirating the cd/dvd for longer term use.

    Going against legality of course, but people use all those p2p programs illegally with seemingly little guilt as well.

    Just a thought.

    --
    paul
  185. I haven't had problems with LotR by jarsyl · · Score: 1
    I haven't had any trouble viewing LotR:FotR's extended version on an XBox. Perhaps you have a bad copy or some DVD region issues?

    I've got my own complaints regarding the movie adaptation, but that's another topic.

  186. One more disturbing Hollywood DVD trend by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm noticing not only a lot more Previews on DVD's but also the inability to access the menu until the actual movie starts. You can Fast Forward and sometimes hit Next for each Preview to get to the actual movie but this is unbelievably arrogant. Its bad enough to sit through the big FBI Warning which you can not skip through either. One draw backs of Digital Media put in the hands of greedy control freaks.

  187. Expiring formats and the environment by nbahi15 · · Score: 1

    If I understand this, since controlling copyright is so important we are going to create disposable discs that are going to further tax our overburdened land fills.

    Does this mean the next big player against the RIAA and MPAA will be environmentalists?

  188. Stupd aproach to 'protecting' works. by SCHecklerX · · Score: 1
    From the article:
    "We have to find ways to mitigate piracy caused by open [technology] formats. But at the same time we have to meet consumer demand for these formats."

    Uhhh...how about getting rid of dumb shit like DRM that will drive your customers away? How about pricing CD's sanely? How about charging either for the media or for the song. Which do I own? Why can't I get a CD of something I already bought on tape so many years ago for the price of the media, and a moderate 're-distribution' fee?

    This will drive their profits down, not up. Retards.

  189. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by archen · · Score: 1

    That's sort of a side effect of the way our society is going to (American that is). Small grocery stores and corner markets dying out in favor of uber supermarkets. Local hardware stores dying out in favor of huge Walmarts and Home Depot. Local resturants giving way to large food chains.

    In each scenario we move away from better service into something similar, but very generic (and bland). Much like music.

  190. correction by Thud457 · · Score: 1
    Should read:

    "well in canada anyone that buys a blank CD gets taxed to subsidize the record cartels' insanely inflated profit margins.

    sent straight to the record companies i believe"

    Other than that, it was factually correct.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  191. New standards need a new player by zakezuke · · Score: 1

    With great delight I inform the ./ audence that even SACD and DVD-a based on my observation are not very likely to be purchaced due to the following explanation...

    "I don't want to buy a new media player, i'm happy with the one I bought"

    Home media systems are not like computers, they don't go obsolete after 1.5 years. Vinyl has been the standard for decades, cassette tapes have been the standard for decades. CDs have been the standard for decades.

    Part of the reason people bought into DVD players is because they can play CDs, and they served to actually reduce the size of a person's home theater stack. I just bought a new DVD player with FM/AM tuner, I just dropped my stack by a whole two components. Now it's only digital cable box, vcr, turn table, and amp.

    I don't have the room for a tape player in that stack, which is fine cause I don't have room for tapes. I'm not about to invest in a new media player to use new standards when the old one works just dandy, I don't have the room nor the desire to spend yet more bucks for something else that just won't fit. I'm so sorry to disapoint the media companies.

    I might be considered somewhat up to date on my media system, I had DVD via a realmagic card for years. But this is my first DVD player, and only bought it because it actually reduced the size of my stack without loss of sound quality. I don't have room for a SACD compatabile player, nor do I have the room in my stack for anything else.

    While I enjoy the ability to rent high quality DVD media, even if they gave me a DRM complient player I don't have the room for it. They would have to buy me a new entertainment center as well.

    --
    There is no sanctuary. There is no sanctuary. SHUT UP! There is no shut up. There is no shut up.
  192. In a Democracy... by composer777 · · Score: 1

    the people control their government, not the other way around. Maybe he doesn't live in a democratic counry and wants his government to become a democracy, have you ever thought of that?

  193. not just major labels by pneuma_66 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It is not just major labels that are using copy protection, but some indie labels are resorting to this user hostile tactic.

    I bought a cd by the synthpop group de/vision last summer, and when I got it home, I found out it was copy protected. I then quickly returned it to the store. I also took the liberty of writing the band and the label to see why they were resorting to this tactic.

    I politely told them, that the cd i purchased would not work in my pioneer cdj-100's, which is a pro dj cd player. I also asked why they would want to alienate the same people that essentially advertise their music. Well, after a few emails, they ended it with this:
    [sic]thank you
    enjoy your coutry , enjoy your law
    and support the dying of bands
    good bye

    You can read the entire conversation at copyproofcds.org , which is a site i made to rant about copy protection.

    1. Re:not just major labels by eclectic4 · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the site.

      Now if I could break you from the very bad habit of putting TWO spaces between sentences...*sigh*. Aside from that (sorry, and yes, I'm an anal idiot), thanks.

      :-)

      --

      "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
    2. Re:not just major labels by eclectic4 · · Score: 1

      ...and your "Them (12-13-2002)" link is broken.

      The requested URL /mail/de_vision_12_13_2002.txt was not found on this server

      good luck

      --

      "The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance - it is the illusion of knowledge." - Daniel Boorstin
    3. Re:not just major labels by bloosqr · · Score: 1

      Are you in europe? The De/vision one hit me as well. My understanding is w/ de/vision they switched (in germany) to BMG so they are having "major label woes". The one that hit us right before then was VNV nation singles (the genesis ones). I am actually now really wary of buying european cds anymore w/out first staring at the package for a long time to verify that this isn't an issue. Incidentally, the domestic american releases of these albums do not have this issue, that is the domestic de/visions were not copyprotected (two,remixed, devolution etc).

      I happened to be on the alt.synthpop and got a response from de/visions manager actually a
      while back on this issue :

      "From lorenz"

      as far as i know, i can't influence it, because there are BMG
      guidelines.
      all the BMG-cds are printed at the same place in germany.
      Don't know what will happened during the next 12 month, because the next
      DE/VISION CD is sceduled for 2003 and then they maybe will have new
      guidelines or
      copyright protections.

      greetings
      lorenz

  194. I hope they dump countless billions into this! by pair-a-noyd · · Score: 1

    That's right, I hope they pour every last dime they have into this nutcake technology, so much money that they end up putting their last card on the table.

    Then some smart kid like Jon Johansen cracks it six ways to Sunday, someone totally blows the entire DRM system wide open. All the greedy a$$ money grabbers will go belly up and a whole new world is born. The greedsters die off and those that survive get a dose of reality and adopt a realistic distribution plan.

    I really hope that people wake up and smell the coffee. Vote with your wallet. Don't buy this $hit..

  195. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by MikeFM · · Score: 1

    Join a group that is leaving this society. If you do it together the transition is easier and you give up fewer things. With a large enough, well trained enough, group you can provide yourselves everything you need. I actually have spent a good deal of time looking at the Amish and similar groups. Nix the religion and add in some high technology and they'd have a pretty damn good idea. That is what I'm working towards.

    --
    At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
  196. disney by yerricde · · Score: 2, Informative

    yeah, yeah, don't feed the copyright monster

    Have you signed the Eldred Act petition?

    but wives and kids do their own thing

    I don't give Disney more money than an occasional rental. Why don't you introduce them to Don Bluth movies, DreamWorks movies, and the like?

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
    1. Re:disney by renehollan · · Score: 1
      Have you signed the Eldred Act petition?

      No. I am not a U.S. citizen (though I lived there for over five years and my son is a U.S. citizen) and while I very much support this petition, would consider it deceitful to sign it as a non-citizen.

      I don't give Disney more money than an occasional rental. Why don't you introduce them to Don Bluth movies, DreamWorks movies, and the like?

      You didn't pay attention :-) Wives and kids do their own thing. IOW, I've tried to expose them to other forms of entertainment. Having seen my daughter go through the "Barney" stage, I will consider it no small victory if I can be spared my son from going through it (which would probably do him good as well).

      --
      You could've hired me.
  197. What.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the hell is this 'rip-proof' format? Sounds like another crap marketing term.

  198. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by k1llt1me · · Score: 1

    That was damn inspiring... Mod parent up!!!

  199. I want warning labels! by symbolset · · Score: 1
    This product contains or requires Digital Rights Management

    The contents of this album expire.

    This movie sucks.

    WARNING! Celine Dion content!!! WARNING!

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
  200. Why I *LOVE* Linux / OSS by Catiline · · Score: 1
    Media firms acknowledge they are treading a sensitive line between preserving copyrights and satisfying the consumer. A system that introduces too many limitations will most certainly end in bad PR and a consumer backlash. ... "We have to find ways to mitigate piracy caused by open [technology] formats. But at the same time we have to meet consumer demand for these formats," said Barney Wragg, vice president of Universal Music's eLabs, a technology R&D unit for the world's largest record label. ... Last year, record label Sony Music came under fire when new European CD releases by artists Celine Dion and Shakira wouldn't play on a PC or Apple's Macintosh computer.

