Slashdot Mirror


Super MP3 Will Feature User Tracking

An anonymous reader writes "Next generation super MP3 files will support four-channel audio tracks and contain what's dubbed Light Weight Digital Rights Management (LWDRM) code to track it's owner via p2p programs." We've mentioned these multi-channel, DRM-ified MP3s before.

26 of 391 comments (clear)

  1. Alternatives to standard MP3 by thedillybar · · Score: 4, Interesting
    There are plenty of alternatives to the standard MP3.

    This one will not be widely used by consumers if it has a light-weight tracking mechanism embedded in it. We'll simply use one of the others. Not to mention, there will always be players (and converters) that disable the tracking and convert to a more well-accepted format.

    But maybe it's a step in the right direction. We'll see what becomes of it. My guess...absolutely nothing.

  2. Cut them off at the pass. by ameoba · · Score: 4, Interesting

    What's to stop the community from making some sort of DRMless multi-channel MP3/Ogg format? Let the RIAA push their own formatfor their own files, it doesn't force us to use it for our own data. If users demand support for the non-restricted format, media player authors will be forced to either support it or lose customers.

    --
    my sig's at the bottom of the page.
  3. Re:Correct me if I'm wrong... by WindBourne · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I am guessing that a law will be passed that will make it illegal to pass around somebody's else email, specifically a corporation's e-mail. IOW, you will not be allowed to forward or mention anything that was sent to you.

    But that it just a guess based on how laws are being created.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  4. Don't cry.... by hot_Karls_bad_cavern · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Don't bitch and moan. This is wonderful for independant artists and those listeners that want to make sure where an mp3 came from. Personally i will encourage those recording friends of mine to use this...it's not to keep you from copying/sharing, rather to guarantee quality and authenticity.

  5. Re:What use is 5.1... by WindBourne · · Score: 4, Interesting

    who said that next generation music will have only 2 channels? RIAA are looking for a reason to have another generation of CDs. Improved quality is the reason to buy new CDS. Unless indi music really catches on, ppl will just be like sheep and do it.

    --
    I prefer the "u" in honour as it seems to be missing these days.
  6. Multi-channel? I want multi-track! by MBCook · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I really don't care about multi-channel. I spend 95% of my time listening to music listening to my iPod (only two channels, only two ears). The rest of the time I'm listening in the car (which is noisy, and multi-channel music won't do me much good). I don't care about multi-channel music. The only thing I see it as any good for would be the BGM in computer games or something like that. I don't want it.

    That said, I would LOVE multi-track audio files. I would love to be able to press a button to disable the vocal track, or turn down the volume on the guitar track, or turn up the base track, or whatever. Basically like the tracks you see in Frequency or Amplitude on the PS2. There are many times I would love to be able to turn off the vocals, or turn UP the vocals to hear them over the rest of the music.

    I would love this for TV too. I would love to be able to turn up the dialog track, or turn down the sound effects. Or my idea: turn OFF THE DAMN LAUGH TRACK.

    THIS is the feature I want. Give music like this and files to store it in, and I'll be happier. Don't give me something I can't use. If you want me to swallow DRM (even LIGHT DRM) give me something that I want in exchange, not something useless.

    --
    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
    1. Re:Multi-channel? I want multi-track! by JabberWokky · · Score: 2, Interesting
      Speaking as a musician who has spent time in studios with various bands, I've gotta say that there's no way whatsoever that that's going to happen. Studio time is insanely expensive as it is, and it's a rush to get the best takes put together as fast as is damn possible.

      Plus, outside of gimmick and "neato" appeal, there's no reason to do it. Musicians make music, a sound engineer put it together to make sure it's balanced, and the musicians (and producer) sit in to make sure it sounds the way they want. They are working on a single perfectly crafted project. Then they send it to the label (assuming they have even a fairly small label), where an audio engineer fucks the sound and kills all life from every song so it will sound "current" and "radio friendly". The label wants it to sound like everything else that's selling, and letting people futz with individual tracks will screw that up big time.

      So, doing you way occurs over the objections of the original artists, the studio engineer and the label. Pretty much everybody who is making the music.

