Digital Rights Management on CD's This Christmas? 543
McDrewbie asks: "Has anyone discovered that the new CD's found under the tree or in their stocking don't play on their brand new CD player? My father got a Brookstone Wafer-thin CD system and several new CD's. Most play fine, however several ones from Sony (with CDextra software on them) and from Columbia, either don't play or play with some crackling and popping, yet play fine on our older CD player. Did these companies decide to quietly unleash DRM on the public this holiday season? Or is this just a problem with the new player (separate from it not being DRM capable)? What are other Slashdot readers experiencing today?"
DRM for a present (Score:5, Funny)
Re:DRM for a present (Score:5, Funny)
Re:DRM for a present (Score:4, Funny)
Well, you could burn the CDs. Plastic is just oil after all.
Although, the various chemicals would probably kill you if you burned too many.
Re:DRM for a present (Score:3, Funny)
Re:DRM for a present (Score:3, Funny)
Re:DRM for a present (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:DRM for a present (Score:2, Funny)
Did you tell her the coal will turn into diamond? Are you engaged now? Heh.
(it's a joke, laugh.)
Re:DRM for a present (Score:5, Informative)
If you bought any of the "copy protected" discs that won't play in your computer, Follow this link to the Milberg Weiss Law firm, [milberg.com] and join Dickey V. Universal Music Group et. al, a class action suit against the manufacturers of these defective discs that frequently use the Compact Disc digital audio logo improperly.
That comes off the links page [dontbuycds.org] of a consumer group boycotting the recording industry, for DRM, price gouging, and harassment of file traders. Dontbuycds.org [dontbuycds.org] A previous poster gave the link to that organization, but not to the class action suit, so , pay attantion mods, this post is not redundant!
Take them back... (Score:2, Interesting)
If the music companies want to mess around, play them at their own game!
Re:Take them back... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Take them back... (Score:2)
Customer: I'd like a refund on the CD I bought here.
Employee: Sorry, we only refund CD's if they are defective.
Customer: Well, I haven't scratched this or anything [shows bottom of CD], but look.
Customer plays the other CD's just fine on both discmans, but attempts to play the CD from the store and both of them barf.
Employee, fumbling: Well, ummm, if you take that to, uhhh, customer service...
Re:Take them back... (Score:2, Insightful)
They don't play in your CD player. Regardless of what they say to the above, I think you can make a very good case.
Re:Take them back... (Score:3, Insightful)
Smart enough to forge the receipt of that store? I don't think they'd exchange it without you showing them the receipt as well.
Re:Take them back... (Score:2)
which cd's? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:which cd's? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:which cd's? (Score:3, Informative)
I bet they are not all on that list. The one I got for christmas says "COPY CONTROL" on the cover. So I assume it is YACCD (yet another corrupt CD), but it is not on the list. But then again, I didn't have time to test it yet.
Re:which cd's? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:which cd's? (Score:4, Interesting)
not anymore: [[ from an AC slashdot post today
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=49046&cid=496
"""
here is a snapshot on how these fucks think:
"If you don't violate someone's human rights some of the time, you probably aren't doing your job," said one official who has supervised the capture and transfer of accused terrorists. "I don't think we want to be promoting a view of zero tolerance on this. That was the whole problem for a long time with the CIA."
found this in a quick search in TODAY's news. if you are not paranoid about our government, you're not listening.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37
"""
Personally... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Personally... (Score:2, Interesting)
lol, my father got one (the iPod). Sure beat DRM CDs
BTW, it had a "Don't steal music" sticker to fight piracy. Take your pick between the different protection systems, I've made my choide
Re:Personally... (Score:2)
Heh I don't think the moderators understood that I was being sarcastic.
Crappy drive mechanisim? (Score:3, Interesting)
I've found that a lot of the stuff you can buy from the sharper image, brookstone, etc. is kind of cheesy. Maybe it's just a crappy drive mechanisim.