    This is the precise reason that I simply adore Linux. The megacorps say "We have to walk the fine line between raping our consumers and servicing them," and they team up against us to push that line as close to rape as public opinion permits (a point that has, so far, slowly receeded under their relentless pressure for more and more control). However, with the existence of Linux suddenly the public has a tool by which they can stand firm to resist (and even reverse) this slow oppresion. In opening the operating system and applications, the control over the operating system (and what technologies are supported) is taken from the corporations and placed into the public's hands. This power can then be used to pressure the media megacorps toward using the dreaded "open [technology] formats" rather than closed, secret formats that are under their control and may contain surprising restrictions. With the ability to more clearly voice an opinion on what forms of control they find valid, the general public can draw a line in the sand, one that (in theory) the corporations cannot cross with a new technology without also opening that technology to scrutiny as with existing technologies.

    Anyway, I don't expect any form of DRM to take off to the extent the megacorps wish, ever, with or without open technologies. There is too much of an "I own it, I can do what I want" attitude towards media in America for any sort of Digital Rights Manglement -- most expecially, time limiting DRM -- to take off in a significant manner. (Remember Circuit City's failed DiVX players?) All DRM has done so far is reduce the fair use casual copying that many consumers enjoy, while doing nothing to diminish the hardcore piracy that does pure bitcopies of disks -- which is its' reported purpose.

    1. Re:Why I *LOVE* Linux / OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Hillary Rosen only puts the head of her penis in your anus is it rape?
      Her lawyers will say no it's not because she only put the head of her penis in your anus, she didn't ejaculate into your anus and she kissed you after the act.

      It was not rape, it was a loving act...

  201. what to do by MasTRE · · Score: 1

    I can never fully understand why in the world the American public does not ever exercise its right to boycott. This would be a great time to start and set a precedent.

    --
    Must-not-watch TV!
  202. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by yerricde · · Score: 1

    See:solar panels, wind(mills?), wave, hydro(micro)electric turbines, woodstoves(cooking/heating alternative),etc,etc

    How do you buy those if you don't have a job in the city? I don't think they'll take your commune's currency.

    And how would you counter the fact that the government has big guns and tanks and bombers and you don't?

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  203. The "State of the Industry" by ciphertext · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The RIAA, MPAA, entertainment industry giants, and other lobby groups throw great amounts of money, thought, and manpower at creating a "sustainable" market outlet in the digital world (for entertainment media). They claim their biggest threat to the entertainment market is piracy. If we examine the past actions of these groups, we will see that they have:

    • negotiated with product providers (phillips, sony, etc...) to create hardware that limits the consumers ability to use the media (think DVD encoding, non-skippable previews, etc...)
    • when negotiation wasn't possible, they threatened lawsuits (think SonicBlue, RCA, etc...) to force capitulation
    • now they want to propose industry standards. The consumer will not have a voice in this process as the members of the various standard's bodies have been lobbied, negotiated with, or sued by the "entertainment" industry.

    Why are DVD players/media and CD players/media not treated in the same fashion as a VCR or Copier device (such as a Xerox)? To my knowledge manufacturers of copy machines and (during their time) VCRs made decent profits. I could skip commercial recordings and previews on my VCR, but I cannot skip the previews on my DVD player. How is that fair use?

    Ultimately, I see the courts will need to intervene to set a precedent (similar to the cases involving the VCR and Copy machine). The "entertainment industry" and the standards bodies will establish DRM standards that aren't too unacceptable to the consumer (arguably they won't know the reason for a loss of capability) at first. As the standards go through the review process over the years, you will see devices that have little to no consumer protection (rights and information) inherent in their design. As it is easier to implement a standard and get acceptance by starting with the most acceptable format, and then slowly repealing/adding features over time.

    The consumers could stop this nonsense right now by doing three simple things:

    • cancel your cable (if you subscribe)
    • do not "go to movies" or buy CD/DVD/Computer Software merchandise that is DRM enabled (whenever possible)
    • do not buy consumer electronics or computer systems that have native support for DRM
    A final action could be to support your Open Source projects, as they currently don't have an issue with piracy.
    --
    To know is to have knowledge....to understand is to be enlightened.
  204. My video capture card doesn't care about DRM by KalvinB · · Score: 1

    Unless the industry manages to put DRM on the RCA outs (making most every TV obsolete in the process), they can copy protect to their hearts content.

    A WinTV Go ($50) can do 30fps with 640x480 resolution on a 1.2Ghz machine with little trouble given the proper compression. If you want to retain more than just stereo sound it just takes putting more money into the capture card.

    Same with CDs. If I can hear it, I can record it. Worst case scenerio I will only beable to do 1x and record from the line in instead of trying to do it digitally.

    They should just give it up and spend money on making better products. I have no problem buying movies I like. I just wait until they're under $20 for the DVD unless I really liked the movie.

    Ben

  205. Been done by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Ticket-Taker: Uh, sorry, fellas, but these tickets are counterfeit.

    Wally: What?

    Homer: Counterfeit?!

    Ticket-Taker: Yeah, see, the hologram's missing ... and there's no such team as the "Spungoes" ... and finally, they seem to be printed on some sort of cracker. [takes a bite of one]

    Homer: [grabs tickets back] Stop eating our tickets!

  206. Televisiocracy by yerricde · · Score: 1

    the people control their government

    Not in America. You see, the United States of America is a republic on paper but not in practice. Voters in the USA will typically vote for whatever candidate the TV tells them to, modulo a "choice" of two parties whose political positions move ever closer to the center. and Disney (ABC), Microsoft (MSNBC), Viacom (CBS, UPN), News Corporation (Fox, Fox News), and Time Warner (WB, CNN) control what the TV says.

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
    1. Re:Televisiocracy by oliverthered · · Score: 1

      TV says[ and what the government does]

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
  207. OT: Stars by Theaetetus · · Score: 1
    7) It's been a long time since I've seen a really good set of stars, due to light pollution. The last time I was really out in the boonies, a friend pointed out some really neat stuff (some satellites are visible with the naked eye, for example).

    You'd be wanting this then. Will find you any satellite by location, time, direction, and brightness. Also lets you find the Iridium flashes (visible in daylight!)

    -T

  208. Lockbox by missing000 · · Score: 1

    Like the "safe deposit box" part.

    Yeah, CDs will fall apart or die faster in non-optimal environments. But a safe deposit box is not one of those.


    Oh you mean a nice safe environment like the "Lock-Box"?

  209. And in other news.... by rongage · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Today, thousands of Radio Shack and other electronics stores were all raided by the US Marshalls service for selling and/or manufacturing "anti-circumvention" devices as prohibited by 17-USC-1201 - the DMCA.

    Early reports indicate that the items that are causing these retail outlets such grief are commonly known as patch-cables.

    According to Harvey Buttnut, well known computer geek, these patch cables can be used to pipe the analog audio from a CD player into the audio input of a computer - allowing the computer to make a recording of the CD with minimal quality loss and no more copy protection.

    Lawyers for Sony Corp. at the law firm of Dewey, Cheatham and Howe confirmed that it was their investigation that led to the raids on these stores. Apparently, the lawyers' son had accidentily purchased a DRM protected CD from a music store and wanted to play the content on a portable MP3 player.

    --
    Ron Gage - Westland, MI
  210. "rip-proof" Steely Dan? by Khan · · Score: 1

    Huh...so I guess that mp3 copy of "Everything Must Go" that I listened to last week must have been encrypted. Wow, I didn't know that XMMS had that capability. What an amazing player! ;)

    --

    "Klaatu, verada, necktie!" -Ash

    1. Re:"rip-proof" Steely Dan? by KU_Fletch · · Score: 1

      Only the DVD-Audio was listed to be rip-proof. I'm not so bothered by that as I am by th notion that there is a hoard of Steely Dan fans waiting outside of Best Buy trying to get their coveted copy on DVD-Audio. What's next, rip-proof Mariah Carey on MiniDisc?

      --
      It's not stupid. It's advanced.
    2. Re:"rip-proof" Steely Dan? by BrokenHalo · · Score: 2, Funny
      And from the article: "songs and movies will expire after a single play"

      So all we have to do is make that single play a ripping session :-)

  211. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by yerricde · · Score: 1

    Just because someone watches video, doesn't mean they are watching "TV". Which do you mean, that they are watching a glass screen with images and sound, or that they are watching network television programming?

    Seems that "watching anything on a TV"[1] and "watching network TV" are highly correlated. What share of the audience does non-network programming get?

    [1] Here, "TV" does not include displays used with a personal computer.

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  212. Teach a man... by sharlskdy · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Teach a man to buy a CD, and he's a customer.
    Allow a man to rip a CD, and he's a thief forever."

    - Ancient RIAA proverb.

  213. Maybe this is -1 reduntant.... by SkewlD00d · · Score: 1

    But divx (not the codec) died a horrible death, thinking people would spend $8 for a demo disc, $50 for buying unlimited rights, and left with nothing but worthless crap. Circuit Shitty and some lawyers thought that people would be pay for the privlege of tying a disc to a particular player.

