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DVD Drives Defeat Cactus Data Shield
Posted by
michael
on Sun Dec 30, 2001 04:33 AM
from the trees-obscure-view-of-forest dept.
from the trees-obscure-view-of-forest dept.
jsepeta sends in a story about Cactus Data Shield, one of the schemes to be used for copy-protecting compact discs. A reporter for TechTV notes that DVD drives see right through the disc corruption that Cactus uses to supposedly prevent those CDs from being ripped.
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DVD Drives Defeat Cactus Data Shield
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Soon to be illegal... (Score:2, Offtopic)
Re:Soon to be illegal... (Score:5, Informative)
There is an excellent review of CPRM, SSSCA and the coming "Secure PC" on The Register [theregister.co.uk]. Here's a short excerpt from this article [theregister.co.uk]:
All DVD drives...or just that NEC model? (Score:2, Redundant)
What it didn't say, however, is if other DVD drives, such as the famous slot-loading Pioneer (which I am blessed to have), also exhibit this behavior.
In any case, this whole copy-protection of audio CD's is a sham. If I use my computer as a CD player (which many people at work do), I should be able to play the CD normally, and do what I want with it.
Re:All DVD drives...or just that NEC model? (Score:5, Funny)
Now the big question: Who will cave in first? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Now the big question: Who will cave in first? (Score:4, Interesting)
People will be lining up to buy them. When they notice that they can't rip, it'll be too late- and the only response they will get is "what, you want to pirate music? You are a bad person, I ought to report you." Makes me glad that I've already got a drive.
So? (Score:3, Insightful)
Time for a new media or new way around it perhaps?
Difference between copying and reading? (Score:5, Informative)
Another point is that many drives have maingenance modes which allow the host computer to see exactly what is on the disk without correction. This is normally used for testing, but again would be very useful for breaking the DMCA. Just read track w/o correction and aply the correction at software level ignoring the bad bits.
I guess that a DVD-rom drive is more sensitive to errors on conventional CD's as they have much finer bit resolutions for DVDs so they alreasy have the modified error recovery built in.
Protection of CDs is pointless and it interferes with customers' own rights and annoys the customer. The original article mentions a class action against Universal about Unplayable CDs.
Alternative OSs? (Score:1)
Am I missing something?
Re:Alternative OSs? (Score:4, Informative)
I was recently in a local music store that carried "The Fast & The Furious" soundtrack. (First off, figures Universal would start with a CD like this--no one wants it, so there won't be a huge outrage over it!) On the back, it states something to the effect of "This CD is copy protected and it meant to be played in standard CD Audio players or Windows-based PCs"
No, it will not play in your Mac. No, it will not play in your consoles. It may play in your car CD player, but that totally depends on the model. And to be honest, I'm not sure about Linux--I'm not going to spend $20 on that POS CD to see if it works under redhat or not.
On top of the fact that this protection decreases the quality of the CD-Audio, etc., it also further extends Microsoft's monopoly. Now if you want to play an Audio CD in your computer, you had better have Windows! This is something that needs to be fought immediately. (Some nice "DEFECTIVE CD" stickers would help, I think)
I nearly got arrested because of this! (Score:3, Funny)
A theory if you will (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems to me this is just one of those CDAutoStart things that Windows responds to in particular.
I got tipped off to this by when they mention "Track 1" never plays. I BET they didn't notice the total track count go up by one, as the Windows software talking to the DVD player parses its error-handling differently (correctly), and the result is like putting a PC hybrid CD in a Mac. In fact i strongly expect this Cactus lockout thing would not work on a Mac by default, and very very likely Linux/*nix as well. The tracks would appear as normal, though possibly not that first track, because its header DOES get lost in the scrambling, maybe.
Perhaps this is hogwash, but I've heard about Macs seeing through similar schemes before. I think that these TechTV guys sort of percolated through the truth of older reports to home users that are kinda savvy but don't like leaving their Gates Paradigm Computing, thus only the windows DVD stuff, no mention of other platforms at all.
On the other hand, if this is not unique to Windows (I wonder about Mac DVD players) then maybe that program has low-level drivers which affect how the CD drive does checksums, but DVD players do differently anyway.
Yeah, another victory for the Fair Use groups, as the people designing this have their asses backwards because they're counting on all computer users (mass 37331 pirates) to be Windows computers. OOPS...
