RE: [dvd-discuss] Is a felt-tip pen a circumvention device?

[Richard Hartman <hartman(at)onetouch.com>]

does the bypass mechanism have to be digital, or only
the protection mechanism?  if the latter, we've got a
dilly of a case to push through the courts ... who can
file a DMCA violation?  do you have to be one of the
aggrieved parties, or can you just tip off the feds
that the magic marker company is manufacturing DMCA
bypass devices ?

-- 
-Richard M. Hartman
hartman@onetouch.com

186,000 mi./sec ... not just a good idea, it's the LAW!


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Michael A Rolenz [mailto:Michael.A.Rolenz@aero.org]
> Sent: Monday, May 20, 2002 1:30 PM
> To: dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
> Subject: Re: [dvd-discuss] Is a felt-tip pen a circumvention device?
> 
> 
> hehe....add sharpie markers to the list of banned 
> objects...get them while 
> you still can.......I guess this one may hinge upon the 
> interpretation of 
> an "effective" access control.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "James S. Tyre" <jstyre@jstyre.com>
> Sent by: owner-dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
> 05/20/2002 01:19 PM
> Please respond to dvd-discuss
> 
>  
>         To:     dvd-discuss@eon.law.harvard.edu
>         cc: 
>         Subject:        [dvd-discuss] Is a felt-tip pen a 
> circumvention device?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Copy-proof" CDs cracked with 99-cent marker pen
> http://digitalmass.boston.com/news/2002/05/20/copy_proof_cds.html
> 
> LONDON, May 20 ? 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
> 
> On Monday, Reuters obtained an ordinary copy of Celine Dion'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 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.
> 
> 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.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
> James S. Tyre                               mailto:jstyre@jstyre.com
> Law Offices of James S. Tyre          310-839-4114/310-839-4602(fax)
> 10736 Jefferson Blvd., #512               Culver City, CA 90230-4969
> Co-founder, The Censorware Project             http://censorware.net
> 
> 
> 
>