Posted by FinnTroll on 09/14/05 16:34

"Larry W. Virden" <lvirden@gmail.com> skrev i meddelandet
news:1126711831.345688.128280@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> One of the kids was telling me that some of the latest CDs being
> released are in a format that prevents one from ripping them into MP3s.
> In fact, apparently you can't even listen to the CDs on one's desktop
> without a speciality player, which then prevents you from ejecting the
> CD (apparently so that you can't insert a blank one...).

<smile> Kids! But they're not totally wrong though. There are CDs that are made so
that you can't play them in a CDrom. Those CDs shall wear a special CopyProtected
mark on the CD-label so that you will be aware of the fact when you buy the CD.

However there are ways to copy those CDs, like i.e. record it track by track to
your computer, using you're standard CD-player from the stereo-rack, which I find
to be the safest way.

Now, it is also said that iTunes can rip a copy protected CD and there's also a
word about another method that inwokes covering the copy protection using a black
white-board pen. The real trick is to figure out where the actual protection
"track" recides on the CD and cover it properly so that the CDrom ignores it and
treats the CD like a normal music CD.

> Is this something that's been going on for a while and I just never
> noticed it being discussed, or is this yet another attempt to copy
> protect CDs?

I am not sure how long it's been around, but I think it started around when
Metallica first filed complaints against Napster, or something.

> And wasn't there some sort of threat by the people who own the
> trademark on CD-ROM or some such thing that was threatened to be
> withdrawn if a vendor tried one of these nonsense copy protections?

I know that Philips fought against copy-protecting CDs since day one and to my
knowledge also figured produce a CD-rom that ignored the CopyProtection.

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