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21st November 2001

IS THE MUSIC INDUSTRY WORSE THAN MICROSOFT?

Brian Grainger


 

At least you know when Microsoft are going to rip you off. The music industry by contrast has kept users in the dark with their latest escapade.

We all know that we have been ripped off with the price of CDs, ever since they first appeared. That could be the reason for the success of peer to peer services such as Napster, which allowed users to get copies of music for free. The record giants got very upset about that, despite the fact that there was no discernible evidence that CD sales were suffering, and used the force of law to change Napster into a fee paying service.

Their latest trick at locking you into its product is very underhand. They have been experimenting with copy protection of CDs. Without telling the general public they have been distributing certain CDs in a copy protected format. The theory is that they cannot be copied to MP3 format or burnt onto another CD, even for personal use.

Although this in itself can be construed as an infringement of our right to listen to our music how we want there is a far more serious problem. These CDs will only play through a CD player that copes with the protection format. Tough luck if you have an old CD player or if, like me, you listen to CDs through the CD-ROM on your PC. They just will not work. This, by itself, is bad enough but the problem is compounded by the fact that the customer is not warned that these CDs are copy protected and therefore will not work. It is only when you have paid your money and tried it out that you realise you have been sold a dud.

So, if you have a copy of Natalie Imbruglia's White Lilies Island CD and it doesn't work you know who to blame.

Universal Music Group is reported as planning to protect all its CDs by the middle of next year. So, if we wish to continue buying music we will all have to go out and buy a new CD player - or get a copy from the local car boot sale - or wait for the hackers to come out with a program to bypass the problem.


 

 

 

 


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