|
Up to the minute notes on the current state of free thinking and free living: Kentucky moonshine - original analysis and reporting from MoreThings, and all round pop culture museum of sight and sound - photo galleries, mp3 and video downloads.
Al Barger and MoreThings - getting people's goats since 1998.
Live free or die!
----
|
January 20, 2003
Fair fighting and stupid tactics
So they're pushing this new software called Microsoft Windows Media Data Session Toolkit. [HERE and HERE for the news story.] Naturally I am skeptical, both as a purchaser of factory CDs and as a user of MP3s.
From the Reuters story:
It enables music labels to lay songs onto a copy-controlled CD in multiple layers, one that would permit normal playback on a stereo and a PC.
The PC layer, laid digitally on the same disc, can be modified by the content provider, so that they could prevent, for example, burning songs onto another CD, said David Fester, general manager, digital media entertainment for Microsoft.
First off, let me say that I support the right of the record companies to put out whatever kind of coding they want to, so long as it is not maliciously taking over people's computers. To some partial extent, the record companies have legitimate concerns about massive downloading of their recent material. I would not support legal blockages against companies encrypting their music software anymore than I would support legal blockages against people encrypting their email.
This sounds like a bunch more crappy, complicated programing to screw up the basic product, though. The record companies seem to think that they'll just get the right technological and legal strokes, and they'll get to keep screwing consumers as hard as they want and as long as they want with quadruple pricing of CDs and endless extensions of copyrights.
Hint: it will not work. Whatever kind of blocking and encryption you come up with will take some high school kid about 20 minutes to bust up, and there won't be anything you or your schills in government can do to prevent it. All you're going to do is to come up with something to cause more problems for paying customers wanting to use your product.
Indeed, this could lead to even MORE and accelerated sucking on their sales charts. I know that I for one will not pay good money for CDs that are screwy. Nor will I pay for them even if this code works smoothly as planned; when I pay money for the CD I absolutely expect to be able to make backup copies or MP3 files or mix tapes for personal use. Damned if I'm going to pay money for something I can't use.
Specifically, if a CD comes from the factory with limiting encryption, I'll not buy such an inferior product. Instead, I'll make a point of getting a nice clean MP3 off the net after someone cracks it, which means the record company gets NOTHING. Then I will laugh.
This is not just me making a political point; it is a practical personal matter to everyone who buys CDs. Stupid encryption programming will motivate even a lot of people who are not particularly interested in the political issues, even wealthy people who don't mind blowing wads of money on the cartel products. Who will pay the bucks to buy a commercial product that is actively inferior to what they can download on the net for free?
posted by Al at 1/20/2003 08:16:00 PM
Link Soup
morethings master
photo gallery index
MP3
new album
releases
lyrics
sammy davis
little richard photos
buddy holly pictures
fats domino images
chuck berry pictures 01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
01/02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12
01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/01/
02/
03/
04/
05/
06/
07/
08/
09/
10/
11/
12/08/
09/
10/
11/
12/
la
24
lucille ball images james
blunt photos
clint eastwood pictures lena
horne images team
america pictures
robert mitchum photos
bruce springsteen pictures
mariah carey pictures
ann coulter photos
george clooney images
loretta lynn pictures
beatles pictures
white stripes pictures
andy griffith pictures
kill bill pictures
beverly hillbillies pictures
robin williams
frank zappa pictures
jerry lee lewis pictures
richard pryor photos
june carter johnny cash pictures
vic mackey shield pictures u2 photos
four seasons images
james cagney images
elvis presley pictures
country music
blog
dolly parton pictures
olsen twins photos
tom petty photos
tori amos pictures
joaquin phoenix images David
Bowie photos
Quills movie images
reese witherspoon pictures rolling
stones photos
fiona apple images kim
novak images ray charles photos marx
brothers pictures
prince rogers nelson pictures blazing
saddles images
sinead o'connor images
eddie murphy photos aretha
franklin photos
south park pictures homer
simpson images
bob dylan pictures elizabeth
taylor photos madonna
images
saturday night live pictures willie
nelson images hee
haw pictures james
brown images pete
townshend photos
tina turner pictures
dixie chicks photos
margaret thatcher photos
guns
n roses pictures
paula abdul pictures
jodie foster photos
amy winehouse
eminem
frank sinatra photos
van
halen images
satan
blondie photos
joni
mitchell pictures
merle haggard
images
rocky horror pictures
monty
python
|
|