Re:Crappy drive mechanisim? (Score:4, Interesting)
I've felt the same way about their stuff the past couple years. It looks pretty cool in the catalogs, but there is a Sharper Image store down the road and much of the stuff, up close, looks like maybe a good idea manufactured cheaply. In some cases, a stupid idea, altogether. Catalogs can sell stuff you wouldn't normally buy, because some little deception (usually a hot babe holding/using it) used to redirect your attention from it's faults.
That said... With all the crap the music industry has been doing lately, I'm less inclined to buy their products. Are they going to dismiss my few hundred $ a year, no longer spent, on music piracy? I don't even download MP3's (I haven't even had a system I could do anything with them until recently.) I'm more likely to visit the local used CD store and pick up old, pre-DRM music (which might become a hot collector's item if the current trend continues.)
Some day on eBay:
3034898724 Beatles Sgt Pepper Non DRM Current bid: $57.61
Re:Crappy drive mechanisim? (Score:2)
I forsee the recording industry getting its way with used CD sales -- enacting a kind of "RIAA tax" on each used CD sold -- if the demand for DRM-free CD's out-strips the demand for new CD's. Governmentally mandated profits! I mean, why would anyone listen to the consumer anymore? Ignoring supply and demand worked for Communist Russia, it can work for RIAA.
*sigh* No, the DRM CD's will probably sell as well as, if not better than, the DRM-free jobbers. Most people won't notice, and won't care about, the difference in functionality if the CD's sound the same. Not because they're "lusers" or "sheep" but because there won't be any change in how they listen to music.
Re:Crappy drive mechanisim? (Score:2)
Seeing as how nobody today pictures gypsies when using the term 'gyped', it cannot be classified as a racist comment.
Besides, Gypsies really aren't a 'race' per se. It's a way of life.
Previous Stories (Score:4, Informative)
I wonder... (Score:3, Interesting)
I wonder if the RIAA realizes that they're pushing me towards MP3's when they pull shit like this. I mean seriously, they'll have no trouble blaming P2P music trading for their downfall if the MP3 is higher quality!
Re:I wonder... (Score:5, Interesting)
I think Slashdot should start an event called "Music Return Day". Here's how it works: Get as many people to buy a known copy-restricted CD as possible. Then, locate a national store that'll accept returns on 'defective CDs' (Best Buy or Walmart maybe?) then, on a particular date, have everybody return that CD.
Heh imagine slashdotting Equifax.
Re:I wonder... (Score:4, Interesting)
Actually, my wife works at Target. She told me that there are several CDs with "known" issues that they'll take back and exchange for another CD with no questions asked, even though the normal exchange policy is for the same title only if opened. They are returned frequently for not working in people's players.
I don't have a list of the titles, but from what I gather its becoming more and more common. To the point that it will probably annoy the corporate buyers enough that this stuff will stop before it gets too common, IMO.
Re:I wonder... (Score:2)
Re:I wonder... (Score:4, Insightful)
It would be interesting to see if they'd show you the list if you asked.
Re:I wonder... (time bomb) (Score:4, Insightful)
then tomorrow their cd player breaks and they buy a new one. all of a sudden, that new player (and all other new players) refuse to play a disk that SEEMED ok before.
I find this very unnerving. if you noticed it didn't play immediately (or in 30 days) you could return it. but suppose you had it for years and then the new player didn't play it? what do you do then?
this whole thing sucks.
Not only that (Was: I wonder...) (Score:2)
I bought it so I could convert my CDs to MP3 and burn them to a CD-R (or -RW) saving me from having to carry 10+ CDs. Now most of the new CDs wont play on my computer. Not only that but now my original are bound to get scratched, a car is the worst nightmare for a CD.
What do I do? I ask the guy at the store if I can have them in MP3, if not then I buy something else. Hint: the list is growing smaller and smaller day by day.
Re:Not only that (Was: I wonder...) (Score:3, Insightful)
1. Buy CD-RW.
2. Download P2P file sharing app.
3. (optional) Pay for a buy CD if you want to pay the record label for it.
