Another article on this from the NY Slimes.
Posted on 09/18/2002 6:09:44 AM PDT by Damocles
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CD players glued shut to stop piracy |
| 18:27 16 September 02 |
| NewScientist.com news service |
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A US record company has issued reviewers with portable CD players that are glued shut to prevent two new albums from being pirated online before their official releases. Epic Records Group has taken the drastic step of sealing CD players shut and gluing headphones onto them to stop digital copies being made from promotional albums. The albums involved are Riot Act by Pearl Jam and Scarlet's Walk by Tori Amos. A spokeswoman for Epic told New Scientist: "Obviously we have a problem with piracy and this is one of the ways we're trying to address it. We're trying lots of things." New albums have appeared early on file sharing networks such as KaZaA, Morpheus and Grokster with a frequency which is alarming record companies. Eminem's The Eminem Show suffered this fate prior to release in May 2002.
Jim Peters, of the UK lobby group Campaign for Digital Rights (CDR), says this latest measure reflects the difficulty of trying to control listeners' use of digital music. "It's a sign of desperation," Peters told New Scientist. "I think its time for them to start rethinking their business model because it's getting ridiculous." CDR has been monitoring the music industries efforts to crack down on piracy ever since copy-protected Compact Discs began appearing in record shops. These disks are encoded to play improperly in computer CD drives, which the group argues infringes on fair use. Some music companies are indeed considering alternative methods to lure listeners away from downloading pirated songs. Universal, for example, plans to issue a unique code number with each CD copy of Bon Jovi's new album Bounce. This will provide access to a web site with information on priority concert tickets, as well as previously unreleased tracks. |
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Will Knight |
If you want on or off this list, please let me know!
This has come about after much badgering by you, my friends and extended family...
Dominant industries who face technological extinction usually try the knee-jerk "point of a gun" government law approach first. That's what we're seeing here.
This just slows down advancement, but doesn't stop it. The consumer will figure out ways around, or outright thwart, government attempts to keep an obsolete industry solvent.
After that, the industry will either adapt to the technology change, or go bankrupt - either of which is completely desirable to the economy as a whole.
Smith-Corona typewriters - they could have started making computers, or go out of business.
Recording industry - figure out how to make money from internet distribution, or go out of business.
Without CD players, piracy itself would be impossible.
At least, I'd be sure of that if I were as stupid and arrogant as a typical recording industry executive.
Or better yet, take a ball peen hammer to the heads of the Industry Execs responsible for this bone headed move.
I agree. Now they are making it a game. If music I like came that way, I would try to rip it just to see if I could. The RIAA is just saying, "I double dog dare you", and as we know from "A Christmas Story", you cannot refuse that kind of dare. :)
On another note, can anyone tell me why some posts; like this one, get re-posted every time someone responds to it, while others need 50 hits? Thanks in advance.
MARK A SITY
http://www.logic101.net/
Not sure if I understand the question, but you may be referring to the fact that an article with a reply makes its way to the top of the posting list.
This is what is called bump to the top or (BTTT).
Not sure about the 50 posts thing.
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