CD protection circumvented with electrical tape 21.05.2002
This article at The Register really proves how naive, and clueless the music industry is regarding the consequences of digital media. One successful rip of a CD using electrical tape to dodge the copy protection bit of the CD, and it can be made instantly available to hundreds of thousands of users via p2p software. If, on top of that, mac users risk their computer going tits up because they wanted to play the CD on the machine, and for perfectly legal reasons, then it's no wonder they resort to sucking down a p2p client and scour the web for the music instead.
At datanoms diy festival earlier this year, Brennan Young had a better idea. Instead of not buying the copy protected CD's and waiting for The Successful Rip to show up somewhere near you, you ought to buy the CD's, and preferably several of them and in different shops. If the protected CD can't be played on a certain player, the record shop has to exchange the protected CD, wtih a regular version of the CD, and if they can't do that, you can demand to get your money back. This way you inflict the largest amount of extra expenses for the record company: a) The protected CD that you originally bought can't be sold again, and has to go back to the factory for recycling, b) you get a ripable copy, that you [if you are a bad person] share via p2p- software, instantly defeating the very purpose of the protected version of the CD, c) extra transport costs for the company, transporting both protected and regular CD's back and forth between shops, distribution companies, and factories.
In the distance, the sound of bullets penetrating feets could be heard.