4. Download entire CD from P2P app.
5. Burn to CD.
6. Play in car.
Also post them to the complete list of corrupt CDs (Score:5, Informative)
Please also post any new corrupt or DRM CDs you find on that complete list, there.
(While you're at it, boycott the RIAA by buying independent CDs [cdbaby.com], instead!)
Re:Also post them to the complete list of corrupt (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Also post them to the complete list of corrupt (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Also post them to the complete list of corrupt (Score:4, Informative)
Presumably you said that to your english teacher when he told you to put a capital letter after a full stop.
There are no two ways about it, "CD's" means "of the CD" or "belonging to the CD". "CDs" is the plural of "CD".
Re:Also post them to the complete list of corrupt (Score:3, Funny)
Everything2 has the best comments on the matter that I've come across:
Someone quoting Everything2 as authoritative is the best evidence of the apocalypse that I've come across.
Re:Also post them to the complete list of corrupt (Score:3, Informative)
Come on, guys. Anyone with enough education to argue about the finer points of disparate style manuals should understand this concept.
Re:Also post them to the complete list of corrupt (Score:2)
Re:Also post them to the complete list of corrupt (Score:2)
CD EXTRA defined (Score:5, Informative)
It's not DRM, AFAIK. I've got several Sony CD EXTRA CD's that are nothing more than multisession CD's [techtarget.com] that some audio CD players simply cannot handle. However, I don't think you can get the same CD offered in both CD EXTRA and non-CD EXTRA formats, so you may be out of luck when trying to play those particular discs in those particular audio CD players; in fact, some older CD-ROM drives can't even handle 'em.
multisession in copy protected CDs (Score:5, Informative)
Corrupt data is added to that extra session so computers will go boink when reading it. This is why that magic marker work-around worked -- it prevented the computer from reading the extra session.
Now a good way to make proper back-ups of your Audio CDs is to remove this extra session. This can be done quite easily if you are using a plextor CD-Rw because the DiscDupe software that comes with it will, when presented with an audio CD, do a bit for bit copy of the first session only. This means that the resulting backup will have the protection removed so you can excercise your home use rights and easily make more copies for the car, ogg encoding, etc.
DRM sucks... (Score:2, Insightful)
Second - COMPLAIN!
Regardless of it being DRM or a faulty player, you should be compensated. You bought a product (be it the CDs or the player) that does not work. Try complaining about the CD player first (and try the CDs in a few other machines too). Get your player and/or CDs replaced or get refunds.
If it is DRM, they should have labelled it, and they deserve to take some shit for fucking over their customers.
Re:DRM sucks... (Score:4, Funny)
I've never read those sentiments anywhere before. I find your completely original outlook on these matters interesting, and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Keep those stunningly fresh and new ideas coming!
Re:DRM sucks... (Score:5, Insightful)
Maybe not "un-American", since shouting down unpopular opinions seems to be in vogue here nowadays.
But really, you shouldn't censor people just for holding unpopular opinions, especially when they're not even expressing those opinions at the moment. Even a white supremacist might have something to teach you, as long as you know which topics to avoid. I might listen to a racist if he's talking about how to polish a gun or clean a deer, even though I know not to listen when the topic of race comes up.
Sometimes I hate being libertarian, we're _supposed_ to defend the rights of ignorant sister-kissing cousin-fscking inbred so-and-so's like this.
It amazes me how many people are attracted to libertarianism and yet don't understand the concepts behind it. Yeah, freedom for other people can sometimes suck, especially when they're expressing an unpopular opinion, but the censoring of unpopular opionions is the first step down a dangerous path.
And to all the people complaining about the modding up of this guy's post- the moderation applies to the post, not its author. This particular post has no offensive content that I can see. (Although I wouldn't waste mod points on it, because it really doesn't merit an "Insightful".) And the guy is at least honest about who he is. I wish all racists would announce up front who they were.