Universal, i will scout for your discs, and as a Mac user of self-proclaimed badassary, "hack" via insertion your CD, rip, burn and mail to your well-tanned California ass.... Mwahaaha... All right enough fevered fantasies of geek revenge... back to work...
Another way around it: (Score:5, Informative)
(Tested it on 'Natalie Imbruglia - White Lillies Island' with a Yamaha 6x4x16x SCSI CDRW drive)
1) Get IsoBuster [isobuster.com] (A Win32 app)
2) Rip the entire disc as raw data. May struggle/take a while. Tell it to ignore any read errors
3) Open the raw file in CoolEdit (or any decent audio editor) as a 44.1Kz 16-bit stereo sample (with Intel byte ordering)
4) There you have it! The entire CD as one big sample!
5) In CoolEdit, you can use 'Edit->AutoCue->Find Phrases and Mark' to split the tracks up automatically
6) Save 'em out, and convert to MP3/Ogg if neccesssary
Re:Another way around it: (Score:5, Funny)
1) Take 'Natalie Imbruglia - White Lillies Island' CD.
2) Fasten the disc to your car's bumper with a chain.
3) Drive around until there's nothing left but the chain.
damnit, couldn't they be quiet? (Score:5, Funny)
Dell. (Score:4, Troll)
If they enforce the DMCA on this, they can change there commercials..
"Dude, You're getting arrested!"
Once again, the VCR case. (Score:1)
Now, I'm not a lawyer, and I'm not a politician (Otherwise I'd be busy screwing around on my wife with an intern right now, or stuffing my pockets with money from lobbyists,) but this is fairly fucking obvious, is it not? What is it that these people don't understand!
First Track (Score:2, Insightful)
The people who wrote this article are idiots. (Score:5, Informative)
Correct me if I'm wrong (nobody's perfect), but this seems pretty simple to me.
Re:The people who wrote this article are idiots. (Score:4, Informative)
if you can listen to it, you can rip it (Score:5, Insightful)
Not even watermarking is going to see them out of this. Watermarks can be removed anyway, and even if they succeed in a lunatic scheme to require that every computer audio board have some kind of watermark detection circuit, A/D and D/A converters that are fast enough and good enough are cheap, widely available, and easily hooked up to a PC.
Are the record labels just clueless or is there some other diabolical plan in the wings?
Just like the good old days! (Score:3, Insightful)
The only way they'll win is if they make CDs connect to the Internet and verify with the record company everytime you play it, ala Return to Castle Wolfenstein. Or have some crappy activation featuers, ala Windows XP. Then again someone will work around that too
Read the classic Copy Protection: A History and Outlook [textfiles.com]
Perfect copy protection IS possible! (Score:5, Insightful)
All kidding aside— here is a formula that might be useful to publishers of digital data:where If L > 0, the data will be copied.
A publisher can control the level of his data's protection only to the degree that he can control these variables.
- Cm cannot be kept artificially high, due to market forces to the contrary;
- Ce continues to drop, as coding ingenuity continues to outstrip copy prevention standards almost as quickly as they are developed;
- Ca is relatively low for the end user, since it usually only involves paying for software you had anyway; and
- Pa is low because the crime is widespread and social costs are low, so enforcement at the end user level is minimal.
This leaves a publisher of digital data with two variables he can control: the data's cost and its value. This provides two options for perfect copy protection:- make the product free, or
- make the product worthless.
Since neither option would be attractive to most publishers, it would appear that widespread copyright violations (and violators) will be with us for a long, long time.Re:Perfect copy protection IS possible! (Score:4, Funny)
Perhaps you could define L? ;)
Formula is wrong (Score:4, Insightful)
Has no one ever tried to understand the formala you posted ?
The risk that data will be copied rises when the cost of recordable media rises ? Your formula should have been:
Rc = ((Ca * Pa) -Cp) * Vd / ( Cm + Ce )
Normal CD drives can do it to... (Score:2)
Good for music trading after all? (Score:5, Insightful)
The only thing hurting the warez scene is games being so friggin big nowadays... multiple CDs, etc. You can't run bladeenc, or oggenc on a game.
Maybe DVD-Audio will help combat music piracy, but that's a bit off.
As if this would stop mp3s from spreading (Score:2)
These kind of findings are exactly what will ... (Score:2, Insightful)
And heres where the crappy DCMA really starts to leak water, because now these products (ie. DVD-ROM drives, etc) that are being manufactured by large corporations some of which don't give a f*** about the MPAA and the DVD Forum because they allow all of that to be handled by software, are circumvention devices, and thus illegal. All it takes is a lawsuit and there is no way that anyone can tell me that this crappy law can stand up in court when multibillion dollar industries go head to head with each other. Now IANAL but in my opinion the DCMA has the quality of construction roughly equal to that of M$'s software, and that under this much scrutiny it will (and forgive the really corny wording of this but i'm tired) BSOD.