    --
    The biggest trick the devil pulled was letting lawyers become politicians so they can write the laws.
    1. Re:Maybe this is -1 reduntant.... by Alcemenes · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I remember signing a petition regarding just that and about a year later divx discs disappeared. This is nothing new here just a new spin on an old trick. The best way to fight this is with your pocketbook. If the greedy movie and music studios release crippled product and the public refuses to purchase it they will be out a heap of what they love most and react accordingly. There will always be people who try to cheat just like there will always be people that will follow the rules. I believe most folks fall into the honest category yet the honest folks are usually the first to suffer at the hands of these new, draconian technologies.

  214. Rinse and repeat by yerricde · · Score: 1

    If your player meets the requirements listed on the outer packaging, but the title still won't play, do this (but only at a major chain, not at a mom-and-pop store): Buy one copy. Demonstrate that it doesn't work. The minimum-wage worker will exchange it for another copy of the same title. Demonstrate that it doesn't work. Exchange it. Demonstrate that it doesn't work. Exchange it. Deplete the store's stock of that title.

    Rinse and repeat, return and deplete.

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
    1. Re:Rinse and repeat by evilviper · · Score: 1

      You must also remember to make some minor mark on the item, so they can't repackage it and resell it as new.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
  215. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by Tenebrious1 · · Score: 1

    If we assume that only an extreme situation will persist in the end--anarchy or totalitarianism, then the appropriate action is to pick a position and push it farther to the edge. But the inevetability of extremes is not generally supportable.

    How about copyrights? It's been extended yet again due to lobbying by Disney to protect Mickey Mouse (or really Steamboat Willie) from going into the public domain. For the sake of Disney's cash cow, thousands of works are also languishing which could have been reprinted and redistributed. Do you see Disney not lobbying an extension when the current term expires? Do you see Disney ever letting any of its characters lapse into public domain? There you go, one solid example of an extreme right before your eyes. And there are many more.

    The world will not erupt into anarchy because a 5-year old steals a candy bar.

    According to chaos theory, it could.

    In most instances, it is possible for an agreeable compromise between competing desires to be reached.

    I'm guessing you know nothing about the RIAA? There will be no compromise, there can't be a compromise. Yes, the RIAA has/will settle out of court, but they are settling cases; they are not compromising their stance, there's nothing in the settlement that allows the defendant to share music.

    Admittedly, there are sociapaths on either side of this issue that would prefer absolute anarchy or absolute regulation. But sociopaths are generally not as effective as social participants in defining society.

    No, Hitler's actions had no lasting effects. Martin Luthor did nothing for protestant christians, not to mention the wasted efforts of Jesus. Gandhi isn't even worth mentioning. Look at history; major changes in the world are brought about by "sociopaths" for good or for bad. Or brought around by capitalists looking to make a buck; Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, Gates.

    Social participants are sheep. Governments know this, the primary job of the government is to herd these sheep and to protect these sheep against sociopaths and corporations; otherwise there's no need for government. Social participants are the least effective in defining society- an excellent example is the 2000 Presidential elections; how many people didn't vote because they didn't care? How many people voted along party lines because they couldn't be bothered to find out what the issues were?

    Much more effective than the social participants are companies with large amounts of cash. That can buy lobbyists, influence government and legislative decisions. That can convince the masses that yes, DRM is good for them and they should just accept it. That is what is happening here.

    For you to concede to either camp at this point is throwing in the towel way too early.

    And how do you know that person isn't a major player in the RIAA/kazaa battle? How do you know they don't have an inside view of it. Just because you personally don't see the writing on the wall doesn't mean it isn't there, or that other people don't see it.

    --
    -- If god wanted me to have a sig, he'd have given me a sense of humor.
  216. Not in Toys "R" Us by yerricde · · Score: 1

    companies mark the product you brought back as defective.. then have you switch for an identical product that is still in it's wrapper.. which you immediately hand over and they mark as a return.. which they then give you your money for

    Toys "R" Us unwraps any same-title exchange before handing it to the customer. "Rinse and repeat" is the only strategy that works for TRU.

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
    1. Re:Not in Toys "R" Us by MikeFM · · Score: 1

      You've obviously not been annoying enough. If you are they'll leave the wrapper on. Anything to put the damn thing in their computer and get on with the day. :)

      --
      At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
  217. Fun vs. Entertainment by garymcg · · Score: 1

    "When I was a kid, we had to make our own fun"

    "Of course you did: if you don't make it yourself, it's not fun, it's entertainment"

    --
    --If 50,000 people say a foolish thing, it is still a foolish thing.
    1. Re:Fun vs. Entertainment by pmz · · Score: 1

      "Of course you did: if you don't make it yourself, it's not fun, it's entertainment"

      Therefore, Nature is entertaining, correct?

  218. rip proof? it still hits the line out jack right? by *weasel · · Score: 2, Informative

    maybe the cd's might be a little more troublesome to rip, but what's to stop someone looping line-out to line in and recording that?

    sure with dvd it's a little trickier, since you'd be compressing a compressed copy - bound to be some issues there... but CDs aren't compressed data, it's a raw signal going out to the speakers and well-known form, so i don't see how this is going to stop any audio ripping.

    at some point 'copy protection' is nothing more than a hassle for the consumer. and when it's a hassle - it dies. (see: DIVX )

    --
    // "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
  219. Celine won't sing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "Celine won't sing"

    Let's face it, she can't sing.

  220. Infringing on my rights by oaf357 · · Score: 2, Informative
    Rip proof CDs are an infringment on my fair use rights.

    Let it be known, I will gladly sign on to a class action lawsuit tackling this form of DRM.

  221. 'Ravaged'?! by siliconminded · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You have to love this kind of quality journalism, folks: "Ravaged by piracy, movie studios and recording labels have...", the media has been describing the issue of file-sharing like this since Napster blew up, but this is the strongest adjective I've yet seen.

  222. Why not this?? by pair-a-noyd · · Score: 1, Funny

    Just make CD's and DVD's that explode if they spin any faster than the normal playback RPM that's used in a set top DVD or CD player?

    Use shitty plastic that can't take the stress of spinning at 52x....

    Someone sticks one in a PC and BOOM!!! Plastic shards come flying out of your drive..
    Disc and drive kaput.

    That would pee in the lemonaid of most pirates.

    1. Re:Why not this?? by ^_^x · · Score: 2, Informative

      Not really. I think Ahead software in Germany (makers of Nero) make a program that can gear your drive down to 1x.

  223. More stuff for CONSUMERS to by Archfeld · · Score: 1

    lap up, not for customers. Until they understand the BASIC difference the record and movie leeches are getting exactly what they deserve. Corporations spent BILLIONS advertising and creating an unthinking market that just eats up what is put on their plates. Now the beasts' appetite has exceeded their control and they are beginning to worry. If they had dealt with the CUSTOMERs in a erspectful manner in the first lpace these issues would never have become problems. Greed spawns gluttony....

    --
    errr....umm...*whooosh* *whoosh* Is this thing on ?
  224. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by Eneff · · Score: 1

    Where?

    All the arable land (and I'd say all the significant non-arable land as well) has been claimed and hermits are usually not welcome.

    After all, they don't pay property tax.

    You might be able to get away with it in a few places (including Montana, with no property tax) but you have to buy the land first, which is its own issue, and you are still technically accountable to the laws of the land.

    Your real only chance is to discover an island, and I think even all of those are claimed. Perhaps if you live on the ocean itself, you've got a chance. You've got food, and you shouldn't have too much of a problem finding friendly ports.

    Face it, we don't have the choice.

  225. All sarcasm aside... by MsGeek · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Upon further examination, you're completely right! Artists get absolutely no money and the label keeps everything! How foolish of me to overlook this universal truth! I had no idea that artists were signing with major labels simply because they have no desire to get any money out of the deal. Thank you sir, I have learned much from you.

    ...this is actually the way it really works out on a lot of recording contracts.

    Read the article I have linked to very, very carefully. Record company "advances" are considered loans against future royalties. You have to "repay" a laundry list of expenditures made on your behalf before you make a dime of royalty off of your music.

    In other businesses, those kind of expenses are considered part of doing business. In the recording industry, they are considered the employee's problem. Imagine the uproar that would happen if all the copier paper, copy toner, pens, pencils, internet bandwidth and other "cost centers" of a business' budget were charged to their employees and, as a condition of getting paid, the employee would have to pay their boss back for all of it. You would have general strikes, you would have rioting in the streets, it would not be pretty.

    Because of the high-glamour nature of the recording industry, however, and the strength of the recording industry lobby in governments around the world, they have had the unique, special right to charge off almost all their expenses to the recording artists.

    And the big record companies are not the only ones who use this kind of chicanery. After SST Records lost their major distributor, Jem/Greenworld, all of a sudden bands who had been in the black on royalties found themselves on the hook to SST for promotional expenses. Bands like Saccharine Trust, Paper Bag, Zoogz Rift and others basically were screwed out of being paid for their record sales by a switch to a more "industry standard" set of billing practices. I was there to see this all happen...my husband was in Zoogz Rift's band and I was very good friends with Paper Bag.

    This way of doing business has been standard operating procedure with major record companies since the 1930s. It is only now, with the record companies going after their customer base for "piracy" and adding hideously restrictive measures to safeguard their ill gotten gains that the word is getting out.

