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Copyright C 2002 Reuters Limited
'Copy-Proof' CDs Cracked with 99-Cent Marker Pen 
Mon May 20, 1:14 PM ET 
By Bernhard Warner, European Internet Correspondent 

LONDON (Reuters) - Technology buffs have cracked music publishing giant
Sony Music's elaborate disc copy-protection technology with a decidedly
low-tech method: scribbling around the rim of a disk with a felt-tip
marker. 

  
Internet newsgroups have been circulating news of the discovery for the
past week, and in typical newsgroup style, users have pilloried Sony for
deploying "hi-tech" copy protection that can be defeated by paying a
visit to a stationery store. 

"I wonder what type of copy protection will come next?" one posting on
alt.music.prince read. "Maybe they'll ban markers." 

Sony did not immediately return calls seeking comment. 

Major music labels, including Sony and Universal Music, have begun
selling the "copy-proof" discs as a means of tackling the rampant spread
of music piracy, which they claim is eating into sales. 

The new technology aims to prevent consumers from copying, or "burning,"
music onto recordable CDs or onto their computer hard drives, which can
then be shared with other users over file-sharing Internet services such
as Kazaa or Morpheus MusicCity. 

SONY AGGRESSIVE ANTI-PIRACY PUSH 

Monday, Reuters obtained an ordinary copy of Celine Dion (news - web
sites)'s newest release "A New Day Has Come," which comes embedded with
Sony's "Key2Audio" technology. 

After an initial attempt to play the disc on a PC resulted in failure,
the edge of the shiny side of the disc was blackened out with a felt tip
marker. The second attempt with the marked-up CD played and copied to
the hard drive without a hitch. 

Internet postings claim that tape or even a sticky note can also be used
to cover the security track, typically located on the outer rim of the
disc. And there are suggestions that copy protection schemes used by
other music labels can also be circumvented in a similar way. 

Sony's proprietary technology, deployed on many recent releases, works
by adding a track to the copy-protected disc that contains bogus data. 

Because computer hard drives are programmed to read data files first,
the computer will continuously try to play the bogus track first. It
never gets to play the music tracks located elsewhere on the compact
disc. 

The effect is that the copy-protected disc will play on standard CD
players but not on computer CD-ROM drives, some portable devices and
even some car stereo systems. 

Some Apple Macintosh (news - web sites) users have reported that playing
the disc in the computer's CD drive causes the computer to crash. The
cover of the copy-protected discs contain a warning that the album will
not play on Macintoshes or other personal computers. 

Apple has since posted a warning on its Web site at:
http://kbase.info.apple.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/kbase.woa/wa/query?search
Mode=Assisted&type=id&val=KC.106882. 

Sony Music Europe has taken the most aggressive anti-piracy stance in
the business. Since last fall, the label has shipped more than 11
million copy-protected discs in Europe, with the largest proportion
going to Germany, a market label executives claim is rife with illegal
CD-burning. 



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