Copy-protected CDs suck

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 9:17 pm

I'm old-fashioned, and I still buy CDs. However, I have a handful I don't want to put in my computer, since they are copy-protected, which essentially means that they contain spyware and only play in a proprietary player.

It's even more annoying that I wanted to make MP3 CDs to play in my DVD player, and I can't make a "complete Guns n Roses" since the Velvet Revolver CD is one of these.

Is there a way around this shitfest short of "illegally" downloading the same fucking tracks I already paid for? (Sadly, I've done some searching, and it appears the answer is "no.")

It really fucking pisses me off that I actually paid for these fucking things, and I can't fully use them, nor can I make compilations for my own personal use. [frus][:(!]

Off-hand, I know the latest CDs by these fine fellas are copy-protected:
Velvet Revolver
Dave Matthews
Neil Diamond
Carlos Santana

If nothing else, wouldn't it work if I just hooked the computer up to an older CD player via an audio cable or something?

Post by **vynsane** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:01 pm

it depends on how they are rip-protected. some just have a bogus data track at the beginning of the disc, that makes it look like something else to a computer. if you take a sharpie and black out the data track, it works. of course, you fuck up the disc if you black out too much... i wouldn't do that...

do you have any access to play the cd's on a computer? if so, there's GOT to be a way to rip them...

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:20 pm

Theoretically, yes. However, I've been reading about the XTC (?) software Sony-BMG is using makes computers vulnerable to hackers, so I'm iffy about even putting them in.

I'm not sure how the Dave Matthews and GNR--I mean Velvet Revolver--are protected, but having to agree to an end user agreement pisses me off in principal and I've never tried those in a computer, either, since they say an internet connection is required and I've always suspected some sort of spyware.

Of course, even basic enhanced CD's piss me off. When I put a music CD in my drive, I don't want a half-assed video or game or whatthefuckever to start up. Call me nuts, but I want to actually listen.

I think I'm going to look into what type of software and hardware is required to record from a separate input. These discs play fine in older CD players that couldn't support copy-protection that wasn't invented at the time of their manufacture.

Diabolical · Post by **Diabolical** » Sun Nov 13, 2005 10:54 pm

Velevt Revolver is copy-protected?
News to me. I've never even seen any sort of user agreement pop up when I put it in the computer and have never heard of anyone that has.
I've burned at least a few copies and made a few compilations with it without a problem.

Isn't there a way to bypass all that copy-protected shit by using the shify key somehow?

Antropov · Post by **Antropov** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 8:16 am

I was gonna say the same thing, RB, since the copy I have of "Contraband" is just that[:D] BTW, you still need to burn me the new Weezer and Bloodhound Gang. Bitch.

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 1:01 pm

Innerestin'. I tried the old-fashioned way, and everything was a copy-protected WMA file that it claimed I didn't have the license for. (I didn't have the computer hooked to the 'Net, so I couldn't accept the agreement.) I've searched and found a couple of procedures that supposedly gets around the copy-protection method on VR, Dave Matthews, and (should I decide to get them later) Foo Fighters and Alicia Keyes.

Also, the newer process, which makes PCs severely vulnerable, is completely innocuous on the Mac. I'm going to disconnect my Mac at work from the network later and try it. Supposedly they operate as normal CDs on Macintosh.

Dissen nutsen.

Diabolical · Post by **Diabolical** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 3:42 pm

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by CaptainSolo1138
 BTW, you still need to burn me the new Weezer and Bloodhound Gang. Bitch.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">It's your funeral.

The new Weezer and BHG albums - that's $20 I'll never get back.
Assholes.

Antropov · Post by **Antropov** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 4:16 pm

They're both for completions sake.

Post by **vynsane** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 6:29 pm

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">
Originally posted by anarky
 Innerestin'. I tried the old-fashioned way, and everything was a copy-protected WMA file that it claimed I didn't have the license for. (I didn't have the computer hooked to the 'Net, so I couldn't accept the agreement.)
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

what version of WMP do you have? it sounds like MS's feeble attempt at DMR enforcement. Use iTunes instead, and you probably won't have any problem. just make sure it's your default media player. (it SHOULD be, anyway!)