    Sure, some people get ahead with their record company. That's why you hear Metallica and Elton John and Madonna and all these other mega-millionaire recording stars whining about people "ripping us off". But the vast majority of recording artists, including some, like Prince and TLC and Don Henley, whom you would think would be in this Millionaires' Club, have been basically given a deal that is exactly as you describe. Yes indeed, artists get absolutely no money and the label keeps everything. That "advance" money is not really theirs...it is a loan from the biggest, nastiest loan sharks the world has ever known.

    --
    Knowledge is power. Knowledge shared is power multiplied.
  226. They dont care about a few nerds by Tommy+Boomfiger · · Score: 1

    And why would the recording industry (or DVD) care about what a handful of people want? At this point in time they can get away with producing crippled discs and nobody will care. So Sony makes a crippled Shakira CD. Who is going to buy it? Most of the sales are going to people who will be playing it in thier car or home CD players, not to few people who want to rip it to thier iPods. Those people represent a small fraction of thier sales, and once they have opened it they can't return it so that small fraction has been cut even smaller.

    Even with all my knowledge of whats going on, I am the only one I know is going to watch out for this kind of thing when I am shopping for media. I try to educate everyone I know, but the next time they go out to buy a CD they arent going to check to make sure that there is a CD logo on the package. Just like the same way that they all continue to use Kazaa instead of the spyware-less Kazaa lite and need help turning on thier computer every single time they use it no matter how many times i show them how to do it.

    The majority of consumers don't have the time nor or the intrest in the subject to really know whats going on. There are still so many people who listen to music just fine without knowing about MP3's or other smaller and more portable formats. Because if they did know about them who would choose to carry thier music around with them in 15 songs per disc when they can carry thier whole music collection and a media player in thier pocket? Once the consumer realizes that there are better ways there will be a bigger demand for user friendly formats. At that time either the producers will have to sell thier music in multiple formats (i.e. music will be sold as CDA, MP3, ogg, DVD-A, etc.), media producers and manufacturers of media players will have to come to an agreement of a more portable format, or they will simply have to stop using extrememly restrictive DRMs and give way to fair use laws.

    Basically the producers or DRM protected media will have a field day until consumers are educated. And they have no reason not to other than ethical ones. And why would they care about those when they can sell millions of intentionally crippled products without anyone to answer to?

    --
    ~Tommy Boomfiger http://www.gotapex.com/forums
  227. So how long before.. by Tacomanator · · Score: 1

    we wont be able to actually buy DVD's and CD's anymore, but instead will pay a charge everytime we want to view/listen to it? With the advent of self distructing media, it seems like its only inevitable...

  228. why bother by bk4u · · Score: 2, Interesting

    i for one dont know why they are making the CD's and DVD's that are harder to rip to a hard drive because the way i see it, there are plenty of audio and video recorders and if the the media actually plays there will be a way to capture it and put it on a hard drive

    --
    Remember kids, with great power comes great opportunity to abuse that power
  229. Be glad by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Be glad. I think it's wonderful the content industry is again trying to use technology to prevent piracy of their property. Any technology they create can be reverse-engineered. It's better than them making laws that makes reverse-engineering illegal.

  230. When will they get it? Simplicity=Profit by potuncle · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I don't know who wants to buy a song and only get to listen to it a few times before it expires. Apple's got the right idea...99 cents buys me the song and I can listen to it as much as I want, and even burn it to CD's over and over again. It is a simple and fair system that allows everyone to profit (Apple, label, and artist).

  231. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by FunkSoulBrother · · Score: 1

    I think you have a good Idea, but unfortunately I think the only reason people leave them alone is precisely because of the religion.

    I think if there were a couple thousand high tech people living somewhere generating their own elecricity and food and generally having a good time, the government would probably step in and squash it.

  232. Whatever by ^_^x · · Score: 1

    Eh, either way... They'll never get DRM implemented on HKDVDs. ^o^

  233. Those who return are more likely to rent more by yerricde · · Score: 1

    Its just like a rental, at the same price point, except there are no late fees, and you never have to remember to return it.

    Those who return are more likely to rent another title. If you don't have to return it, then the movie store doesn't get any business spilling over from trips to return goods. This could be part of why Circuit City DIVX failed.

    99+% of the DVD watching population wouldn't know what to do with a DVD rip if it came with instructions.

    In the following instructions, where do I lose the average consumer? "Stick it in your PC and wait for it to load. The first time you play the disc, it'll install the codecs. Then the movie will start."

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
    1. Re:Those who return are more likely to rent more by Suidae · · Score: 1

      Those who return are more likely to rent another title

      True, but most places are not going to bother creating an entire video rental system so they can carry the latest blockbusters and cult favorites in a display on the front counter for the benefit of impulse buying customers. The object of this is not to replace existing video rental shops, or to remaster the existing titles to this format. Its to expand into new markets with the high-demand titles.

      In the following instructions, where do I lose the average consumer?

      You forgot:

      Download a p2p client. watch out for the spyware. Search for the DVD rip you want. Make sure its not a fake. Wait 6 weeks while it downloads on your AOL dial up connection. Buy a DVD-R, open your computer and install it. Install the DVD-R software. Learn how to convert the DVD rip format to the format that your PC supports. Burn DVD. Try again because you screwed it up. Put it in your DVD player. Go to store and buy a different brand of DVD because your DVD player doesn't like this brand. Still doesn't work, hire a local geek-boy to fix it (and hope he doesn't screw up your PC in the process). Receive C&D letter from the MPAA because you forgot to turn off p2p client and have been sharing copyrighted material for 2 months.

  234. In Soviet Russia... by moncyb · · Score: 1

    ..."medical insurance" is where the KGB break your legs, and the health ministry offers to fix them for free.

    In Soviet USA..."copyright" is where the RIAA uses such laws to take away your right to copy your original free speech and offers to sell it back to you for an inflated price.

    Breaking someone's legs so a big organization can help is not a valid operation. Do not create artificial dependence!

  235. Isn't this all pointless by nak_slim · · Score: 1, Informative

    I don't know enough about video, but speaking just in terms of audio isn't protecting a digital copy completely from reproduction. For example, at some point the digital information must be converted by hardware to analog. Once you have the analog signal to be output to the speakers isn't it just a mater of sampling the analog signal back to digital to make a copy. If anyone could comment on this that would be great.

  236. Good Grief by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    WTH?
    Looks like I won't be purchasing movies if this becomes a trend. Oh well, I'll save my money and donate it to EFF, Debian, and keep my MDK membership active....

  237. Rinse and repeat by yerricde · · Score: 1

    I can't return it to the store b/c they will only exchange it for another copy of the same DVD.

    Do this once every hour, and after a day or so, you've made a dent in their stock of that title. Once the defective rate for that title shoots up, management will get the message.

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
  238. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by MikeFM · · Score: 1

    You can have a not-a-religion religiion. Something that is inclusive and can be added on to whatever other beliefes the individual members have. A belief in the power of men and machines to create instead of destroying and grabbing the wealth.

    Besides my plan involves specially designed floating or submerged cities that can exist outside any national borders. I have a fixation on Captain Nemo. :)

    I'd like to see the beuracrats go to war with the geeks on their own turf. An organized front of scientists, engineers, and craftsmen is a powerful force. We make the world. If we fought back then the rich and powerful would not be rich and powerful for long.

    --
    At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
  239. Apple is going to make soo much money! by Proudrooster · · Score: 1

    Ravaged by piracy, movie studios and recording labels have been fitting new CD and DVD releases with layers of computer code with the aim of preventing or limiting users' ability to copy, or "rip," them onto a blank disc and trade online.

    Quotes like this just prove how clueless the studios and recording labels truly are. People WILL PAY for content as long as it's convenient and not overpriced. Making consumers pay $15-$20 for a CD that has one desirable track is a business model that won't work.

    Companies (like Apple) which take a smarter approach to DRM and make it more transparent are going to become the new media giants. It will be interesting to watch this transition occur and watch Steve Jobs become "the man" at a multi-media powerhouse as he zips around on his Segway scooter. It's only a matter of time before the talent starts to bail on the old guard. This might even shake up the radio industry too... Chaos is fun to watch! Time to go buy more Apple stock and a bigger harddrive for the IPOD.

  240. The question is, will anyone care? by Kjella · · Score: 1

    Both CDs and DVDs as we known them today will never have effective copy prevention, because they would break the existing players. There are higher quality (SACD, DVD Audio) music alternatives available, yet not much interest outside Audiophile communities.

    I imagine a HD-DVD could easily be the same. I have no idea about the US, but even there I doubt that many have a HDTV capable TV. So the majority won't care, and if the format is too crippled, they'll probably never switch.

    Personally, on the modest equipment I have I feel a good DVD rip gives me the exact same experience as the DVD. Sure I could probably find the artifacts if they were running side-by-side or frame-by-frame, but why would I do that?