DRM ON CD'S (Score:2, Redundant)
Re:DRM ON CD'S (Score:2)
File sharing isnt going to kill the music industry, but it might save it.
Re:DRM ON CD'S (Score:2)
Actually a close look at the evidence suggests that technology hasn't touched their profits. As was mentioned in an article on both the reg and slashdot, if the industry released the same amount of cds per year today as they did several years ago, then each of those cds would only have to sell 3,000 copies (an utter failure) to have them right back where they were before P2P came about. Oh well, they have only themselves to blame.
Got a Rio Volt MP3-CD player for christmas... (Score:3, Informative)
I was quite gratified to see that while the Volt supports WMA format, it does not support copy protected WMA files. In fact, the manual walks the user through disabling copy protection in Media Player.
Now if only the Volt supported Ogg Vorbis...
Re:Got a Rio Volt MP3-CD player for christmas... (Score:3, Informative)
They're working on it.
Re:Got a Rio Volt MP3-CD player for christmas... (Score:2)
I corresponded w/ a tech through email all thanksgiving (granted, he was in the UK...) and he helped a LINUX operator through some scary firmware re-flashing.
Good folk -- my experience.
Thank you, H. Fiennes!
Let's review (Score:2, Flamebait)
2. These CD's play fine on our other CD players.
Conclusion: DRM!!1!! OMFG!!!1! D00d, that Sux0r!!1!
In other news, my new Dell with Windows XP had trouble recieving Groupwise email the other day. Clearly M$ has decided to secretly break all other mail programs besides Outlook.
Re:Let's review (Score:5, Insightful)
You obviously missed the question at the end of the article.
Let me quote it for you . Did these companies decide to quietly unleash DRM on the public this holiday season? Or is this just a problem with the new player (separate from it not being DRM capable)? There. See how he asks whether the problem is related to DRM or if it's an issue with his player? You jump down the writers throat for no reason. Posting it in the context of some of the replies to this article would make sense. But straight off the article itself, as if the author is some sort of dweeb is a little rich
Re:Let's review (Score:2)
Re:Let's review (Score:2)
Anyway, I don't get what the question is. Of course DRM CDs are out there -- as a bunch of posters have pointed out, there are extensive lists already. Macs have particular problems with one of the methods. So far, I've only hit one (the new J.Lo. album*) but I don't listen to a lot of new music.
* Before someone vibes me about J.Lo.: if I listen to that Van Halen album (where Sammy Hagar covers Won't Get Fooled Again -- 'Meet the new boss. Ughhh! Same as the old boss. Wooooo!') at work, do you think I give a damn about your scorn? Hey, I was at 7 Seconds and Agent Orange shows when no one even knew punks still existed! J.Lo. rules. Although I confess I'm pessimistic about this Ben Affleck deal.
Re:Let's review (Score:2)
OK... so why didn't the dumbass go down to the Brookstone store and return it?
Err, because he doesn't know if it's an issue with DRM on CD, or with the player itself...
Re:Let's review (Score:2)
Re:Let's review (Score:2)
I look forward to that day. If the major record labels cut themselves off from this truly massive distribution and information method, similar to the radio in scope and potential effect on sales, then we will have a massive music source that is 100% independent. This will encourage purchasing independent or small label CD's, and perhaps revitalize the local music industry.
Please, Please Bertleman... take your tail out of this advertising medium. Take your 20$ CD's and leave. I can't wait to have a pure independent music channel. That sounds wonderful.
-C
Re:Let's review (Score:2)
If you don't know the answer to that question, perhaps you shouldn't be mocking something you don't understand.
Re:Let's review (Score:2)
*cough*lotus notes*cough*
Re:Let's review (Score:2)
-1 redundant (Score:3, Interesting)
DRM won't stop the 'criminals', it will merely annoy those who are honest.
Re:-1 redundant (Score:2)
What's next, 'If access to unrestricted recording technology is outlawed, only outlaws will have access to unrestricted recording technology'?