      Not to mention that there are plenty of cases where multiple instruments are recorded at the same time, or the demo and/or timing track is audable in the background if you play one track alone. It's hard run to get in and out of the studio as is, and it costs beaucoup bucks. No way is there time or money to do it the way you want. Only somebody like Bowie, who has the eccentricity, money, time and freedom to play around can do something like that. Working bands and artists can only have the first.

      --
      Evan

      --
      "$30 for the One True Ring. $10 each additional ring!" -- JRR "Bob" Tolkien
  7. Announcing... by jedrek · · Score: 3, Interesting

    eMule, eMulePlus, BitTorrent, iMesh, Soulseek, etc, etc... now featuring auto Super MP3 DRM stripping.

  8. Re:And so... by suyashs · · Score: 2, Interesting

    They will hardcode future motherboard BIOS-es to load only Certified Operating System. The BIOS will not be upgradable. This will be done under the guise of Homeland Security.

    --
    http://chrono.posterous.com/
  9. Re:And so... by mAIsE · · Score: 0, Interesting

    You should use Apple's new lossless codec, no DRM and it is the same quality as a CD. www.itunes.com

  10. So just use 'standard mp3' instead by nurb432 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    And its not an issue.

    If at some point we cant use old style mp3 for some unforseen reason, then we us something else entirely.

    Sharing is a moving target, and all this nonsence to try to control it just causes the target to move even faster.

    Be it right or wrong, its going to persist... 'The man' best get over it and move on..

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
  11. Re:Riiiiight... by ad0gg · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It is backwords compatible MP3, only difference it has a watermark and some extra for multichannel. So All you have to figure out is how to strip it.

    --

    Have you ever been to a turkish prison?

  12. I'm still waiting on track divisions... by crashnbur · · Score: 3, Interesting

    ...so one album can be spliced into one MP3 with 10, 12, or however many tracks, allowing navigation through an album without those annoying pauses between tracks -- especially on MP3 CDs.

    1. Re:I'm still waiting on track divisions... by Grishnakh · · Score: 2, Interesting

      There are already MP3 players that can do gapless playback. Even better, Ogg Vorbis is designed specifically to support gapless playback.

  13. I see the possibility for fraud by Orion+Blastar · · Score: 4, Interesting

    #1 Learn how the Super MP3 file format works.

    #2 Collect information on your enemies.

    #3 Insert that information into various Super MP3 files and strip out your information.

    #4 Share files on web sites or P2P file sharing networks using an alias on a system that is not yours. Like upload files from a library, college, rental system (Kinko's, CyberCafe, etc using an fake ID to get access to the system, wear a disguise too).

    #5 Sit back and watch the RIAA punish your enemies for you.

    --
    Remember, Slashdot does not have a -1 disagree moderation, and no, troll, flamebait, and overrated are not substitutes.
  14. Re:Use Responsibly by man_ls · · Score: 2, Interesting

    When you buy a CD you have the right to do what copyright law and the license of that work says you can do.

    You're right about the physical CD, you can do whatever you want with that. But the music on it, you don't own, you're leasing for an infinite amount of time on their terms.

    Redistributing the copyrighted work is generally a no-no, in about 90% of countries. Especially "western" ones.

  15. Re:Use Responsibly by zerocool^ · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Shouldn't people be arguing for guns which don't leave any traceable patterns?

    I'd imagine if guns origionally were untraceable, as far as bullet markings, and a private industry wanted to add a watermark feature that scored the bullet such that it was identifiable, people would argue against it. It was a natural property found through forensic evidence.

    Aside from which, dude, it's a murder scene versus a copied MP3. Jesus, it's not even in the same league.

    ~Will

    --
    sig?
  16. Re:Correct me if I'm wrong... by cyt0plas · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Having the death penalty as a maximum punishment might not be such a bad thing.

    1) It would never be enforced
    2) It just _might_ help to show people that our current system is broken, and needs a change.

    --
    Contact Me (got tired of viruses emailing me).
  17. Re:What use is 5.1... by BCoates · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Wasn't Quad sound (for music) tried in the 70s and a total flop?

  18. MP3s....again? by WheelDweller · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Isn't this the same format for which we are to pay, while .ogg files eclipse them? Let me get this straight- we're PAYING to give out personal information?

