Re: New CD access restriction

Edward Welbourne wrote:
> Reg article:
> http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/25/review_cds-300_7/
>
> Doubtless Jim or others with better knowledge of the subject will
> report more cogently at a later date ...

It's a good article isn't it?  I haven't found anything else with
anything like this much technical detail.

I hope that they are right, that MacroVision is using a 100% clean
CD-DA first session.  If so, I would say that this is no longer a
corrupt disc.  If the audio is full CD-quality, it really will play
everywhere (the same as any other 'enhanced' CD, at least), and so
long as your OS doesn't get in your way, you can access that audio.

The fact that they are making the most convenient and tempting path
lead Windows users down a route that permanently prevents them from
accessing the CD audio on the disc is rather mean, but a whole lot
less objectionable to me personally than damaging the music and the
medium as they have done with all previous Cactus releases (with all
the reliability and longevity implications of that).  Maybe this is
the "speed bump" the record companies were looking for.  Average Joe
User who can't be bothered to do an internet search to find out what
went wrong and fix it will be left without the option of accessing the
CD-quality audio directly.

I would very much like this CD corruption issue to be over, and this
may be one way forwards.  The trouble is that the record industry
doesn't understand compromise and balance, they always seem to want
everything exactly their own way, so I can't just say, "Let's wind up
this CD campaign now and go home".  If they start going after people
posting information on how to work around these anti-rip drivers, than
that is not acceptable.  The record industry must settle for their
"speed bump", not total internet obliteration.

"Fat chance," you may say, and that is probably a reason to keep on
fighting one way or another -- or at least keeping on monitoring the
situation ready to pass stuff over to the media if necessary to create
bad publicity and to keep the record industry in line.

So, maybe this is a way forwards.  Corrupt audio sessions, serious
problem.  Clean audio sessions, great, no problem.  Fooling the
average user into installing anti-rip drivers, unpleasant, but no
comment.  Attempted control over sharing of knowledge and code, HUGE
problem: take to the streets.

Any thoughts or comments on this approach?

Jim

P.S.  Note that SunnComm's MediaMax CD3 format, the first to try
installing anti-rip drivers on unsuspecting Windows users, initially
had 100% clean first sessions, but later MediaMax releases started to
add corruption to the first session.  This may have been as a result
of the initial ridicule their format got.  Hopefully MacroVision's new
format won't follow this route.

-- 
 Jim Peters                  (_)/=\~/_(_)                 [email protected]
                          (_)  /=\  ~/_  (_)
 Uazú                  (_)    /=\    ~/_    (_)                http://
 Brighton, UK       (_) ____ /=\ ____ ~/_ ____ (_)            uazu.net

 Design/view/compare digital filters with Fiview:   http://uazu.net/FI