Somehow that doesn't have the ring I was hoping for.
Elvis Collection (Score:2)
Check it on a newer system. (Score:2)
What's all this talk about "playing it their way"? (Score:2, Interesting)
1. Buy the disc, rip it (as ogg vorbis, not fscking mp3). I've yet to encounter a copy protected disc which can't be copied...
2. Turn the disc back to the store, claiming it's useless. (it is, sort of)
3. Send a check to the artists, and say that you like them, but hate their record label, and explain what you did.
4. Send a letter to the record label, say that you hate them, and tell them what you did about it.
I'll admit I've never actually done this myself (because none of the music I like has been copy protected so far). But, hey, doesn't it sound like something?
Re:What's all this talk about "playing it their wa (Score:2)
Unfortunately, many stores, such as HMV [hmv.com] have stopped accepting returns on opened CD's, claiming that there is the possibility that they have been copied. At least we know that the CD stores are smart enough to know that any copy protection can and will be broken.
uhhh, wait a minute... (Score:5, Insightful)
Huge flaw in this logic.
Before I get started, let me clarify that I definitely hate DRM. I pretty much despise large record labels. So I'm not supporting them or anything, but simply sending a check to the artist is crazy.
First, where the hell are you going to send a check? Their fanclub? Do you know Timberlake's address? How about Snoop Dogg's address? How about Creed's address? Tim MCGraw? Whoever it is you listen to, you probably don't have any idea how to actually get money to them, unless they are local to you. And that's an altogether different story.
Secondly, there are TONS of people other than the artist who should be compensated. I mean, just because the CD says "Metallica", it doesnt mean that you are hearing Lars playing the drums on every track. It is very common for artists to hire studio musicians for recording sessions. Especially if they need to meet deadlines while the bassist is in rehab, or jail, or whatever. It happens, a lot, and the session players deserve a cut as well.
Aside from the actual music, there are the studio people. There's as much talent involved with skillful recording as there is with skillful playing. The cover art came from somewhere, and that person should be compensated. There are lots of people who attempt to make honest livings from the production of music and rely on CD sales for a income.
What the RIAA would have you believe is that their job is making sure the revenue gets spread out to all of these people fairly. And we all know this is a bunch of BS.
Really, the best thing to do is to support independant labels when you can. And when you can't, go MP3, Vorbis, whatever. This will (hopefully, if enough people do it) draw the talent away from the RIAA music nazis and empower the independant labels. Everyone benefits.
Re:uhhh, wait a minute... (Score:2)
Re:uhhh, wait a minute... (Score:3, Insightful)
A fair question. Answer: http://www.fairtunes.com/ [fairtunes.com]
Aside from the actual music, there are the studio people.
Bands pay for their studio time to produce the album. And they pay a lot for it. The "studio people" got their money already.
The cover art came from somewhere, and that person should be compensated.
If I download the MP3 for a song, why exactly should I pay for cover art?
DRM? More like bad pressing (Score:2, Troll)
Re:DRM? More like bad pressing (Score:3, Insightful)
has often been felt that long playing-time CDs (greatest-blah-album-ever type things) sound poor but the wisdom is that digits-is-digits. Until Studio Sound actually tested this assertion. Bugger me if it wasn't true. Something to do with narrow track widths,
Bullshit. It doesn't matter how long the audio portion is so long as it's less than 80 (or 74) minutes. The track is the same width, regardless, it simply doesn't go all the way to the outside portion of the disk.
This guy is just trying to sound like he knows what he's talking about.
I don't believe this (Score:5, Interesting)
Lucius, if it's true you're in recording you're in a unique position to prove/disprove this theory. Just take the master of a track, at 44/16/stereo. Then get a pristine, pressed CD containing that track. Rip it with a good program and a good CD drive, then do a comparison on the files. Except for the very beginning and end of the tracks, they should be identical. Audiophiles will tell you ridiculous things, it doesn't surprise me that someone out there thinks a CD is 'more than just bytes.' I mean, you'll meet people who say that the quality of your DIGITAL audio cable matters - as if a cheap 3 ft piece of fiber will somehow lose bytes, but an expensive 3 ft piece of fiber will get all those bytes there intact. These are the same jokers who buy the CDs that are pressed with gold.