    Kjella

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
  241. Offtopic on lightning strike - Was: Re:Crappy by MikeVx · · Score: 1
    I really hate this. I bought a "Low end" ($100)DVD player 3 months ago to replace the nice DVD player that got nailed by lightning.
    My question: Have you invested in protective electronics for your video gear? In addition to my computer gear, all my video gear hides behind surge supressors. A good surge supressor can cost over $100, but when faced with the loss of thousands invested in gadgets, I regard it as cheap insurance.

    I've also had to explain to people from time to time that the fact that thier supressor melted was a good thing. The last act of a determined protector.
    --
    Sigmentation fault - core dumped
  242. Ogle by GoofyBoy · · Score: 1

    >Nobody I know likes being reminded everytime about the FBI. Nobody I know likes being forced to watch previews.

    Get Ogle DVD player for Linux.

    It doesn't have a progression bar (please correct me if I am wrong) but it can skip parts of the DVD which are meant to be not skipable like that FBI part.

    --
    The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
    1. Re:Ogle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sorry, I like watching DVDs on my progressive scan player with component video out, digital/optical sound out, and all kinds of filters and decoders that my DVDs look and sound great. Plus, I don't have to wait for the damn thing to boot up, or keep it running 24x7 sucking down power.

    2. Re:Ogle by Grishnakh · · Score: 1

      Well, you can have convenience, or you can have freedom. Not both. The previous poster offered you freedom; don't complain that it's not convenient.

  243. Way To Go by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The technology that makes this possible -- known as digital rights management, or DRM -- will forever change the way we consume media and software, experts believe.

    They are right! From now on we'll just steal usable copies. Dumbasses.

  244. Re:Yeah, right... by node+3 · · Score: 1

    Except that there are independent labels and independent artists.

    Even more to the point, you said: That doesn't mean they want the industry the way it is.

    What you mean is you don't want it that way. Honestly, you don't care what others want. No one is forcing them to sign the contract (well, infamous rap labels aside), they choose freely to do it. If there were no record labels, there would be even fewer pop sensations. Why? How would you hear about any one? Instead of a lot of pop that a lot of people enjoy, there'd be nothing but indie bands that very few (by definition) enjoy. Sure, there'd be a word-of-mouth pop sensation now and then, but they already happen (Macarena anyone?).

    You don't like success unless it's an artist. Then only if they are humble.

  245. Who's In Charge? . by kardar · · Score: 1

    Essentially, the artist(s), more precisely the performer(s), are in business for themselves. They get whatever is left over once everyone else is taken care of, in a technical sense.

    Even though the artists sometimes ride around in limos and stay at expensive hotels, and have money to do stuff and people to call if they need a loan, the bottom line ends up being negative. And then there are taxes to deal with (or not deal with).

    So essentially, the artist(s) is / are, on paper, more or less (an) entrepreneur(s). An entrepreneur that is being bossed around by the people who's salaries he or she (or they) pay. If I hire someone, I should at least be able to tell them what to do, not the other way around.

    It is unfortunate, and most people don't realize it until they get involved in it. It's really true, it's a rip-off. Historically, a rip-off with deadly consequences. Now I just speak for my experiences with this, there may very well be some people who can succeed in the music industry and come out the other end better people than they went in, but those kind of people are few and far between. It's a struggle.

  246. This disk is the exception by msobkow · · Score: 1

    I know everyone means well with their suggestions, but I've got over 300 DVDs in my collection. At least 60-70 of them have played just fine on the X-Box. They all play fine on the computers and Sony set-top.

    My point is more that the "extras" on some disks already break some players. Additional DRM will further reduce playability, when most of the disks that use copy protection now are just mass-marketting media pulp from US conglomerates.

    A good third of my anime disks have no copy protection, yet they don't seem to be suffering on sales. Maybe because most fans aren't the thieves US media thinks, but are just not willing to part with hard-earned dollars for crap that should be priced in the $10-20 range, not $35 and up.

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
    1. Re:This disk is the exception by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nice. 300 DVDs? Say $15 each, that's $4500. I'm impressed at how much money you spent on your collection. I hope it was worth it.

  247. Xtreme Park! by Sven+The+Space+Monke · · Score: 1
    Sweet Jeebuz, I just had a vision of an amusment park with armed security guards shooting people who didn't have a hand stamp.

    Or even the actors - imagine Mickey and Goofy boot-stomping some kid pinned in a corner just because he wandered into Epcot Center looking for his parents when his pass was only good for Magic Kingdom....

    --
    A man who can't pronouce "nuclear arsenal" shouldn't have one -sig ends here.
  248. Circuit City Sales-bots by Colonel+Blimp · · Score: 1
    I remember some sales-bot at Circuit City who bet me that DIVX would be a huge success and that in one year's time, all DVD's would be in the DIVX format.

    I laughed, did something stupid like point at him and invited other customers to pet the monkey-boy, and then told him I'd be back in a year.

    Funny, he no longer worked there....hmmmm

    I love film too much to ever "buy" anything as asnine as DIVX.

  249. Self distruct for the Industry by Ananee · · Score: 2, Insightful
    This is just another reason why I will not be running to the local music store any time soon. If they actually want to make money and support their 'artists' they need to realize that this is not the way to do it. The 'artists' only see a very small piece of the profit if they see any at all.

    Self distructing CDs are not what I or most of the people I know want to spend our hard earned money on, give me something lasting. That's why I want to go to indie shows and buy albums from the bands themselves.

    The entertainment world is changing, and, in my opinion, it should become more about the art produced than the money made.

  250. So, I was watching this movie on my PC... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And all of the sudden it went, Bleep, Bleep, Bleep, Bleep, and I was like... huh?

    It was a really good movie and I had to watch another one and it wasn't as good...

    It was like... a bummer...

  251. Better example. by GoofyBoy · · Score: 2, Insightful


    A closer example is if you got into your car and a block down the street you get pulled over and a cop gives you a ticket for "potential speeding". You weren't but the cop assumes that you could.

    Cop now leaves and you are now looking down a long strech of highway. Why wouldn't you speed? You've done the "time", why not do the "crime"?

    --
    The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how seldom they defeat us.
  252. You johnny come latelies make me sick by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    You uppity P.E.R.L. bastards would make Santa Claus vomit with rage!

    Everybody knows that those are vi regular expressions!

    1. Re:You johnny come latelies make me sick by tomhudson · · Score: 1

      that's /grep/awk/sed/vi/ regular expressions circa 1976 at&t. Let's hope that SCO doesn't try to claim ownership of these as well :-)

  253. Just a speedbump.... by jemenake · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The idea of a rip-proof CD amuses me.

    Back when the web first started, there were a lot of web-page creators scrambling for ways to make their page viewable, but not able to be saved, printed... whatever. The end conclusion was always the same: "If it can be viewed, it can be printed".

    The same goes for "rip-proof" CD's. At some point, it has to be listenable to a human. When that happens, the song is vulnerable to being copied.

    The obvious way to do this is just to route your "Line Out" into your "Line In" on your PC and then just have a sound recorder going while your CD plays. Of course, this carries the problem of converting from digital, to analog, and then to digital again.

    What's only a little less obvious and a little less difficult (so much so that I can hardly believe I haven't seen it available yet) would be to have a pseudo sound output device. Assuming that the CD would be playable (but not rippable) on a normal PC CD-ROM drive, you could tell your CD player app to use this pseudo sound device as the output. To the app, it would look like a regular sound card (kinda like how Adobe Acrobat appears to be a printer), but it would actually just write the digital data to a file (again, like Acrobat does).

    The nice thing here is that, the CD could even be restricted to only being played on a DRM-enabled player. At some point, that player has to send the audio off to what it thinks are speakers. If you have a pseudo device that intercepts the audio, then there you go.

    Of course, I wouldn't be surprised if Paladium had components to prevent this... but that's a different story. The point here is that, if you had a pseudo sound card, you could still rip AND keep it all digital. Granted, the rip would happen at 1x... but that's why I have a second PC in my office with lots of games on it. :)

    1. Re:Just a speedbump.... by Jmstuckman · · Score: 3, Informative

      There is a such thing as this "pseudo sound output device" that you're talking about -- in fact, your sound card probably supports it. Go into the sound recording properties and look for a device called "wave" or "what-you-hear." Then, by opening your sound recorder, you can make a perfect digital copy of the sound output.

      However, you are right about Paladium - in fact, this is already happening too!! When Media Player is playing protected content, output to any "unsigned" driver is ALREADY DISABLED! The only sound drivers that will work when the DRM features are activated are the ones written by Microsoft -- and these drivers disable any way of making a digital copy. So, even if there was a 3rd party driver that wrote to disk, it wouldn't work because of the DRM!

    2. Re:Just a speedbump.... by mibus · · Score: 1

      The 'virtual soundcard' is a good idea, other people have already done it ;-)

      *But* there are two ways of playing a CD in a CD-ROM drive... the most common one (in my experience) is actually an analogue line from the back of the CD-ROM drive to the sound card. That's why most volume control / mixer apps have a separate "CD" control.

      The other way is to "rip" the CD to the soundcard, which I have to do (neither my CD-ROM drive nor my DVD-ROM drive is connected via said analogue connector, any my laptop doesn't have an analogue connector internally :)

      You're talking about the latter, but with "soundcard" replaced by "file".

