Consumers sue over anti-copy CDs

bbc ^ | Tuesday, 6 January, 2004

[aruanan]

A weak case. DVDs don't play in my VCR, so is this actionable?

No. VCRs aren't designed to play CDs. A computer CD player, however, is designed to play CDs. Since the data track interferes with your playing your CD in your CD player, the addition of the data track makes the CD non-functional, aka defective and the company adding the data track, for whatever reason, becomes subject to legal action for a. selling a defective disk and b. preventing the owner from making a backup copy for his own use, a copy he is entitled to make under existing copyright law.

[ozaukeemom]

ping

[taxcontrol]

".... DVDs don't play in my VCR, so is this actionable?"

Only if the DVD is marketed and being compatible with VCRS. In this case, the "protected" CDs ARE being marketed and being playable on CD players.

[RightWhale]

If there is a problem, it ought to be with the CD drive being used to play the CD. There is nothing in the CD drive itself that would interfere with playing the CD, so the problem is probably with the software. Granted, the CD drive might have embedded software.

[steve-b]

If there is a problem, it ought to be with the CD drive being used to play the CD. There is nothing in the CD drive itself that would interfere with playing the CD, so the problem is probably with the software. Granted, the CD drive might have embedded software.

If a compact disk drive is capable of playing all ISO-9660 standard CDs, then it is performing as advertised.

If a "compact disk" that fails to comply with the ISO-9660 standard (actually, even to advertise such a disk by that name in a trademark infringement) fails to play in an ISO-9660 standard compact disk player, the liability for consumer fraud clearly rests with the producer and/or vendor of the former.

[RightWhale]

ISO-9660

That is a de facto standard. Actually it is also a proprietary standard. Does the CD in question have the little CD logo of approval by the owner of the standard with the backwards D printed on it?

[Modernman]

Paying artists or publishers multiple times for the right to listen to the same recording is an abomination.

I think the future of music will involve buying the rights to music, but never actually having a hard copy of it. You'll be able to play any music or other content you've bought the rights to on any type of player anywhere you happen to be at any time. You won't own anything akin to a CD or DVD, though.

[Rockitz]

I think the future of music will involve buying the rights to music, but never actually having a hard copy of it.

That's basically what I was arguing for, but it won't happen if the industry has anything to say about it. For those of us who date back to the 60s, it's very possible that we've had to purchase a record, an 8-track, a cassette, and a CD of the same album by this time. We've bought the rights as many as 4 times for our favorite Led Zeppelin I album. The industry is greedy and now they're getting their comeuppance with all the illicit copying.

[Political Junkie Too]

Can I sue because some TV shows look like crap on my TV set?

-PJ

[mylife]

Until such time as music publishers are prepared to replace (at media cost) defective media, whether due to age, damage, or otherwise, recording music for personal use should be completely legitimate. Paying artists or publishers multiple times for the right to listen to the same recording is an abomination. Purchase of a recording should include lifetime rights to that piece of music for the purchaser or his assignee regardless of on what media that recording resides.

I'm with you Rockitz. I'm sick of purchasing products that have to be replaced over and over due to format changes and planned obsolescence