Record labels attempt to stop piracy with watermarks?!
While the major label will remain nameless, I received an album that had a disconcerting warning. I’m grateful to receive pre-release copies, and I understand the desire to prevent an entire album hitting peer-to-peer networks before they hit the shelves. I agree that music should be attained legally. What concerns me, though, are the approaches that some record labels are taking to combat piracy.
After inserting this album in my computer, it proceeded to freeze iTunes and I was forced to reboot. Afterward, the computer wouldn’t recognize the CD, while the hard-drive and CD were active. “What is this disc doing to my computer?” I quickly ejected it and dusted off my portable CD player. Is this the future of CDs? If so, they’ll soon be a thing of the past.
This the warning printed on the front of the CD sleeve:
Watermark & MSI Notice: These Compact Discs have been individually watermarked with a unique identification number embedded in the music. This number is traceable directly to the authorized recipient, which allows us to identify the source of any unauthorized copies or other reproductions of the music contained on this CD. The watermark is not changed or destroyed by extracting clips of the music, or by using any compression technology such as MP3. The sound quality of the audio playback is not affected. This CD is intended to be listened to solely by the authorized recipient and no portion of its content may be copied or reproduced in any manner, nor made available in any manner to any third party (whether by means of streaming, so-called “peer-to-peer” networks or otherwise). This CD should not be played in a computer. This CD contains additional copy protection technology, which may introduce playability issues for DVD players, car audio players, and some computer models. The manufacturer, the distributor, nor the developer make any representation or warranty or assume any responsibility with respect to the copy-protected portion of the disc. Thank you in advance for your understanding… Enjoy!