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Sony Doing An End Run Around Its Own DRM
glassgnost writes "According to a story at CNN, Sony has an odd response to complaints from fans who have discovered they cannot import their CD content to an iPod. Individuals who complain to Sony BMG about iPod incompatibility are being directed to a Web site that provides information on how to work around the technology. In short, some labels appear to have been instructing customers how to defeat DRM -- which, IIRC, is a violation of DMCA." From the article: "For now, the copy-protected discs work only with software and devices compatible with Microsoft Windows Media technology. Apple -- the dominant player in digital music -- has resisted appeals from the labels to license its FairPlay DRM for use on the copy-protected discs. The DRM initiatives are generating complaints from fans, many of whom own iPods. The message boards of artist fan sites and online retailers are filled with complaints from angry consumers who did not realize they were buying a copy-protected title until they tried to create music files on their home computers."
Interestingly SonyBMG is blaming Apple for the lack of support.
I think this situation is bound to happen, when your right hand doesn't know what your left hand is doing.
Instead of circumventing the copy protections, I hope most are simply returning their cd. Obviously they only care about their bottom line and not the trouble they put their "consumers" through. It's the only way they might get the message.
How about you ("The Company") give the technology to Apple so that you don't lose their users as customers. How would you like it if Apple published on their website that said "Don't buy your company's CDs, they are incompatible with our technology and refuse to change it." You see, in this case, Apple is driving the market. Either conform, or lose customers.
Evil people don't think they're evil. - George Lucas, Making of Ep III
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The top ten PalmOS apps
These companies are mind bogglingly stupid:
Once the standard Audio CD has been created, place this copied CD back into your computer and open iTunes. iTunes can now rip the songs as you would any normal audio CD.
They are saying: take your crappy, damaged, DRM-encumbered CD, and make a "standard Audio CD" out of it. Then rip it normally. Well, WTF, why not just SELL STANDARD AUDIO CDs TO BEGIN WITH!!!! Idiots!!
Please note an easier and more acceptable solution requires cooperation from Apple[.] To help speed this effort, we ask that you [..] contact Apple and ask them to provide a solution that would easily allow you to move content from protected CDs [..] rather than having to go through the additional steps above
Dear Apple. Sony sold me a damaged disc that looks like a CD but really isn't. Can you please damage your products too, so they work together? I love products that cost more and do less!!
Fair Use only allows the end-user exemption from copyright law when the copying of the content is possible. The doctrine doesn't state anywhere that the content has to be made copyable.
When you buy a CD you purchase the priviledge to play the CD in a manner that the record company approves. Repeat three times.
Now, for every person that says "No way! The law says..." They may be right, but I submit that the music distributors (via RIAA) are training people to believe and behave according to the statement above and completely ingnoring the law. (not breaking, but pretending it doesn't exist) These laws in particular protect the rich from the poor.
Whatever laws may say otherwise, I submit that a coherent challenge to this mission won't be happening because the resources required to do so are:
-out of reach of nearly all the people consuming music.
-lack of incentive on the part of the people with the resources to challenge the RIAA. They are most likely shareholders garnering a return or otherwise can pay the price without concern.
-Mounting a challenge to this is likely to be criminalized outright because it's easy to label it "they just want to steal our music." (reminds me of the medical marijuana lobby)
-Allowing a CD to be used for more than one purpose is bad capitalism. The owner wants to monetize every single use and the current political climate in the US encourages this.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
Sony's right hand, I'd like to introduce you to Sony's left hand... it's obvious the two of you have never met!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
the internet is disruptive technology
we don't NEED music conglomerates
teenagers pick up guitars to impress chicks, not to become millionaires
if in the future artisits don't become millionaires, do you really think people will stop making music? as if fame and women aren't incentive enough?
and even then, in the future, bands will make their money the old fashion way: touring, stage appearances, and the ticketing that comes with that
and the bootlegs, videos, of that appearance will be free, as well as their entire catalog
so sell your stock in sony, and buy some ticketmaster stock
because the internet has made the media cheap
but there is still only one artist, and in meatspace, as opposed to cyberspace, the artist is a rare commodity, so you can still sell tickets
who loses in this future world?
nothing but the music distrubutors
the fans, and the artists, win
bye bye, dinosaurs
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
So, they are trying to convince me that the reason THEY are DRM-ing their CD's is because of Apple? Im sorry, but who do they expect will be convinced by this? We're not talking about Momma and Poppa Joe here who will be complining- this will be educated individuals from the internet generation. These people will easily be able to see right through this decieteful childsplay. This is a foolish act by Sony that makes them sound like even more of faceless evil megacorporation than they already do.
Silly consumers, you should know better than to actually pay for the product, since it'll just be broken! You should just go download the song illegally over the Internet, because that gives you a working copy that you can use as you see fit.
So, essentially, with DRM, Sony has succeeded in making the pirated copies of the songs more valuable than the real copies. Brilliant strategy.
DRM always seems to work like that. All it accomplishes is making the "official" versions that much worse. How many people here have wound up downloading the "NOCD" versions of games that you paid for, simply because either the nuisance of having to swap disks was keeping you from playing, or because the copy protection actually crashed? I can't remember which game (C&C Generals?), but I remember I couldn't actually play a game recently because it's copy protection scheme actually would crash.
I can only hope that eventually the media companies will realize that all this DRM stuff is simply taking value away from their product, not adding anything to it. Apparently their solution to piracy is to make the pirated product more attractive than their own. Then they wonder why the strategy isn't working. Hmm...