Well at least thats what I hope happens.
The Question All Slashdroids Want Answered Is... (Score:1)
- A.P.
"fair use" is not a right. (Score:4, Insightful)
Having said all this, record industry does have the right to implement copy protection. I'm not saying that it's good, I'm just saying that they have legal right to do so. Under current law, record company is not obligated to grant you the ability to use the material in "fair use" manner. At the same time, you are not obligated to buy copy protected CDs.
Re:"fair use" is not a right. (Score:5, Interesting)
I've thought about the following for a while. There ought to be a two-track system of copyright. Whenever anything is released for public consumption, the publisher would make a choice:
In other words, the content publisher doesn't get to eat his/her cake and have it, too. By restricting Fair Use access, by cordonning off the material from the public domain (essentially forever), the publisher loses the protection of the courts. If you don't want to play ball with the justice system, you don't get to use it, either.
This approach is entirely justifiable, as copyright is a privilege granted by the state, not a right inherent in the content. As Litman and others point out, historically, copyright has been viewed as a bargain between the publishers and the public. If publishers try to unilaterally change the terms of the game -- by, for instance, encrypting data streams -- then the public has every right and justification to revoke the copyright.
Music ... Then & Now (Score:1)
All jokes aside, if it can be played by a normal stereo, all it would take is about $15 worth of Radio Shack happiness to record onto your HD.
I have not been researching or reading much about the schemes they are trying to coordinate, but I know that there are a lot of different "known" schemes so far. Exactly how much money do you suppose they are sinking into this battle for just these "known" protections? I would bet it is quite pricey, and to justly support their anti-pirating/anti-reverse engineering crusades (yes..) they'll happily stick the fool still buying cds...until of course s/he realizes, "paying $35/cd sucks" and just quits buying cds then goes back to tape recording the radio. HAHA! Never ending spiral RIAA has going, they need to learn to accept diminishing returns and be happy there still is a great number of stupid people happy to pay these increased costs. As for me, I love shoutcast =)
This is idiocy, it's fundamentally a paradox. (Score:4, Funny)
However, since the customer is allowed to hear the music or see the film, the data has been "released" into the wild and can easily be recaptured in other formats. In other words, they cannot use purely digital, "black-box" means to protect this data because we have nice analog visual and auditory systems that require this data to pass through the air in order for us to perceive and enjoy it.
Once the data is in the air, any microphone, nice camera, etc. etc. will be able to grab it out of the air again.
The only way I can see copy protection working is if in 50 years all "out-loud" music is strictly forbidden and illegal and instead, we have a DBC (digital-to-brain converter) implanted in our skull that accepts an input from the line-out jack on our "secure" digital music device.
There will have to be secret police everywhere to make sure nobody actually hums along, because if anyone does, someone with a hidden microphone (banned decades ago, but available on the black market, nevertheless) might capture it and distribute it, not to mention the 20 other people in the room who will hear this humming and thus "steal" the music without paying the original artist/composer for it...
My DVD drive defeats it (Score:1)
I've got a Toshiba laptop dvd drive (sd-c2502), and it had not trouble at all ripping the Natalie Imbruglia cd that was Cactus Broken^H^H protected.
A couple of friends have Toshiba laptop cd only drives, and they couldn't play the cd :(
In the Bad Old Days of diskette copy protection.. (Score:3, Insightful)
In the Bad Old Days of diskette copy protection, the good guys eventually won. You had the usual arms race, the usual idiocy, companies wasted time devising slightly corrupted disk formats that could be loaded but not copied, schemes that would allow you to install on a hard drive but forced you to deinstall before the diskette would allow a reinstall, and so forth and so on.
You also had legally-purchased diskettes that wouldn't install because of SQA issues with the protection scheme, or hardware incompatibilities with certain drives.
But you had vigorous free enterprise producing products like Locksmith and Copy II PC, constantly improving them and developing new "parms."
This meant that the companies using copy protection had to spend serious development resources devising new and better copy protection schemes, AND were constantly pissing off legitimate customers.