    3. Re:Just a speedbump.... by evilviper · · Score: 1
      these drivers disable any way of making a digital copy

      In other words, you need to build a soundcard that is compatible with Microsoft drivers, but which allows the user to tap into the raw digital stream comming to the card...

      Of course, I should point out that digital copies through a sound-card are NOT lossless. Since most audio is 44.1KHz, and soundcards are almost all 48KHz, the audio will have to be resampled. Add to that the fact that your computer adjusts the volume, treble, and bass, and you know you aren't ever going to get a signal out of your soundcard that is bit-for-bit true to the original.

      Now, since I know that going through all that work for digitally recording the audio will still not be perfect, I am content to record from the analog outputs of a quality soundcard, because the signal will still be so good that nobody can discern it from the original anyhow (after 1 generation).

      The opinion I would like to offer to the media companies is this... A great many people buy CDs and movies so they can make digital copies of them for whatever purpose. If you take away that ability, suddenly, illegially copied content is suddenly going to be purchased by 90% of people, and the losses you've seen (if those aren't manufactured in the first place) are going to seem like a figure you'd kill to get back to. When copyright infringement is the only way to get content the way people want it, people will no longer have even the slightest incentive to buy media legally.

      Perhaps the MPAA knows this, and had a weak CSS system just so they could use the DMCA to extort the money, and force the contract upon anyone who wanted to make a DVD player, without significantly impeeding the reasonable use of media by consumers.
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    4. Re:Just a speedbump.... by evilviper · · Score: 1
      Back when the web first started, there were a lot of web-page creators scrambling for ways to make their page viewable, but not able to be saved, printed... whatever. The end conclusion was always the same: "If it can be viewed, it can be printed".

      The one thing I would like to add on is that they can make it more difficult, which means pushing away people from your authorized means of distribution, and to illegial means of getting what they want, since that's the easier way...

      I came across some web pages that used a java applet to display propritary format images. It only took me a couple seconds to realize that I could still print it out, then I just used ghostscript's "pdfimages" to extract the actual photos from the printouts. I suppose I could have also taken a screenshot, but some images were larger than the screen, so I would have had to take them in several steps, and manually recombine them into a single image.

      Granted, the rip would happen at 1x...
      But that's why I just download the end result from warez sites! ;-)
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    5. Re:Just a speedbump.... by TalksInMath · · Score: 1

      Try this one: Total Recorder (win only, sorry) - it should most likely do the trick...

    6. Re:Just a speedbump.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The best way (now) to copy a "copy-proof" CD is either EAC, and if that fails - an old-skool CD player from the late 80's or early 90's with digital out. All the pro-consumer gear from this era has flawless digital outputs, and can be accepted easily by any sound card with the digital in.

      It would be recorded in the PC, bit for bit, as accurate as the original, and then can be compressed to your heart's delight.

      Also, what does IBM, WD, Seagate, Maxtor, et. al think about all this? Would you be pushing 1/2 TB on your home network if it weren't for MP3 and Divx?

      I think not.

  254. Canadian copy by scottme · · Score: 1

    I had no trouble at all ripping the tracks from a Canadian copy that I got from play.com - using K3B on Linux. See this post.

    1. Re:Canadian copy by JebusIsLord · · Score: 1

      Ah, but that doesn't do a secure rip like EAC does. A burst copy with EAC goes quick too, but no two rips are the same (CRC mismatch). A CRC consistent rip takes over 8 hours.

      --
      Jeremy
  255. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by Zirnike · · Score: 1
    Mercedes Lackey: "Never piss off an engineer"

    Always loved that quote. Something about being a mechanical engineer who's good at weapons design.

    --
    I'm not shy, I'm stalking my prey
  256. Software too! Imagine paying for your email! by Erris · · Score: 1
    I love how the breathless author blew this by while talking about "piracy" of music and what industry is doing about it:

    In the near future, e-mails, spread sheet programs and Webpage content alike will be secured with digital locks.

    Why can't people see that an OS that blocks access to music you buy can also block access to your other files? You would think that a reporter would worry about not having control of their writing instruments. In the future, your emails complaining about poor service not only wont' be read, they will dissapear.

    cnn has no clue for putting this on the web page:

    Copyright 2003 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

    No wonder they think this is a great idea.

    --
    DMCA, Hollings, Palladium. What might have sounded like paranoia is now common sense.
  257. Re:Yeah. porographic? by renehollan · · Score: 1
    ... that should have been "pornographic", obviously.

    Seriously, though, we should be applauding the small labels that don't inundate with unavoidable crap at the start of a DVD: either via thank-you letters or other means of feedback.

    --
    You could've hired me.
  258. Is Irony some weird alloy of Iron? by IWannaBeAnAC · · Score: 1
    From the article:
    The biggest market for content security is expected to be corporations, government agencies and hospitals who need to keep sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands. But so far, it's the media companies that have made most noise about DRM.

    No way! corporations (large ones with technical & financial ability anyway) and governments, and hopefully Hospitals, will the be last to utilize this. They all realize that it WILL be crackable, by any government or corp with the facilities to reverse engineer the hardware & software. The DMCA & similar laws now in force in many other countries, only prevents the 'little people' from the ability to utilize the crack themselves.

  259. ...the way of the do-do. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    DVD's will go the way of the do-do (a.k.a. DIVX)

    I can't wait to stop buying movies! Oh boy! At the rate of not buying a movie at about every three to four weeks will save me some serious ching.

  260. If they can hear it, they can rip it. by mark-t · · Score: 1
    Likewise for videodisks - if they can view them, they can and will be ripped, and there's squat all that they, you, I, or anyone else will ever be able to do about it.


    No protection can stop or even particularly slow down a person who really wants a copy of something -- but it sure does put a substantial dent in fair use. Since fair use actually benefits the copyright holders to the extent that it promotes the ideas of fairness and good will among customers, destroying fair use will hurt customers in the short term, but in the long term will actually only hurt themselves.

  261. Rip proof = Play Proof by Felinoid · · Score: 2, Funny

    If I can't rip it I can't play it.
    If I can't play it I can't view it.

    If I need a new DVD player.....

    I have a screw driver, a sodering iron, and etchant. What I don't have is unlimited supplys of cash to buy a new player every time some jerk get's a fuzzy up his butt.

    --
    I don't actually exist.
  262. Bruce seems to like it... by Sajma · · Score: 2, Informative
    fyi, Bruce Schnier discusses self-destructing DVDs briefly in his latest Crypto-Gram newsletter:

    Disney is launching a pilot DVD-rental program that uses self-destructing DVDs. The idea is that the DVD has a coating that oxidizes after a few days, rendering the DVD unreadable.

    I think this is a very clever security countermeasure. The threat is regular consumers. Disney wants to be able to rent DVDs to them at a price-point lower than their sale price. By making a DVD that only lasts a few days after being taken out of the package, Disney has solved the problem of needing an infrastructure to process DVD returns.

    Of course this doesn't solve the problem of making illegal copies of the DVD, but that's not the problem that Disney is trying to solve. Self-destructing DVDs are a clever solution for a specific security problem, and if it works well it's likely to be a cheap and effective one. (Compare this to Circuit City's superficially similar DIVX format, which also had expiring DVDs, but required a phone line and special player.)
    1. Re:Bruce seems to like it... by The+Turtle · · Score: 1

      We are already choking our landfills with those damn AOL free subscription CDs. The last thing we need is more stuff like this.

      --

      ---
      Why are there so many people always asking for whirled peas?
  263. Re:Fair use? I got yer fair use right here by Rob_Bryerton · · Score: 1

    ... Oh, sorry... I forgot that mp3s automatically lead to piracy, as does cd copying....

    That is correct. MP3 is what is known as a "gateway format". Sure, it seems harmless enough. At first.

    Before you know it, you're using "harder" formats, such as .mov, .mpeg, .avi. Every day. In the morning. By yourself. And we all know where that road leads.

    Trust in th **AA. They really do know what's best.

    ;)

  264. I Will Possess by PingPongBoy · · Score: 1

    If I like something, sooner or later I will own a copy of it. Consider movies: I bought a few copies of movies that I like and I rent a lot more that I don't really like to buy. I noticed that VHS movie prices have plunged and many DVDs are available at reduced rates too so information becomes more and more affordable.

    The last time I checked, music prices weren't dropping that much, but that just made me ignore music and spend money on DVDs.

    What I really don't like is changing discs. A few CDs are at least 80% likable, but a lot of CDs are only likable for one or two tracks. As a result, I listen to the radio for music even though I bought a lot of CDs over the past years.

    However, I would be willing to pay a reasonable amount to any music publisher that can compile discs or downloads that contain only the works that I want. They can throw in a bunch of freebies collected at random to see if I get interested.

    I don't have the time or inclination to scour the Internet for scraps that people may happen to make available. It just ends up costing me as much as it would if I were to get it all at once from publishers.

    Publishers, if you save people the time it takes to get the good stuff, they will pay for it. Most likely, this kind of service will be readily available at a low enough cost that makes fileshare searches unappealing.