You are in a maze of twisty little relative jumps, all alike.
If Apple wanted, they could get the crippled CDs out there all using FairPlay to DRM the compressed songs. It's strange they don't. You would think that this would give a further competitive advantage to their iPod line of players, as well as seeing to it that everyone is using iTunes for playback and FairPlay for DRM. Should Apple want to, all of these objectives would be within reach. The strange thing is that they don't seem to want to. Somehow they wait on the sidelines while the music industry seems to default to Windows Media DRM. This is a less useful format for the majority of customers, and with enough of it around, competitors to the iPod get a serious advantage.
So my question is this: Why is Apple holding out on the licensing of FairPlay? Is it simply that they think crippled CDs are evil and they don't want to dirty their hands with it? Strange.
It isn't a DMCA violation if they own the copyright. They can give people permission to copy the music onto their ipod, and they can tell people how they would prefer them to do it.
It isn't a DMCA violation if they own the copyright.
Where in the DMCA does it say that? Sony isn't doing the circumvention themselves. Sony is telling others how to circumvent a copy protection mechanism. From the text of the DMCA, on its face it would appear Sony is in violation of the law.
The method is actually:
Step 1: return the cd for your money.
Step 2: download the mp3 with p2p.
Note: Step 1 may be omitted in the future.
This is quite interesting. Although the e-mail blames Apple, I think the users don't really care. By not licensing FairPlay, Apple is really turning the heat on the record execs. Nobody wants a Rio when there's an iPod available. And rather than go through all that work to load the tracks on an iPod, perhaps some users would sooner download the material. For many, that would technically easier. Things certainly do seem to be shaping up for a battle as Apple really starts to flex. Seems like it has the masses backing it, not to mention the disgruntled artists.
iTunes vs Big Music and Google vs Microsoft: surely an exciting 2006...
ascii art
Dear Customer,
We are sorry that you are having problems driving the car we sold you without
a steering wheel. An easier and more acceptable solution requires cooperation
from the DOT to install tracks which your car can ride on and be guided to
approved locations. To help speed this effort was ask that you contact your
local DOT.
Thank you for the opportunity to be of assistance.
The Sony BMG Automotive Support Team
While I do agree with you I think their reason was to limit the quality of audio that makes it to the internet. Are the WMA files full CD quality? If you burn from their software is it just 128bps mp3 quality music? If so, then ripping the cd and sharing it would have a significant impact on the quality of the music.
I'm not pretending to know what the quality is, I'm asking and sharing a thought. Please don't flame me for not knowing. I refuse to purchase such products in the first place.
Dear Consumer,
We are sorry that you are having problems driving the car we sold you without a steering wheel but you were a complete sucker for purchasing such a vehicle in the first place.
We realize that you have a choice when purchasing automobiles and are happy that despite our products' defects you still choose to buy them. Your sheep-like loyalty is appreciated.
The Sony BMG Automotive Support Team
But the artists who have become millionaires aren't exactly clamoring to change the system, are they? The power is in the hands of artists, but the small number of artists who have benefited by the current system are as a whole uninterested in changing it.
The fact that you and I don't need media conglomerates doesn't mean that they'll disappear of their own accord. Until big-name artists start working for change, and legislation is passed to curb the music industry's excesses, the industry will use its considerable financial and political clout to resist change.
The current music industry profit model is probably doomed, but the labels won't let it go away without a fight. They know they're middlemen, and they know that the Internet is particularly good at weeding out middlement. The problem is no matter how many times they get hit on the head with a cluestick, they still can't figure out a way to shift their profit model. Expect this fight to go on for quite some time before the music industry either is utterly destroyed or is forced to adapt to the new reality.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
As I understand the DMCA (IANAL) it is a violation to either create or distribute information about a way to circumvent the copy protection feature. This says NOTHING about who owns the copyrights.
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
Think that they might as well have said:
"sorry, we're right smack-dab in the middle of one colosal pissing contest with apple right now.
Unless you want to go out and further support us by buying our inferior digital music player, you should just piss off and do what you were going to do anyways: burn a copy of the cd, then use that copy with itunes to put it on your stupid ipod.
sure, you'll have inferior audio quality, but fuck you for going with our competitor. you're just lucky we're not suing you for it."
Come read my stupid blagablog. Rants and Giggles
Please note an easier and more acceptable solution requires cooperation from Apple, who we have already reached out to in hopes of addressing this issue. To help speed this effort, we ask that you use the following link to contact Apple and ask them to provide a solution that would easily allow you to move content from protected CDs into iTunes or onto your iPod rather than having to go through the additional steps above:
On the other hand, the easiest and most acceptable solution doesn't require cooperation from Apple:
DON'T PUT COPY-PROTECTION ON THE BLOODY CDs!
Read the canned response, it actually tells you to MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE DRM INSTALLED FIRST. Then they want you to install WMP 9 or 10. In other words, they are encouraging you to install their DRM.
They're not telling you how to circumvent it, they're telling you how to GET IT.
If it said to disable autorun and then use iTunes to rip it, then it'd be telling you how to circumvent it.
It's all a scam to get you into their circle of people already using their DRM system. By then it's too late.
Return the disc as defective. If you pay money for DRMed content, then the music companies will try to sell you more DRMed content. Our only hope here is to return every disc that has protection and hope the retailers stop stocking it due to the hassle. Then the music publishers will be forced to release it without DRM in order to get it on the shelf.
http://lkml.org/lkml/2005/8/20/95