The news about the copy-protection scheme on the new Coldplay CD has been making the rounds lately. I think my favorite part is at the top:
The recordings in this CD have an anti-copying function. They cannot be copied into a PC. In order for you to enjoy high quality music, we have added this special technology.
Then just above the long list of devices on which the CD may or may not play, there's this gem:
This CD cannot be burnt onto a CD-R or hard disk, nor can it be converted into MP3 for file sharing.
I'm not likely to buy a Coldplay CD, but between the FBI Warnings on (apparently) all discs now, the Sony fiasco, and this news I'm leery of buying any CD from anyone. The last thing I want to do is pay 15 bucks for something, and then take it home to find out that I can't listen to it on my computer, in my car, or with my iPod. You have to wonder at what point the industry will realize that they can either lose sales through file-sharing, or they can lose sales by alienating their customer base, and likely still lose sales to file-sharing. In the meantime, I'll save my cash for books.
Posted by Jason at January 2, 2006 03:39 PM