Stopping Pirated Music at the Source

July 24, 2001 -- Listen very carefully when you play any new music CDs on your PC.

If you hear some unexpected noise, it may mean your disc is being tested for a new type of technology that prevents you from making copies on your computer.

Several major music labels have been experimenting with a new technology that will prevent the making of digital copies of audio CDs using a CD-ROM drive.

According to the Recording Industry Association of America and the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, music thieves pirated more than $4.2 billion last year. And while the $40 billion music industry has been successful in stopping some online piracy — case in point, Napster — many more swapping sites are out there.

Called SafeAudio and developed in conjunction with Israeli company TTR Technologies, the theft-blocking measures work by encoding “errors” into digital music as it is being “pressed” into the CD at the music factory. Standard audio CD players and CD-ROM drives are able to correct for these errors during normal playback so there is no discernable difference in the quality of the music.

Adding Snap, Crackle, and Pop

But if a user tries to use a CD-ROM drive to “rip” or create compressed audio copies from the SafeAudio CD, the errors aren’t corrected. In fact, they produce annoying pops, clicks or even blank segments in the resulting digital file, making them less likely to be passed around illegally.

SafeAudio is just one of the latest anti-copying technologies to be making the rounds in the music industry. Back in May, country crooner Charley Pride released a CD with a similar blocking technology developed by SunnComm in Phoenix.

According to William H. Whitmore Jr., vice president of marketing for SunnComm, more than 50,000 Tribute to Jim Reeves CDs have been shipped with its MediaCloQ protection scheme, with hardly any returns. “It’s far exceeded expectations,” says Whitmore.

Bill Krepik, president and chief operating officer of Macrovision in Sunnyvale, Calif., which makes the technology, wouldn’t disclose which music companies may be testing the anti-pirate technology.

But Krepik did say that more than 100,000 copy-blocked CDs have been sold in California with no difference in return rates to music stores.

“This is positive for us and the [music] labels,” said Krepik.

Unfair to Fair Use?

Others believe such technology may trample a consumer’s “fair use” rights of copyrighted music.

As outlined in the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992, copyright holders cannot sue consumers who made recordings for their personal use. And that has more or less given consumers the green light to copy at will.

“Consumers expect that they can make copies of [their music],” said Andy Wolf, president of SonicBlue, which makes a line of portable MP3 players called Rio.

And Wolf states that this “right” to copy music is what’s led to the boom in MP3 players such as Rio. “A lot of people don’t want to carry a CD player because a Rio is a better, lighter device,” he says. “Our goal is to make it easy for people to listen to a large collection of music in different places.”

But since the AHRA dealt with “digital recording technologies” other than PCs and MP3 players, Macrovision’s Krepick and others believe the “fair use” concept doesn’t apply in this case. “There is no law that gives them the right to [rip CDs],” says Krepick.

And he says that the anti-ripping technology being tested is no more offensive to “fair use” than the copy-protection Macrovision provides for videocassettes and DVDs today.

“If we can find a technology that we can use to stop piracy,” he said, “Then we should be able to use it.”

But some say that would only ultimately be self-destructive for the music industry.

Seeking Solutions

“You have to take into account of how consumers react to this,” said Gary Klein, vice president of government and legal affairs for an industry group called the Consumer Electronics Association. “If it’s encrypted and they can’t make a copy of any kind to take in a car or transfer from CD player to an MP3 player, I think consumers will make themselves be heard.”

Companies such as SunnComm say they realize "fair use" can be a sticky issue with consumers and are already working to address it.

Whitmore says versions of its copy-protection scheme may allow for some form of digital music files. When a consumer puts a MediaCloQ-enabled CD into the PC’s CD-ROM, for example, the computer may be directed to the record companies Web site where authorized digital versions of the CD’s songs may be available to just that particular user.

“When they buy the CDs, they have the right to the music,” said Whitmore. “You can’t screw the consumer in the deal.”

Given the fairly limited tests so far, it may take a while before consumers will know if they are indeed getting a raw deal with copy-protected CDs.