Probable explanation (Score:3, Insightful)
Um (Score:3, Interesting)
So back to what I'm saying, audiophiles love patting themselves on the back about this shit, and you've bought it hook line and sinker. It's a piece of plastic, a damn tube that blinks bits. Although I'm not convinced, I'll give you the jitter - who knows, maybe a golden ears listener can detect it. I can't, and you probably can't either. Fine, let's talk about coax then. You'll hear audiophiles whinging about true 75 ohm cables, how RCA connectors are bad - we're talking about a two wire digital connector. Have these people heard that a $5 USB cable has more bandwidth than their precious cables? And yes, they'll actually tell you that coax has jitter too. Am I supposed to believe that the sub-nanosecond time it takes for that signal to reach my decoder, actually degrades the audio? Come on. Most audiophile stuff is pure snake oil, bought into by gullible saps who want to pretend they can 'hear the difference.'
You got your formats wrong. (Score:4, Informative)
Track widths do not vary with CDs so you can stuff more on. Hence there is no such "narrow track width" problem with CD. however, this *does* apply to vinyl, and is one of the main culprits of poor vinyl quality over the last 15 years.
I've not heard of any "thin allyplate" problems with CDs, however using thin, low quality material has been a problem for sound quality for vinyl. some believe this was intentional on the labels' part to get people to switch formats.
also, having worked in the music business myself, i'm happy to say that i've never encountered an instance where the producers don't get a test pressing.
methinks your record exec may not be the only cokehead.
fross
Experiencing today.... (Score:2)
This is not "DRM" (Score:2, Informative)
There are numerous copy protection schemes out there, but it sounds like Sony is using the one that has bad error correction info, which makes the disc sound like crap if the CD player pays attention to it. Dumb ones don't, and tend to play normally (until you get scratches on your CD!).
Of course, anyone willing to spend about 10 minutes researching the issue can find the appropriate software/hardware to rip copy protected discs just fine. Copy protection will only stop the least sophisticated users from ripping the music. Just shows how stupid the record labels are.
don't give them money (Score:2)
If you disagree with the RIAA's politics or technological positions and you give their member labels money, you are a hypocrite. Take that money you were going to give to Sony and give it to a label which isn't a corrupt cabal of mobsters. One that will actually give the artists a fair cut of the money and not bootleg CD's under their nose. Or give it to the EFF.
Don't be a hypocrite. Put your money where your mouth is. If you don't like DRM CD's, then boycott the labels that sell them.
Re:don't give them money (Score:4, Insightful)
We can't just boycott the labels. We have to take power away from the labels and give it to the independents. How do we do this? By buying CD's from independent music labels and sharing the first 4 tracks, and refusing to share music from the major labels. Kazaa isn't just a way to avoid the distribution tax... it is a way to discover new music. We need to make sure that music is good, both in quality and in spirit. It would also be great if we could convince major artists to move away from the RIAA labels and strike it out on their own, but so long as they feel that their livelyhood is threatened I doubt that will happen. We'll have to make it happen on our own.
-C
Re:don't give them money (Score:4, Insightful)
Hey Einstein? If you want to have the artists CDs and not just crappy mp3 downloads, you have to buy it from the damn store.
Most record labels aren't majors or members of the RIAA. Same goes for CD releases. Most are on independent labels or the band self-released.
I spend thousands of dollars a year on music. Shows, shirts, CD's...I spend more on music than I do on food. Not a dime goes to majors or RIAA.
