Sony BMG Tightens The Reins

Reuters: While I applaud the idea of developing secure burning solutions to help stop the rampant CD piracy that currently exists in our society, I question whether the rights of some older hardware owners are being usurped... I say this because most tracks ripped and burned from Sony BMG's new anti-piracy solution are in Microsoft's Windows Media Audio format and I wonder how many consumers out there with non-wma-compatible CD players will put up with this...First4Internet CEO Mathew Gilliat-Smith says "the discs are compliant with Sony Philips CD specifications and should therefore play in all conventional CD players" but should play and does play are two different things...

The article states that Sony BMG is the first major label to commercially deploy XCP (extended copy protection) in a final release rather than a pre-release and the technology allows consumers to make limited copies of protected discs - but blocks users from making copies of the copies. In general this is a good thing IF it works and IF it respects the rights of previous customers..I like the fact that there is added value with extras like photo galleries, enhanced liner notes and links to other features...Another serious hurdle to consider is that, "Secure burning means that iPod users do not have any means of transferring tracks to their device, because Apple Computer has yet to license its FairPlay DRM for use on copy-protected discs." I'm sure upper management has already debated this at great length, but closing the door on the market leader's customers might be a strategy worth rethinking...

Related:
--Sony Tests Anti-CD Burning Technology