Eventually the Lotuses of the world got tired of it all and decided not to bother with copy protection. Lotus has declined, but as far as I know, not one person has suggested that the decline was caused by software piracy...
Right now, CD protection is in the same stage that diskette copy protection was... and we'll have these amusing stories for a while... and occasionally decent law-abiding customers will find that their new CD's don't play.
What we WON'T have is a vigorous free-market solution. In a free market, of course, the DVD-drive companies would realize that the ability to read "copy-protected" CD's gives them a valuable competitive advantage. But, instead, thanks to the DMCA, they will probably be FORCED to become Midbar-compliant whether they like it or not.
And it will only get worse.
Unless consumers wake up... and that, alas, doesn't seem likely...
Copy Protection taken to extremes. (Score:2, Insightful)
You thought 1984 was bad?
DMCA = Communism? (Score:3, Interesting)
You'd think the industry would learn that a new market has opened up and learn how to profit in it instead of trying to close it. The most damning thing for them is as long as Linux is around, there will always be ways to prevent copy protection from ruining our lives.
How many more subtle changes to the law will it take before it becomes illegal to not purchase a product because you saw the ad on TV?
No one picked up on this? (Score:5, Funny)
Don't touch the data or you will be subjected to thousands of lawy^H^H^H^H little pricks!
Talk about hidden meaning.
.
Music is Software? (Score:1)
This is getting quite interesting. I wonder if there's any legal ramifications of this?
Finally. 800 pound gorilla vs. 800 pound gorilla (Score:1)
In the red corner weighing 330 pounds and undefeated DMCA champion from Washington DC it's RIAA!!
And in the blue corner weighing 340 pounds undefeated Copyright champion from California it's the MPAA!!
Heh, sweet (Score:3, Interesting)
Why am I somehow not surprised at this? Anyone got information on what it sends and where, if it does turn out to be spyware? If I was the kind of fool to write software like this I'd probably have it look for mp3s on the assumption that all mp3s are by definition contraband. If I was more of a fool I'd have the program delete them or something. Has anyone studied the behavior of this apparently annoying and awkward program?
Author violates the DMCA in public, and CDs still? (Score:1)
A less important issue is that they're never going to be able to effectivly copy-protect CDs... The cat is way out of the bag, and as long as they maintain interoperablilty with older CD players, there is going to be a way to go around it. People should be more watching the up and coming SACD (Super Audio CD format) which actually has a few hundred titles out, as well as a bunch of players. It uses a digital encoding called DSD (Direct Stream Digital) which is quite different from PCM. I head a demonstration of these puppies lined up against a normal CD player at this years Audio Engineering Society convention... It was incredible. They claim to have strong copy-protection built into the standard, but I have not been able to find details yet. With the squabling which has been going on with DVD audio, and the fact that many of the hardware manufacturers have not backed it, it stands to be the replacement for today's Red Book CD.
adam
Check out the "security" on Midbar's web site! (Score:4, Interesting)
Error detection, etc..... (Score:2, Interesting)
I realize Universal has implied that this is a hardware issue, but I have a hard time with that "line"- my guess is that anyone could write software "error detection" that emulates that of an audio CD player capable of playing a "protected CD". My understanding, and I may be wrong here, is that a PC's CD drive uses a more exacting form of error detection (since they spin faster, and let's face it- one bit of error sneaking by in your walkman's CD playing in real time can be interpolated with less impact than on a data CD for a PC).
I also find it difficult to believe that all of the glass mastering facilities have been retooled to accept masters with "errors." Obviously there is a great difference between "pressing a CD" and burning one- and the error tolerances are very different.
The actual digital data of a CDDA file is identical to that of a
Labels need to realize that a compressed format such as mp3 poses a legitimate compromise to fidelity. It is not unlike making a mix tape on(cassette). Granted many people also are copying entire CDs with the wave audio intact, but if the labels wanted to show a gesture of good faith, they would INCLUDE mp3s at a decent audio quality (above 128!). This would at least make purchasing the CD "valuable" (since it is higher quality than mp3).
But keep in mind that we will soon see high resolution audio on DVD, and the labels will try to resell you your entire collection with audio at least at 24 bits, and likely twice the sample rates... likely with surround sound mixes, etc. This of course if overkill considering most people's listening environments. Again, this could be viewed as a value added service worth paying a premium (and I consider the cost of a new CD at that price point, considering what little you get for your money). An mp3 will look like a very inferior medium to those with discerning ears.
