James Delahunty
4 Oct 2005 12:41
If you follow our news stories here on AfterDawn then you would have heard about the latest issues surrounding the use of Digital Rights Management (DRM) copy protection on music CDs. Reuters has published an article with a bit more information on the situation. Here it is in short summaries...
Want music on your iPod? Don't blame us, blame Apple!
That is the message that Sony BMG and EMI are giving to their customers who have bought copy protection CDs unknowingly (like Foo Fighters - In Your Honor and Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound). The problem is, with these copy protected CDs, it is not possible to store the music on an iPod due to DRM differences. The copy protected CDs use Windows Media DRM which doesn't work on an iPod.
However, the music labels are pointing the finger of blame at Apple due to the company's unwillingness to license it's FairPlay DRM technology to the labels. Sony BMG at least does not let it's customers who own an iPod completely in the dark like EMI is doing. Instead the label actually is telling people how to workaround the DRM. Yes, that is correct, the label is telling people how to bypass its own copy protection (basically burn a CD and then rip the files from the burned CD to iTunes).
But as an extra punch at Apple, the label also asks people to send angry letters to Apple demanding that the company license its DRM technology to music labels for use on copy protected CDs. EMI however will not help customers to get around the DRM according to sources.
Artists split over DRM
There are artists out there who hate Digital Rights Management being put on their CDs. One of them is Switchfoot. Switchfoot member Tim Foreman spoke out against the DRM and posted instructions on a message board on how to beat it (which were later removed as the board was provided by Sony BMG). "We were horrified when we first heard about the new copy-protection policy," Foreman wrote. "It is heartbreaking to see our blood, sweat and tears over the past two years blurred by the confusion and frustration surrounding new technology.
To make matters worse for Switchfoot, EMI ended up having to recall their "Nothing Is Sound" album after realizing that the DRM settings allowed nothing to be done with the protected files at all. Jason Brown, president of Philadelphonic, a management company that represents Tristan Prettyman, said he is completely frustrated. "Copy control as it stands right now is in its 1.0 phase. It was rushed through and into a system that wasn't prepared for it." he said.
The artist's album "Twentythree" is included in the EMI copy-protection trial. However, many artists still show their support for copy protection, like Jermaine Dupri. There are 30 million iPod users in the world, you can be sure many of them are frustrated with copy protection on CDs.
Source:
MP3.com