    The recording industry shouldn't bother people about whether they are circumventing some kind of copyright technology. Instead, make music interesting. Look at the DVD approach, where consumers are informed with commentary. Music and all kinds of information should be accompanied by extra information. It wouldn't be difficult to add information about the artist's motivation for a song, how the song was played, lyrics, instruments, etc. so that someone can reproduce the music outside the player. Artists can gain support beyond mere sales if they offer a richer experience to consumers.

    --
    Know your pads. One time pad: good for cryptography. Two timing pad: where to take your mistress.
  265. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by Freshie · · Score: 1
    I think the problem with this is that we really don't have a say in it... Walmart buys hugely unquaified amounts of each product. At volume discount prices there's no way for the Mom & Pop to keep up. Look at Starbucks. I hate their friggin coffee, as do most people I know, but they go there, because it's the only place in the neighbourhood....
    --
    'I don't want more choices. I just want better things.' - Edina Monsoon
  266. Re:Decay of entire entertainment industry, society by Kris_J · · Score: 1

    I'm slowly realising it... Pay TV only has two months left in my household.

  267. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by shadowbearer · · Score: 1

    " Don't want the government to control you? Leave society and become a hermit"

    Y'know, I've been listening to crap like that for over a quarter century now.

    Remember this?

    "...by the People, for the People..."

    IT DID NOT SAY

    "by corporations, for corporations"

    Sigh.

    SB

    --
    It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.
  268. Why don't you just... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    download it from kazaa?
    DRM: Just another reason not to pay for music.

  269. No deposit, No return by nbahi15 · · Score: 1

    It is inevitable. Some of us will have the ability to copy the new media despite the restrictions the government (read businesses) put on us. However, for the vast majority we can expect yet another disposable piece of plastic. Can't we require that any disposable physical media format, should be 100% recyclable and a deposit attached to it.

    Might I also add that such a requirement, while reasonable to ask for, would make adoption of any new format more difficult logistically. So this might be a good rallying point to stick it to the industry without getting stuck in the copyright arguments.

  270. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by Saeger · · Score: 1
    [X] Agnostic
    [X] Anti-social
    [X] Freedom lover

    Where do I sign up? :)

    No need for the free state project when you can start from scratch with your own floating city.

    (Of course, engineering on this scale will become magnitudes easier when bottom-up manufacturing replaces the ages old top-down bulktech.)

    --

    --
    Power to the Peaceful
  271. Re:not just major labels (sortof ot) by pneuma_66 · · Score: 1

    I was going to email you this, but, since you have no email addy displayed, I am posting it here. Feel free to email me if you want to discuss this more.

    No, I am not in Europe, I live in the United States. I buy the european cds because they often come out months ahead of the US releases. And, since i dj, i need to keep on top of the music

  272. Non-citizens and the Eldred petition by yerricde · · Score: 1

    I am not a U.S. citizen (though I lived there for over five years and my son is a U.S. citizen) and while I very much support this petition, would consider it deceitful to sign it as a non-citizen.

    I didn't see anything in the Eldred petition about a citizenship requirement. If you're a lawful permanent resident of the United States and subject to its jurisdiction, I feel you have as much right as any citizen to make your views on the copyright terms of no-longer-exploited works known to the leaders that the citizens chose. The First Amendment protects the rights of free speech and petitioning the government for people, not just for citizens. If you're worried about defrauding Congress, clarify in "Comments" that you are subject to the Men in Black.

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
    1. Re:Non-citizens and the Eldred petition by renehollan · · Score: 1
      I was a legal, in-status, non-resident alien in the U.S. from November 1997 to January 2003, initally on a (once-renewed) TN-1 visa, then an H1B with an LC approved by the Dept. of Labor in Illinois, waiting for an approval for lawful permanent resident status. Unfortunately, I lost that job, the H1B was transfered to a new employer in Texas, who also applied for an LC, as part of the process toward LPR status (i.e. green card).

      The events of 9/11/2001 slowed LC applications trememdously, and the telecom bust resulted in my being layed off in Sept, 2002. Rapid request for a change of status to visitor (B2 visa) was approved by the INS, which let me put my home on the market, look for work in Canada (you can't legally look for employment in the U.S. on a B2 visa), and sell my home in Texas, while remaining in the U.S. until early January, 2003. The timing was such that I would not be a U.S. tax resident in 2003, and returned to being a Canadian tax resident on January 11, 2003, when I returned permanently (I had been flying back and forth in early January to settle affairs -- A Canadian selling a house in Texas to an out of state buyer in California using a mortgage lender who refuses POA for document signatures is an tortuous process, indeed).

      I am now in Canada, working for ATI im Markham, Ontario, and have purchased a home in Whitby, Ontario.

      Given the circumstances, it strikes me as deceitful to sign that petition. However, in previous cases, where I supported a movement in the U.S., I encouraged like-minded American citizens to support the petition, and will do that in this case. Given your reply, I will also encourage lawful permanent residents in the U.S. in the same way.

      I still retain strong supportive feelings toward the U.S., particularly the principles on which the nation was founded. While animosity between Canadians and Americans over the U.S. action in Iraq is not surprising, it should be remembered that not everyone holds to what the media presents as "national popular opinion", or agrees with government policy and position. Besides, my three year old son is an American, so I have a very much vested interest in American affairs.

      --
      You could've hired me.
  273. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by MikeFM · · Score: 1

    No sign up form yet unless you happen to either be willing to fund or have experience with either structural engineering, recycling technology, alternative power, hydro/aquaponics, or some similar skills. Funding would actually be the most useful aspect. We're looking into building from materials freely available that can be processed into things we need (or later recycled) but it'd be much easier if we had bootstrap capital.

    Our project is moduler unlike Freedom Ship. It's a floating city made of what is in effect giant boat/city legos. It'd be much harder to sink than Freedom Ship for the same reason that it's hard to sink bubble wrap.

    --
    At what price learning? At what cost wisdom? The price is a man's peace of mind, and the cost is his life.
  274. give up on DRM already! by randomned · · Score: 1

    those bloated money-grubbing corporations need to spend more time working on putting out quality products that we'll pay for instead of working on DRM...

    As far as music and video is concerned, if you can hear it, and you can see it, you can copy it...Even if they had cd's with DRM, what's to stop you from using the speaker output on the cd-player/stereo to run the audio into a casette deck (for those 80's types) or a cd-recorder or the sound card of your computer and copy it!

    some DVDs have copy protection that makes them behave retarded if the output goes through a VCR before it goes into the TV...that's what RF modulators are for...

    Like I said, if you can see it and hear it, you can copy it...

    --
    --- I'm just rambling...
  275. MP3/Ogg Elsewhere by barry_williams · · Score: 1

    I have a fairly large collection of CDs and I listen to them at home - but I also like to listen to them at work. What I have done is convert my favourite CDs into OGG and put them on my work computer. These are not shared and only for my use (100% legal as these are a one-off backup for my own use). However recently I purchased Massive Attack 100th Window which has this copy protection crap on it. Result - I cannot listen to this CD in work and hence listen to it much less often.

    I do not intend to buy any more CDs which have been copy protected as I simply view them as a waste of my money as I listen to them significantly less than my other non-protected versions.

  276. I love it.... by Cackmobile · · Score: 1


    Ravaged by piracy

    They'll be in the workhouse anyday now unless they get DRM sorted. U think they had actually lost most of their sales with a comment like that.

    --
    -- Karma Karma Karma Karma, Karma Chameleon - Boy George
  277. Re:You are still free to use alternative solutions by oliverthered · · Score: 1

    woodstoves(cooking/heating alternative), etc....
    Wood stoves can be made from almost anything, steel, clay or just a hole in the ground.

    Cooking:
    Dig a hole in the ground
    Build a fire
    Put rocks on the fire and leave for a while.
    cover the hole.

    Boiling:
    Dig a hole in the ground
    Fill hole with water
    Build a fire
    Put rocks on the fire and leave for a while.
    Throw rocks in the water.

    --
    thank God the internet isn't a human right.
  278. Re:Offtopic on lightning strike - Was: Re:Crappy by uspsguy · · Score: 1

    I sat backed and looked at my computer desk and my entertainment center one day and realized the contents of the computer desk were less valuable that the audio/video stuff. I went out the next day and bought an additional UPS for the entertainment stuff. The power went out a while back when I was watching TV and I didn't even notice right away. The only light I had on was at the computer so nothing even blinked. After a while, I noticed the rest of the house was really quiet (my upper end hearing is shot so I didn't hear the tiny beep from the UPS's). Kind of weird getting up and looking out the front door. Not a single light visible for about a mile.

    --
    Profanity - The sign of a small mind trying to express itself.
  279. Point he became a thief -- keeping the content. by BobBoring · · Score: 1

    I'm the opposite way: I ripped all my CDs to mp3s, backed 'em up on some CDs and my entertainment server, and sold the originals. Couldn't care about the art or the liner notes or the lyrics sheets. I have my music, I'm happy.

    He stole the intellectual property of the artists by keeping the content after selling the disk!