To address another point someone raised, it will be VERY EASY to fill a DVD audio CD- the audio files themselves could easily double if not triple, and they will likely add alternate mixes of the same songs, and dump a bunch of other multi-media crap on them... and probably add "commercials" promoting other artists or products .
They CANNOT mandate copy protection for PCs. Hardware has historically been ahead of media (think VCR if you must... or cassette tapes). Look what a flop the "pay-per-view" DVD players were... consumers voted with their wallets.
The DIRECT DIGITAL copy argument does not apply here if we consider that a blank DVD could cost more than a high-res audio DVD (which it could- for the time being). In the meantime, people need to use the technology to unseat the stranglehold that the centralized form of distribution places on content (FOUR major labels controlling everying, including the LAW?!- certainly promotes a grassroots "open source" movement for artists to distribute their wares directly- most consumers would arguably rather pay the artist than the label anyway, and arguably actual production costs are at an all-time low and are headed lower... as long as you don't need that top shelf producer).
Universal and others truly are cutting off their noses to spite their faces.
your patriotic duty (Score:1)
Totally senseless... (Score:4, Insightful)
LOWER THE PRICE OF THE GOD DAMN CDS IF YOU WANT MORE VOLUME SELLS, I can see some mozart crap sold at C$6 at my local music shop, why would I have to pay C$20 for a metallica CD? Don't tell me because of the expenses and all, the expenses are the packaging, the design, the loans, etc etc.. YES... well, the mozart CD went thru the about the same process, Metallica sells a LOT more hense more VOLUME hense more PROFIT in the end to repay that possible loan (well now they are rich anyways), so why 20$? maybe they'd sell a LOT more if CDs would be cheaper and become the "trading cards" of the kids instead of being overpriced unreachable-to-most-teenagers-that-aren't-working
3 times cheaper would mean greater volume, greater splitting among artists, greater audience, greater penetration of the market, and I'D BUY SOME, which I don't do since maybe 5 years after being raped having to pay c$50 for imports that I really wanted and they would classify imports when they had actually a TON of them and anyways, even metallica is "imported" to canada so who cares about the "import" label. I was ripped off, I've searched for alternatives, and I got one.
You can screw people off big time and keep it up for YEARS, but history shows that in ANY circumstances, people will find alternatives or revolt when they are mistreated or abused.
I did my part, I have 100's of Original CDs, but I had it with that system, and seeing them investing massively in crap like DMCA or DRM instead of doing the obvious: CUTTING THE PRICES, simply disgust me. Again, I'd buy a shitload of CDs if the price would be right, it isn't.
For people with the lame "expenses" arguments, tell me, why are tapes 1/2 the price of the cd? it's the SAME process, heck a cassette costs more to produce than a CD, in both time and material, so why is it cheaper? there are many reasons, but I don't care, WHY wouldn't the CDs be cheaper? why would I shell C$30 for a DVD or C$20 for a CD if they could be sold for a fraction of that price?
I am not saying I copy my stuff, I don't even own a dvd player because I just skipped that technology, I'm still happy with my SVHS tapedeck. But I am really not surprised (like most of the people here) of what's happening. Someone is really high at RIAA... Towelie must be running things
This is just another example.... (Score:1)
On Robustness (Score:2)
Security in general and Cactus's scheme in particular is a system for decreasing system robustness. Except with a precise combination of software player, disc, and equipment, the system should not still work.
So, from a theoretical point of view, they've repurposed something that added value into something that subtracted value. In practical terms, scratching your CD is now much more likely to cause serious damage, worthy of replacement.
This can, and will be proven experimentally.
The irony, of course, is that the more copy protection is added, the more legitimate the need will be to make copies. Beautiful.
Yours Truly,
Dan Kaminsky
DoxPara Research
http://www.doxpara.com
Autostart as copy protection (Score:3, Interesting)
First, does this mean it's Windows-only? Probably. What happens on a non-Windows system? Is the disk labelled accordingly?
Second, unless the install process ("install process to play an audio CD?") makes you sign a EULA, that spyware thing could be considered hostile code, and might be illegal under anti-hacking laws. This is definitely worth litigation.
Improper encoding of copyright information a crime (Score:1)
Steve Jobs Has It Right (Score:5, Interesting)
"Piracy is a social problem, not a technological one."
That really sums it up. And you can see in Apple's products that they really believe this.
Ripping MP3's (or AIFF's) in iTunes is ridiculously simple. Like it should be. (Single click rips an entire CD)
Copying those MP3's to a portable music device is also incredibly simple. Even automated if you use an iPod (though iTunes works great with other MP3 players too!)
