Definitely a must read:

http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/001051.html

See, this is why it's better for everyone to Download music instead

I recently heard someone say that they bought the new Foo Fighters CD a couple months ago and when he put it into his CD drive on his computer, whenever he tried to play the CD, it would garble up the sound of the music and he said that it somehow managed to install some secret file or something on his computer so that you can't play music on your computer anymore

Well after sifting through the articles at PCWorld, I don't see anything "illegal" going on. Sony has XPC notifications on the back of the CDs. Of course, it probably isn't readily noticable, but it is on there. Apparently the CDs come with software with an end user license agreement (EULA) informing people that they would be installing software that would reside on their PC until removed, but it doesn't clarify what the software is or does, and how many people read the EULA? Of course removing this software isn't very straightforward. With the vagueness of the EULA the argument could be made that Sony is using your computer in a way that you didn't authorize. Luckily there is software that will reveal if one has this software installed.

Personally, I never play CDs in my computer, so I could care less. I rarely buy new CDs because they're such a rip-off. It cost less to make a CD than a cassete. A CD can be made in about 1 minute. You are mostly paying the distributers and licensing. I also wonder if the copied CD has the same protection? Seems to me if you copy from the copy on a different system the XPC software could be defeated.
This revealation does make one wonder how many other companies are doing something similar.

All that vinyl I've stacked up is looking better and better.  ;D

Well after sifting through the articles at PCWorld, I don't see anything "illegal" going on. Sony has XPC notifications on the back of the CDs. Of course, it probably isn't readily noticable, but it is on there. Apparently the CDs come with software with an end user license agreement (EULA) informing people that they would be installing software that would reside on their PC until removed, but it doesn't clarify what the software is or does, and how many people read the EULA? Of course removing this software isn't very straightforward. With the vagueness of the EULA the argument could be made that Sony is using your computer in a way that you didn't authorize. Luckily there is software that will reveal if one has this software installed.

Personally, I never play CDs in my computer, so I could care less. I rarely buy new CDs because they're such a rip-off. It cost less to make a CD than a cassete. A CD can be made in about 1 minute. You are mostly paying the distributers and licensing. I also wonder if the copied CD has the same protection? Seems to me if you copy from the copy on a different system the XPC software could be defeated.
This revealation does make one wonder how many other companies are doing something similar.

All that vinyl I've stacked up is looking better and better.  ;D
I have BearShare...and a CD-RW drive and Windows Media Player. I download and burn rather than buy coz of all the stupid s*it companies like Sony are doing to keep making the almighty dollar while making people pay $$$$$ for new CD's!

Some Audio CD's don't even work in a computer.  'Bout 2 years ago, I bought the CD 'Live and Direct' by the techno group Scooter.  There was no Copy Control stuff on this CD.  Omn the back of the sleeve was printed "This CD is only compatible with portable CD players and home CD players.  It will not work in any computer of any sort and is not compatible with certain car compact disc players"

I was so pissed off, I actually returned the disc

Update:

Sony unit to distribute software patch

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/1700AP_Sony_Copy_Protection.html

Solution: Don't buy CD's.

Sad it has to come to this, but until the record companies start actually caring about the artists that sign up to them, and not $$$, I shall be downloading everything I want! That includes TV shows and movies.  :P

Ain't no-one gonna take away my right to listen to the music I want.  >:(

Solution: Don't buy CD's.

Sad it has to come to this, but until the record companies start actually caring about the artists that sign up to them, and not $$$, I shall be downloading everything I want! That includes TV shows and movies.  :P

Ain't no-one gonna take away my right to listen to the music I want.  >:(
In saying that, I do try to go out of my way to buy CD's from independent artists not on major labels.  :)

I found out how to get around it on the internet, it was on the Foo Fighters CD I bought. This is just another example of a big corporation getting away with criminal activity that regular people would be thrown in jail for. The thing is no matter what they do, as long as CDs are the medium of choice, people will be able to get around it. I think it's rediculous that you buy something and they put all these restrictions on it. This why I don't buy CDs usually. I could care less what the Digital Millennium Copyright Act says, it's an unconstitutional law that the corporate controlled congress was bribed to pass.

I found out how to get around it on the internet, it was on the Foo Fighters CD I bought. This is just another example of a big corporation getting away with criminal activity that regular people would be thrown in jail for. The thing is no matter what they do, as long as CDs are the medium of choice, people will be able to get around it. I think it's rediculous that you buy something and they put all these restrictions on it. This why I don't buy CDs usually. I could care less what the Digital Millennium Copyright Act says, it's an unconstitutional law that the corporate controlled congress was bribed to pass.


Are you the same guy who posted the complaint about it on Amazon.com's comment section of the Foo Fighters CD?

Are you the same guy who posted the complaint about it on Amazon.com's comment section of the Foo Fighters CD?


I don't think I did, but I did read through the comments and see a lot of complaints about the copy protection.

I love the remark from SonyBMG stating "the technology had been on the market 8 months with no complaints prior to Russinovich's blog post." Well, DUH, how can there be complaints when the software is hidden from the user? Sheesh, bunch of sphincters they got over there.
Then they say you can remove the software by visiting their site and after filling out a form,ie; give them personal info to sell to advertisers and such.
After submitting the form the author says "an e-mail confirming receipt was quickly returned by Sony BMG customer service, but it included no instructions on how to remove the software. The message promised another reply "shortly." WTF kind of scam they runnin'?
At the end the author said "What kind of guarantee do we have they're not going to do it at a future date or that other companies are not going to do this?" I guess we think alike.  ::)
What is the BMG in SonyBMG short for? Big Money Grubbers? I often wonder why I didn't go with a MAC. I believe if you don't disable it, Windows Media Player automatically sends info to Microsoft about your user habits. WinAmp at least asks if you want to enable a similar feature.

I love the remark from SonyBMG stating "the technology had been on the market 8 months with no complaints prior to Russinovich's blog post." Well, DUH, how can there be complaints when the software is hidden from the user? Sheesh, bunch of sphincters they got over there.
Then they say you can remove the software by visiting their site and after filling out a form,ie; give them personal info to sell to advertisers and such.
After submitting the form the author says "an e-mail confirming receipt was quickly returned by Sony BMG customer service, but it included no instructions on how to remove the software. The message promised another reply "shortly." WTF kind of scam they runnin'?
At the end the author said "What kind of guarantee do we have they're not going to do it at a future date or that other companies are not going to do this?" I guess we think alike.  ::)
What is the BMG in SonyBMG short for? Big Money Grubbers? I often wonder why I didn't go with a MAC. I believe if you don't disable it, Windows Media Player automatically sends info to Microsoft about your user habits. WinAmp at least asks if you want to enable a similar feature.



Yea the songs work just fine on my Mac without any problems. I was able to get them to work on my PC as well but I had to disable autorun, then dig into the device manager and delete this "virus".

Sony is just too dam greedy. To put it bluntly Sony is trying to stop people from downloading their music stuff all the while charging $$$$$$$ for their CD's. Why buy a CD anyways when you only like one or two songs on the whole dam thing? Kiss my tushie Sony. I will DOWNLOAD stuff whether the suits at the major labels like it or not.

I'm on dial-up so downloading just takes too long for me. I may be able to get a slightly faster DSL service soon. Even at that does anybody know where to download songs and not lose the CD quality? For the time being, I'll just by older CDs for a couple of bucks. There are more and more used record/CD shops popping up. Most of what I listen to is pre- 1996 anyhoo.

I have dial-up so I do most downloads overnight. BearShare is great and it's free..and the songs found on BearShare are pretty good soundwise, also a varied selection of stuff.