Microsoft offers CD copy limits

It's all about the equipment

Moderators: Mr Awesomer, JesseMiner, CafeSavoy

Locked
Message
Author
Nate Dogg
Posts: 886
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2002 3:29 pm
Location: Austin, TX

Microsoft offers CD copy limits

#1 Post by Nate Dogg » Mon Jan 20, 2003 1:15 pm

Microsoft offers CD copy limits

Report: New software allows record companies to limit music reproduction.
January 20, 2003: 6:32 AM EST


NEW YORK (Dow Jones Newswires) - In a development that could signal new limits on copying of store-bought music, Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has come up with software tools that let recording companies restrict unauthorized reproduction and sharing of music compact discs, Monday's Wall Street Journal reported.

Two major recording companies -- Vivendi Universal SA's Universal Music Group and EMI Group PLC -- said they are experimenting with Microsoft technology for possible use on CDs by popular music artists.

Microsoft's move, announced during the weekend at the Midem music conference in Cannes, France, comes in response to a push by movie studios and recording companies to combat piracy of songs and motion pictures through the Internet and devices such as CD recorders. The music industry saw CD sales fall 7% during the first half of last year, a decline recording companies blame on Internet piracy and CD recording.

Music companies have already released CDs that block copying of any sort on a PC, prompting an outcry from some listeners. Microsoft's technology could find wider use as it gives recording companies finer control over copying by users, permitting limited duplicates in some cases. The software can also be used on DVDs to protect movies.

For music lovers accustomed to unfettered use of CDs, the technology could mean a big adjustment. Microsoft's software is designed to be used with software from other companies such as SunnComm Inc. that prevents songs on conventional music CDs, known as "red book " audio, from being copied onto a PC, while allowing them to be played in ordinary home and car stereos. The Microsoft software will let recording companies add a second batch of songs and other digital files to CDs, called a "second session, " that PC users will be permitted to copy to their machines.

Those second-session songs, however, can be programmed with a variety of limitations, including blocks that prevent recording onto CDs or sharing over Internet file-swapping services. Using the Microsoft software, music companies can permit users to e-mail songs to friends, but only with degraded sound quality or expiration dates that make the songs unplayable after a certain date.

Music companies say they plan on working with a variety of software companies to combat piracy.

Wall Street Journal Staff Reporters Nick Wingfield in San Francisco and Charles Goldsmith in Cannes, France contributed to this report

Locked