    Put another notch in the bedpost for the Microsoft mindset.

    --
    --- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
  19. Re:What use is 5.1... by pla · · Score: 2, Interesting

    who said that next generation music will have only 2 channels?

    Count the ears.

    Although you could make a good argument for 2.1ch (the ".1" to give the bass "feel" of a live performance), having more than two channels really only makes a difference for content designed for more than a single listener at a time.

    For watching a movie, something people usually do (at home, anyway) in small groups, you want good sound quality for a wide area of the room. At least the width of a typical sofa, and the depth of the sofa plus a couple of kids sitting in front of it. Thus, you have 5.1 channel, allowing more than a single person to experience decent sound.

    For listening to music, usually you either have "background" music on (for which, perfect reproduction doesn't matter as much as just having something on), or you wear headphones (truly obsessive audiophiles who may have a whole small room engineered just to accomplish the same effect as wearing headphones notwithstanding). Your ears define the "sweet spot" for the music, and a mere two channels can produce any spatial orientation of sound that you have the physical ability to perceive.

    Thus, for just music, 2 channels will stay the dominant medium not just for the near future, but until evoution gives us another ear (and even including that ".1" I mentioned earlier, you don't need a third channel, since you can derive that from the center of the two channels) .

  20. Already questionable by superpulpsicle · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Ok, you have a typical 5MB mp3 song.

    For a song to become a super mp3, tracking P2P users and multi channel sound.... wouldn't this be naturally much bigger than 5MB? If so wouldn't it be easy for the P2P user to just recognize that and avoid downloading it right away.

    Not to mention this is probably going to create a new P2P feature to flag an mp3 as "super" or "regular" before downloading.

  21. Re:And so... by Blastrogath · · Score: 3, Interesting

    >How will Longhorn prevent simple file conversion tools from running?

    As far as I know the Super-MP3s don't use longhorn, but if they did:

    If you don't have longhorn the site that sells the songs and all computers that have bought them (and therefore need to have longhorn) will refuse to send you the file. You would be an un-trusted host.

    If you do have longhorn, the file conversion tools are unsighned code. So you can't run them.

    --
    "The price good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." -Plato
  22. Re:And so... by Awptimus+Prime · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Online gaming? Been around since Doom, yet only caught on around the time of Quake 3 and Unreal Tournament.

    Maybe for you, but my first online game was a P51 Mustang battle flight sim on the TRS80 in 1983. It ran with relatively little lag on a 300 baud modem and supported 2 players. My BBS friends and I would play for hours and hours.

    Online piracy? Been around since geeks in colleges would run IRC servers sharing everything from music to videos to games using simple dial-up modems yet only now we're hearing about it in the mainstream.

    Nah, the BBS was the birthplace of modern warez distribution. The first time I knowingly logged into one was in 1981.

    Most of the people involved weren't college age geeks, either. We were nerds back then. There was no 'chic geek' thing or nerdy IRC girls on Prozac. Except for Sherrod, but she was an IRC chiq before IRC even existed.

  23. Re:And so... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting
    Yeah, we keep seeing this four channel thing being used as the huge savior for the music industry's DRM plans, but it always skips the details about how many sound cards can simulate four channels from two already. This is not to mention the even larger issue that even with just two channels, people often leave the speakers sitting right next to each other because they don't want wires running all over the house. It's technically still stereo, it goes to show you how concerned most consumers are about subtleties like quadrophonic sound.

    Furthermore, even if you are concerned about the subtle details, all it takes is some basic adjustments to a system such as using good crossovers and keeping different frequencies on two or three separate amps to achieve a roomful of sound. And speaking of the room, this could be the most important part of all. An MP3 encoded at 56kbps played on a well balanced stereo system in a room with a pyramid shaped ceiling will sound far richer and subtle than a DVD audio played in four channel stereo in a box-shaped room. This four channel ploy is a classic example of a red herring.

  24. Re:Utter nonsense. Mod parent DOWN. by sydb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Between the facts and your ignorant claim, there are lightyears of difference. And that you actually got moded "interesting" for this... The moderators are still clueless, I guess.

    It's possible to be interesting and wrong, just as it's possible to be boring and right!

    --
    Yours Sincerely, Michael.