And you'd think I was missing out on the 'best' stuff but I'm not. While all those major and RIAA labels are wetting their pants writing songs to conform to clearchannel standards and mastering all the dynamics out of the CD (so theirs will be louder than the competition), the independents are recording music that they like. Music which stands on it's own merits.
As a consumer of music, I have a choice of who I buy music from and why. I choose not to buy music from people who I feel are doing a disservice to musicians and our musical heritage. I actively buy great music from great bands and labels who are not evil.
The major labels are not a utility like PG&E. They are companies who live and die by convincing consumers to give them money. When I can get music which is as good or better from people who treat their musicians and customers with respect there's no reason to pay somebody who acts without ethics or morals. In fact, I feel it's wrong to reward somebody for negative behavior. Rewards are for people who do good.
So if you disagree with what the majors and the RIAA are doing and you give them money, you are a hypocrite. You are saying one thing but doing the other. We are not to blame for their behavior, but we are wrong to reward them for it.
What would it take ... (Score:2)
There's got to be a legal justification for doing so. If they advertise it as 'protection', it sounds like they're made a superior product that'll play in anything. That sounds like false advertising to me. If they use the term 'restriction', then it's clear there may be playback issues.
DRM ruined 2 gifts I gave (Score:2)
DRM ruined two gifts I gave this XMas:
I gave my boyfriend a Sony MiniDisc Recorder complete with USB link to his computer so that he can record his first "Live Bagpipe Marching Band CD" while he's performing.
We got it connected to his computer and discovered that their damn software will only allow to transfer songs to your computer that you and only you put on the MiniDisc. There's a petition here [minidisc.org] to get Sony to enable this ability as many journalist would benefit from this feature. It's not made clear on the packaging that you cannot transfer songs to your computer that you record with a microphone.
Lesson learned: do your homework before buying any electronics from MPAA or RIAA members. :( And especially avoid electronics manufactures that are also content distributors (read: Sony)
DRM = Customer screwing.. (Score:5, Interesting)
I moved a couple of months ago. My GTA 3 disk was damaged in the move through my own carelessness. I contacted the producer of the game to find out how much a simple media exchange would cost. Want to know how much it'll cost? $18 + S&H. That's just for the disk. They can't throw a copy on the burner for me and do it for $5?
I should have backed it up. I'm not sure if I could have or not. I didn't try with this particular game, but I've had to go to rather extreme measures to back up other games I have. You'd think I'd have the right to protect my $50 investment, but obviously I don't.
I find this infurating. It's either a copyright issue or it isn't. Either I'm holding an $18 lump of plastic, or I'm holding an $.05 key to content I have licensed. They can't have it both ways.
I can't believe that these industries are legally allowed to get away with customer gouging.
Why my gifts are fine (Score:3, Interesting)
I bought "It Isn't The Fall" by The Lesser Birds of Paradise (Loose Thread Recordings) for my mother, and "High Society" by Enon (Touch and Go) for my brother.
I know I sound like a broken record (ha ha ha), but these smaller labels actually want people to listen to their music. They have enough trouble promoting the stuff; they're certainly not going to put up any obstacles, or do things that would tick off the few customers/loyal radio stations they have.
"But I don't know how to find that stuff / indie music sucks!"
No, it doesn't suck. "High Society" certainly beats the hell out of Queens of the Stone Age. The new Apples In Stereo is great too.
As for finding the music, the College Music Journal (cmj.com) is a great starting point. I'd point you to WMBC's own music database, which is (barely) searchable, but it's still a little shaky; I'm hoping to straighten out the code this winter and release it publically (it also does the tracking the RIAA requires for Internet broadcasting).
[On a nice note, I also got "Big Swing Face" by Bruce Hornsby (RCA) for my father, and it wasn't crippled either.]
sue (Score:5, Interesting)
If you went into the store to buy shampoo and dumped it on your head and it was shoe polish, would you take it or sue the ^&^*(tards? If they kept selling shoe polish labeled as shampoo? Over and over and over again? If you went into the store and bought a can of corn and opened it up and it had rat parts in it instead of corn, would you sue, or just take YOUR time and go back and get a 'real' can of corn, knowing that half the cans on the shelf labeled corn that looked like cans of corn were in reality canned rat?
