Copy Protection Right or wrong?

[quicksilver]

What are your views on copy protection ?
This made interesting reading and clarified a few points.

http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~jhalderm/cd3/

Any similar links would appreciated

[quicksilver]

An older but still interesting article

http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0, ... 65,00.html

A felt marker !

[Grinch]

This is not a question easily answered.

I think it is right because these companies feel they are losing money due to p2p networks. SO they do what they can to keep us from doing that. Although, as far as I know, there isn't a copy protection that cannot be broken. Just as there are talented programmers working hard to defeat "pirates" there are talented programmers working against them. In the end, us "pirates" will win. But I feel that companies have the right to do whatever they can to protect their content from being distributed "illegally".

[ADi@/\/TUM]

I think Grinch is correct.

If the company makes the product they have the right to protect it. But I think we also have the right to test software if we feel the need. Its kind of a double edged sword.

[quicksilver]

Heres another peice of info on another of the protection systems

http://www.macrovision.com/products/cds ... ndex.shtml

CDS-200 technology provides full playability of music CD on both standard audio players and PCs, enabling music rights owners to protect their content from unauthorized duplication, copying to PCs and/or CD-Rs, and file sharing on the Internet.

The CDS-200 data session contains protected and compressed music files for PC playback. These files can only be played from the original disc through a dedicated secure player and cannot be ripped (copied) to the PC’s hard drive.

CDS-200 is the leading CD copy protection technology on the market today, having already protected over 150 million commercial CDs worldwide.

Features
Enables playback on audio players – from low-end CD players to high-end DVD players.
Enables playback on PCs and Macs through a dedicated secure player.
Prevents digital compression of music to other formats (such as MP3 file types).
Restricts digital copying of music to a CD-R.
Benefits
Allows consumers to listen to music on any standard audio CD players, PCs, or Macintosh.
Maintains optimum audio sound quality.
Applied during mastering process, requires no modifications during pre-mastering or in the studio.
Product Specifications/Requirements
Enables playback on standard audio players.
Enables playback on PCs and Macs.
No modification is made to the audio content.
Supports up to 72 minutes of music.
Compatible with CD production and test equipment.
Requires a CDS Processor at the mastering house and/or replicator:
A stand-alone processor that is maintained by Macrovision.
Easily upgradeable so that the technology is always up to date.

Macrovision Releases CDS-300™ Featuring Windows Media® DRM

Macrovision Protected Music Tracks Surpass 2 Billion