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Mon Nov 14, 2005 7:06 pm

Apparently iTunes on the PC won't work, judging from the many complaints I've found.

However, I'm lucky enough to have both a Mac and PC at work. The copy protection is completely for naught on the Mac, so I've burned PC-safe versions of three of the four CDs in question. (I'm working on Dave Matthews as we speak.)

jdr3 · Post by **jdr3** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 12:51 pm

iTunes works on PC. I mean a Mac is better, but I've used it on both with no problems what-so-ever.

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:12 pm

I meant that, from what I've read, copy-protected CDs on Windows iTunes won't play properly.

Diabolical · Post by **Diabolical** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 2:43 pm

Sony is recalling a shitload of copy-protected cds.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10069563/
<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Sony recalls copy-protected music CDs
Company will also distribute program to remove virus-like software
BARCELONA - Music company Sony BMG, yielding to consumer concern, said on Wednesday it was recalling music CDs containing copy-protection software that acts like virus software and hides deep inside a computer.

Sony BMG has used the XCP copy-protection software on 49 titles from artists such as Celine Dion and Sarah McLachlan and produced an estimated 4.7 million music CDs. Around 2.1 million units have been sold on to consumers.

The software, developed by British software makers First4Internet, installs itself on a personal computer used to play the CD in order to guard against copying, but it leaves the back door open for malicious hackers.

“We share the concerns of consumers regarding discs with XCP content-protected software, and, for this reason, we are instituting a consumer exchange program and removing all unsold CDs with this software from retail outlets,” Sony BMG said in an statement.

Sony BMG announced in a separate statement it would distribute a program to remove the software from a PC where it jeopardizes security.

“We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause our customers. Details of this (recall) program will be announced shortly,” Sony BMG said.

Sony said will soon issue more details about the swap program. Consumers can identify their copy-protected CDs by a Web address on the back of the CD containing the letters XCP.

Of the 49 titles, 24 were new major releases. The remaining albums were reissues and other material from the catalogue.

Sony reiterated that the copy-protection software installs itself only on personal computers and not on ordinary CD and DVD players. Market research group NPD Group found in a recent survey that around 36 percent of consumers listen to their CDs on a personal computer.

Patch problems
Problems with the copy-protection software became acute last week, when the first computer viruses emerged that took advantage of security holes left by the program.

Responding to public outcry over the software, Sony BMG, the music venture of Japanese electronics conglomerate Sony Corp. and Germany’s Bertelsmann AG had said on Friday it would temporarily suspend the manufacture of music CDs containing XCP technology.

It then provided a patch to make the hidden program more visible. At the time it did not recall the CDs or offer a program to remove it from computers. Sony BMG’s patch and the removal software still left PCs vulnerable, according to software engineers.

The anti-virus team at Microsoft Corp. said on Tuesday it would independently add a detection and removal mechanism to rid a personal computer of the Sony’s DRM copy-protection software. It should have a deeper understanding of its own operating system, and how to remove software safely. (MSNBC is a Microsoft - NBC joint venture.)

The software installs itself only on PCs running Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

Sony BMG has positioned itself as a defender of artists’ rights. It had re-emphasized on Friday that copy-protection software is “an important tool to protect our intellectual property rights and those of our artists.”

Sony BMG last week was targeted in a class action lawsuit complaining that it had not disclosed the true nature of its copy-protection software.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Post by **vynsane** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 2:47 pm

bastards.

anarky · Post by **anarky** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 3:20 pm

Okay, what are the 49 titles? I've never been able to find lists of more than ten or so.

I'd like to make sure I don't pick up any and somehow miss the labels and get one. Because, seriously, how many people are going to be aware of this recall? Sony won't make it publicly known. You'll have to dig for the info.

And I imagine an awful lot of those CDs are already being sold used.