The only copy protection on my iPod is the fact that it's a one-way sync. And for what it's worth, it's a LOT LOT LOT harder to do a 2-way sync than a one-way sync. So I really don't believe the conspiracy theorists, and I think it's all about keeping things simple!
Steve's on the right track here. He understands.
There's no real technological reason that other companies can't do what Apple's doing. But for some reason, they "get it" and folks like MS, etc. don't.
Obvious metaphore - Organized crime (Score:2, Insightful)
1) Ripping CD is ALWAYS going to be possible
2) People like getting something for nothing (I rip my Cd for personal use only and don't share them, you may too but what all this noise about
3) It is prohibitively expensive to prosecute individuals for trading/sharing music only - both finically and in terms of bad publicity
RIAA, face it - you are just giving more power to your "enemies" (read customers) by making this such a big issue. If you want to stop music trading/sharing online -- make it cheep and easy to download songs! That's the only way your gonna stop this. ANY other action you take will just force the "Bad people" committing this crime against your pocketbook to organize to become more effective.
LotR protected too (well, kinda) (Score:1)
Not just DVD-ROM drives, either (Score:1)
DVD Drives and Copy Protection (Score:1)
It will backfire. (Score:1)
Even if only a minority of users have the hardware and software needed to rip a popular CD, that will be enough to "seed" the file-sharing pool, so that the rest of the listeners can grab, share, and finish the job.
Nevertheless, the major labels will probably go for it. This will create another market paradox: small-time, up-and-coming independent musicians with absolutely NO interest in making their music "hard to get" will be competing in the file pool with big-budget acts whose label is desperately trying to make THEIR music as hard to get as possible. Independent music will be helped, and the surprisingly marginal profitability of many labels will be hit hard.
One thing I do like about these "software music wars" is that eventually somebody will get smart at, say, Universal, and realize that they could install a protected CD player that REFUSES TO PLAY RIVAL COMPANIES' CD's. Or better yet, that makes them sound tinny or low-fi without announcing it. Then the rival strikes back, and Universal counterstrikes, and oooooooh!! i like it!!!
Re:wow... (Score:1)
Re: moron (Score:1)
Missing the point (Score:2, Informative)
The copy protection won't stop me anyway; I have a line input on my computer. It will just make it a pain in the ass for me, someone who DOES give them money, to use albums the way I want to.
Re:what's with S/PDIF (Score:1)
S/PDIF often suffers from jitter, which degrades the audio... it is not a perfect solution. It also lacks convenience.
Re: moron (Score:1)
Re:IP theft galore! (Score:3, Interesting)
> Oh joy!
>
> So now we can get back to stealing from the artists!?
>
> What a wonderful discovery!
No discovery. Artists have been stolen from all along by the recording industry. Hardly anything you pay for a CD goes to the actual artist. It goes to a bunch of greedy exploiters that call themselves the RIAA. Now they want to make the artists to work for a paycheck so all their IP belongs to the record label they work for.
To make matters worse, they want to restrict what law abiding people can do with their overpriced CD by selling broken ones (only their broken ones still don't do what they want)! As far as we know, these Universal CD's only play on Windows PCs with their crappy software, or on (some?) Windows PCs with DVD drives. If you want to play the songs using Windows Media Player on a PC without a DVD drive, you are out of luck. (Has anyone even tried to use Universal's player on a Windows XP PC? Does XP even let you run it?) If you want to use the XBox's feature to rip songs and play them as you game (or even just play the idiot CD's) you are out of luck. (Why Microsoft, patenter of the all-wonderful DRM OS and all around monopoly-abusing juggernaut, isn't screaming bloody murder here, I'll never know.) If you have any non-Microsoft OS, computer, or game console, you are seriously out of luck.
No, I don't trade mp3's. I'm not into mass-piracy, or even the "information should be free" movement. But I am also not into paying $20 (or whatever they are now) for broken CD's, especially when the money goes to greedy sharks and not to the artists. On the other hand, I happily paid $60 (and waited months to get) the two disc "Mothra 3" soundtrack, partly because it is the only way, without a US distributor, to reward Toho for one of their best Mothra movies, and because I have had so much fun translating the label and writing English lyrics to the instrumental pieces.
"They bind our hearts: 'Let's sell them again and again!'"
From the fairies' song "Infant Girl" in the Japanese version of "Mothra" (1961).