The deal is these stores, and their corporate/cartel/monopolist bosses, want cowed sheepish brainwashed consumers, they want you to only grumble, maybe a few people exchange the defective products, they don't want to make the hard decisions that follow ethics, they want to skate the cheapest way they can. Suing some humongous corporation is HARD, suing a place local and a named individual for an exact specific crime is a lot easier and cheaper, and if thousands of people did it this crap would stop tomorrow.
Sam with spammers, in the states where spam is now illegal-WHY aren't there thousands of lawsuits? I'll tell ya why, it's because 99% of people are sheep, easily cowed, don't want to "rock the boat", scared, think their single efforts won't matter, just content to bitch about things but nothing else-whatever, all excuses really for not taking personal indignation and getting shafted right back to the shafter and getting your day in court. If your cause is righteous, you at least have a chance, never even trying means you'll keep getting shafted, which just further emboldens the badguys to keep ripping people off and pulling more and more scams.
If it was me with this particular issue, I'd tell that store manager (get their full name and job title) ONE TIME to stop selling crippled "counterfeit cd look-a-likes" that aren't "cds", that unless they are removed or labeled and displayed and stocked completely separately from REAL cd's PROMINENTLY six ways to sunday with BIG SIGNS that they AREN'T cd's and WON'T play in most normal cd players that you intend to sue HIM in local court personally,that you will file an official police report, then follow through if they keep ripping people off. Getting ripped off the first time is his fault, twice is "your" fault because "anyone you" puts up with it, generally and non specifically speaking.
This was actually on national UK BBC TV (Score:3, Funny)
Wanna end DRM? (Score:5, Funny)
And the only one more powerful than the RIAA in this country... is Wal-Mart.
Get a few thousand geeks to buy copy protected CDs, and then demand a return at the same time because they are defective. If you get Wal-Mart annoyed enough, they'll throw their weight around and make changes.
Ever wonder why many DVDs at Wal-Mart are fullscreen instead of widescreen? Because enough rednecks returned their DVDs and whined "'cos they didn't fill up mah dam screen!"
Click here to sue (Score:5, Informative)
Here's how they put it in their court filing.
That's clear enough.
They ask that if you've found a defective CD, report it to them by clicking here. [milberg.com]
I've been DRM'd (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Fuck the RIAA (Score:2)
What's "tin-foil" shit? Am I missing something?
Good rant, though.
Re:Fuck the RIAA (Score:2, Flamebait)
Two questions come to mind:
1) Do parrots have asses?
2) Is there an apostrophe there? As in "parrot's ass"?
Such off-topic ranting is a sign of something very, very bad. However, I do agree with your notion that DRM is probably driving folks to piracy.
Re:Fuck the RIAA (Score:2)
Re:Fuck slashdot (Score:2)
This is off-topic, but why are the best comments -- the funniest -- oftentimes posted by Anonymous Cowards? This comment -- the whole thing about the grip and the bottled sweat -- is bizarre and disturbing. Isn't there some sort of "off-topic but interesting" mod option?
On-topic, my question: now that DRM is more ubiquitous, how do figure out whether or not the CD is at fault or the player? I mean, how do you know whether or not the Brookstone player you mention is actually bad?
I'm finding, actually, that while CDs are being mucked and fussed with, the quality of new CD players is actually going down. Components I bought years ago seem more rugged -- and able to play more CDs -- than recent stuff.
Re:Fuck slashdot (Score:2)
Are you for real? Is this real? Or just fake?
Still, this gets my vote as the thread-of-the-month.
Nothing to do with DRM and DRM protected CDs, but it does seem a shame that most folks won't read this because it's mod'd at 0 and will probably soon be at -1.
Re:Making my life tougher (Score:2)
Re:Making my life tougher (Score:2)