Sony sued over copy-protected CDs (1 Viewer)

[Jay_B!]

out of curiosity, is there any point in buying copy-protected cd's in the store at this point? At least if you download it from iTunes, you have the ability to, I dunno, be able to burn it onto another CD and listen to it on your ipod.

Whoever thought of copy-protected cd's is a freaking idiot. I understand copy-protected DVD's because it's not like people will burn mixed DVD's of "chapter 17 of Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers followed by chapter 4 of Spiderman 2 followed by chapter 30 of Revenge Of The Sith", etc... but with cd's, most people I know will actually leave the physical cd's at home and burn themselves a "best of" collection for the car. My car cd player has a tendency to scratch discs so I have a ton of cd-r's in the car while the original copies are in my bedroom. The record companies I suppose have the right intentions, but they really do forget what ipods are about and why people will spend hundreds of dollars for as many gigs as possible to put all their music onto.

 

[Josh Simpson]

Screw you Sony. I will never buy any cd that I cannot copy to my iPod or PC if I feel like it.

 

[ElevSkyMovie]

No company will be able to put copy protection on cds that the user can't opt out of. For them to do that, they would have to change the specs of a redbook cd. If they do that, the discs won't play on cd players. If you don't accept the software install they put on these discs, you can't play the cd with some players, but Exact Audio Copy will rip the files to make a cdr copy.

 

[Rob Gillespie]

What's worse is that the RIAA think what Sony has done is perfectly OK.

 

[MikeH1]

The RIAA can burn in hell too.

 

[Rachael B]

Michael, that's too good for the buggers!

 

[Gui A]

After this little incident, it's official: I am no longer buyign copy protected CDs.
That is all.

 

[Manus]

I'm no longer buying anything 'Sony' particularly either, haven't done for a couple of years. And being seen as tech guy for my family and friends has enabled me to direct many potential customers away from them.And its a very good feeling

My pet hates include , Sacd (was it a neccessary invention ? ),Robotic dogs ( ditto), CD copy protection , spyware and the upcoming Bluray/Hd-Dvd war ,should we really be trusting Sony ( or any of their friends like 20th Century Fox et al ) ?

I recently had to hand back Eric Clapton's 'Robert Johnson' cd because of copy protection. Can anybody tell the difference between no sale because of copy-protection and no sale because of cd ripping ???? Any cds ripped in my home are specifically for the missus' iRiver which she uses to pass time on the commute. What the hell is wrong with that ?

I've noticed a sudden increase in Sony advertisements on tv and the net in recent weeks but they would be very foolish to believe that any kind of charm offensive would sweep this mess under the carpet. Until they show signs of genuine remorse and hopefully genuine re-organisation of their 'Corporation' and its practices , let em rot in litigation.

~M~

 

[Marc Colella]

Same with me.

I've been on a Sony boycott for the most part the last few years, and only made the exception for an item or two (ie. the new Fiona Apple CD).

I sent an e-mail to my co-workers about the fiasco, and many are boycotting their products (in all forms). The funny thing is, I've gotten many replies stating that they've been boycotting Sony long before this fiasco.

Looks like Sony has a well-known history for screwing over it's customers.

Blu-Ray? I don't think so.

 

[Manus]

" Blu-Ray? I don't think so. "

Me either. This could turn into a People-power Anti-Sony Fight Club kinda thing




~M~

The first rule of I hate Sony is............

 

[DanFe]

Personally, I love SACD and the promise that Bluray brings.

 

[ThomasC]

Including Sony Pictures Classics and Columbia/Tri-Star Pictures?

 

[Marc Colella]

The ones that buy/rent DVDs are. There arent alot of those who buy/rent though.

Of course Im sure they'll still watch Spiderman 26 when it hits theatres, so the boycott won't be 100%.

In any case, Sony has gotten some horrible publicity and it will cost them a good deal.

 

[Jay_B!]

I still stand firm.... I do not support copy protection. I have to drive a lot for my work, and I burn every cd I have because.... I don't want my originals scratched up (at home I listen to the originals) and I am not about to spend $10-15 on a cd.... and then spend another $10 on itunes just because of some people who are gonna steal it. Why the hell should the ones actually supporting the music be the ones to suffer? The thiefs are the ones who'll be able to burn the damn CD without having to buy the damn thing TWICE.

 

[Chris Farmer]

Joseph, the new ones are out there. The copy-protected CDs were clearly marked as such with a sticker, which made it nice and easy for me to avoid them. I've never bought a copy protected CD, and I never will. However, now that the CDs have been reissued sans CP, I finally picked up the new Foo Fighters album from last summer.

Decent album, BTW, but it does nothing to disprove my personal axiom. You can't make a double album. You're not good enough. Nope, you're not exempt, this applies to you too. You don't have enough creative juices to create two CDs worth of music. If even Led Zeppelin's double album dragged, what chance do you have? Don't even try.

 

[Jay_B!]

I wonder if the labels realize that the consumers do not like copy-protection.

I agree that illegal downloading is wrong, but at the same time, I don't think I should be the one punished if I want to rip the cd to the computer so I can listen to it randomly and if I want to burn a copy to my car so I don't have to deal with my car-cd player scratching it up.

 

[Phil A]

Jay, I agree 100%. I make CD-Rs for the car for that exact reason. So far I have not run into copy protection issues. I use a home CD Recorder (Pioneer Elite) to make copies. I stopped using the computer a few yrs. back.

 

[Rachael B]

Jay, this kopy-poofing is an offensive, not a defensive manuever, clearly. They know, of course! They just wanna see if what they can get. I think that the bad-will they've generated is gonna end up biting 'em on the posterior in the lurch. Then, there's the related HDMI issue with future video formats. I think this is the digital war I predicted years ago. I hope we consumers win something in the HDMI/ICT flag thing-y. It's seems to me that a favourable outcome on the video front might drag along some help on the music front, maybe? I hope!

My greatest fear has become that they'll try to make all greater than CD quality music into an HDMI cable thing. That would suck! From their actions, one could surely extrapolate that's their desire, hope....I think.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Talk about being invited late to the party...

I hadn't been affected by this issue...until now, I think.

I picked up today a copy of Jim Brickman's 2005 CD "Grace". It is a SONY/BMG product. I didn't pay any attention to the sticker on the front cover.

When I popped the CD into my PC for a listen while I did a little work on the Weekly RoundUp, a window came up asking me to agree to a license agreement and install something called "MediaMax". When I clicked on the "X" to close the window, my CD/DVD R/RW drive disappeared from my machine. Luckily a re-boot made it appear again. I could NOT play the CD, however, in Windows Media Player.

Is this the "new" copy-protection system? Or, the old "rootkit" program?

I'll be sure not to ignore that sticker anymore.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Do the copy protected CDs work in Sony's CD players? I have a SACD changer that warns that Cds that don't meet the Redbook standard might not play.