    To gain rights to the content you must buy the right to a copy hence the term âa copyrightâ(TM). The right has a âfair useâ(TM) aspect. Once you buy the right to a copy you own it with a limited license.

    1. You have a right to protect your copy by making a or many backups but you cannot redistribute the backups.
    2. You have a right to convert the copy into a more convenient format but you cannot redistribute the converted copies.
    3. You have a right to give your copy away, or sell it or destroy it but you must dispose of all backups
    or converted copies when you do!


    What he did is the same as buying a book, then scanning all the pages and selling the book. To gain fair use rights to a book you have to own the book. All fair usage rights leave when you sell, give away, throw away your copy. To have any right to the music you must own a copy of the original media.

    1. Re:Point he became a thief -- keeping the content. by sebmol · · Score: 1

      I think what needs to happen here is a reform of what copyright laws are all about. I thought that copyrights were invented to give artists an incentive to be creative and get something in return for their creation. If that is so, then one could easily argue that letting people privately sell their used CD's shouldn't be a problem, regardless of whether they made copies before or not as long as such sales don't bring any commercial gain.

      The problem is, that it's impossible to enforce a law that makes keeping those copies illegal and that any attempt so far has caused an undue burden on the customer (i.e. the various copy-protection schemes the industry has come up with).

      People that sell their CD's on the second-han market aren't making a profit. The people that buy such second-hand CD's usually buy them, because they aren't willing to pay the full retail price for them. And why wouldn't that be a good thing? Right now, because of the artifical monopoly that the recording industry enjoys, the prices of CD's can be set to any price. The second-hand market could be some healthy competition potentially lowering the prices for retail CD's as well.

      I don't buy into the argument that without copy protection and perpetual copyright, the recording industry wouldn't be able to provide the quality and quantity of music they provide now. As long as there is demand--and there is no doubt that there is--somebody will be willing to supply that demand. The recording industry already has the infrastructure to satisfy that demand. They just need to get with the times and extend their horizons beyond what is available today.

      --
      "Light is faster than sound." - "Is that why people tend to look bright until you hear them speak?"
  280. Copy protection.. by olman · · Score: 1

    Damn straight. I've been ripping every single CD into a hi-bitrate MP3 as soon as I buy it. Talk about convenience of having your entire CD collection on your PC hooked to home theatre and even workplace.

    Some of those so-called copy protected CDs have such lame small warning label it's efficiently hid by the store CD-holder.. They rip still just fine. And I take them back just because they tried to deceive me by hiding the label.

  281. Re:Yeah - You've paid them..so download away! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dude.. you've paid your tax/levy/tith/suppository/whatever to the ARIA/MPAA.

    Should they 'catch' you downloading and drag you to court, you just need to display your receipts with the 'TAX: $0.21' and say "I've paid them!".

    Bing! This is called pre-paid. You might like to point out while you are there that there are more uses to blank CDRs than to infringe copyrights.

    One more point: If they are stupid enough to accuse you of 'piracy' then get your lawyer to have the charge dropped - try looking up the definition of 'piracy' sometime.

  282. Creator copyrights by BobBoring · · Score: 1

    I just would prefer the copyright holder to be the person that CREATED it, instead of some corporationâ¦

    The copyright holders are initially the persons that created the work. They sell the copyright to the material before creation via a thing called a ârecording contractâ(TM) or a âpublishing contractâ(TM) or after creation by a sales contract. If they have some leverage, they can sometimes get a contract providing for a residual off of every copy sold. If they have a lot leverage, they keep the right and only license the material for distribution. Usually they sell the rights for a fixed fee. For music, the sale usually occurs before producing the work. The right then belongs to who ever bought it. Your complaint about the creator of a work not keeping their copyrights is moot. They choose to sell the right. Your complain is really about the short sightedness of the creators not the end owners of the copyright being corporations.

    BTW corporation /kÅrp-Är-Ä-shâ®n / noun. An organization formed with state governmental approval to act as an artificial person to carry on business (or other activities). QED corporations are people too.

    1. Re:Creator copyrights by Mikeytsi · · Score: 1

      No, I was more lamenting that musicians are forced to sell their rights to a corporation in order to have any chance at airplay, concert booking in good venues, or even get their damn cd on a shelf in a store.

      --
      I've been called a "Fucking Dick" by better people than you.
  283. Re:grab a batch of IP addresses by Technician · · Score: 1

    Why don't the publishers jump on kazaa and grab a batch of IP addresses of people hosting mp3s and use the DMCA?

    It's simple to answer that one. It's too much work. Haven't you been following the Verison case? Add to the mix dialup, realocation of dynamic IP addresses, Lack of detailed logs by some ISP's, Lack of cooperation by ISP's, Proxies, Gateways, country / political / corporate boundries, etc. It would be like tracking down and suing every spammer that sent you spam. Not an easy task. They are simply looking for an easy to use effective tool to kill filesharing. So what if you loose some drops of blood in the battle, they are trying to keep from bleeding to death. A Band Aid (TM) and and Asprin (TM) isn't going to fix the problem and they know it.

    --
    The truth shall set you free!
  284. Re:Xbox DVD drive can be fickle by Psykechan · · Score: 1

    My extended FOTR plays fine in my Xbox but I can understand your situation.

    I have a few discs that do not play in my Xbox. I usually just throw them into the PS2 to watch them. One disc in particular, "Excel Saga Vol 1" has played fine in 2 PCs, 3 PS2s, a standalone DVD player, and 2 other Xboxes. Honestly, I wouldn't have that big of a problem with things if the disc didn't play in those other Xboxes.

    Microsoft has "tried" to fix my Xbox 3 times. I gave up with them and just purchased a DVD player. Good luck if you want to try to have yours repaired.

  285. For Canadians by yerricde · · Score: 1

    I am now in Canada

    Have you explained the issue to your MP, that you don't want the Canadian Parliament to make the same mistakes as the EU and US legislatures in extending copyright terms?

    --
    Will I retire or break 10K?
    1. Re:For Canadians by renehollan · · Score: 1
      Have you explained the issue to your MP, that you don't want the Canadian Parliament to make the same mistakes as the EU and US legislatures in extending copyright terms?

      No, that is, "Not yet." Returning to Canada after having severed all ties 5-1/2 years ago (I was really expecting the green card by now, but world and economic events conspired to prevent this), it takes time to reestablish them. It also involved moving three times in 6 months (hotel to rental house to purchased home), so I haven't had an elected representative (you generally have to be resident in a voting district for a number of months, voting in the old district until then... of course when you don't have and old district things get interesting... Canadian law is generally blind to issues facing returning exaptriates... or even inter-provincial moves (you generally can't export a car between provinces with ease)). Basically, Canadians don't move -- for me to have owned two houses in 5-1/2 years in a foreign country, and profitted in the process, is mind-boggling to many here.

      However, as things settle, I shall once again become more active politically, yes.

      But, I remain concerned about restrictive U.S. laws. The U.S. was a recent bastion of liberty against Brittish imperialism (while Canada leaned toward being a "place of convenience, liberty be damned"). My son is an American citizen. And, finally, I hold dear many of the principles on which the U.S. was founded (to the point of being a damn lousy and unpatriotic Canadian). So, I am not without concern for the kind of legislative path upon which the U.S. embarks.

      When I left the U.S. for "good" (well, I hope not), I let everyone know that they have a damn fine country, but they stand a very strong risk of losing everything for which it ostensibly stands, and that they should take care of it -- liberty is a fragile thing, purchased at a high price, literally a dying shame if it be lost anew.

      --
      You could've hired me.
  286. A positive side of the issue. by $criptah · · Score: 1

    Come on, people, not everything has to be negative about all this copy-protection stuff. In fact, I favor it! Why? Because I want this "land of the free and home of the brave" to realize that in fact this is a "land of the unprivileged and home of the slaves." May be this dick move will show our fat-assed fellow Americans that its time to start voting, thinking, and disregarding horse shit Hollywood calls entertainment industry. Do you hear this, you MTV and E! fans? Hollywood, Sony, Disney, Fox... they own you.

    I remember watching The Running Man and wondering why would anybody want to have an underground TV/Radio stations that oppose to mass media. Now I know why.

  287. Re:Xbox DVD drive can be fickle by msobkow · · Score: 1

    No, I have no intention of "repairing" it because it's only having trouble with the one disk. Aside from that, it's just a toy, not my main DVD player. It just happens to be the one I take on road trips, as it does more than play DVDs (and costs about 1/2 the price of my DVD player -- just in case it gets stolen from the hotel or otherwise lost/damaged.)

    --
    I do not fail; I succeed at finding out what does not work.
  288. What to do Next Year by serutan · · Score: 1

    Listen to bands that offer their music for free download, tell your friends about the ones you like, and when you can, buy tickets and go to their concerts. That's how the system is going to work in the future.

    There are lot more musicians wanting to be famous than there are marketing slots in record company catalogs. The only thing stopping these bands from using the Internet to completely bypass the record companies is that most of them don't understand how to do it yet. 10 years ago that was the only thing stopping businesses from having websites.

  289. Late, but still ontoppic plug by F�an�ro · · Score: 1