Originally published December 14 2005
EMI says copy-protected CDs will play on iPods
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
The EMI label claims its upcoming copy-protected CDs will be able to transfer one full copy of the album onto iPods. Apple disputes EMI's claims, saying the two are not compatible.
For more than a year, the anti-copying technology loaded on some major label compact discs has been compatible only with Windows-based computers.
EMI's upcoming copy-protected CDs, which will use technology from Macrovision, and will at last be compatible with iPods, a change nearly a year in the making, the label said.
"Apple is nearly finished with the technical work necessary to enable consumers to transfer music from content-protected discs to their iPods," the label said in a statement detailing its copy-protection plans.
"The information EMI provided regarding iTunes and iPod compatibility with Macrovision's technology is not true and we have no idea why EMI made this statement," Apple said in a statement.
If true, the agreement would mark a substantial step forward for advocates of copy-protecting CDs, even as the ongoing controversy over Sony's actions has cast the practice into controversy.
EMI and Sony BMG each have committed to sharply increasing the number of CDs that are protected with technology that limits the number and type of copies that can be made.
While CD copy protection as a whole has triggered some criticism from fair-use advocates, it is only the latest release from Sony, using technology from British company First 4 Internet, that has become a mainstream controversy.
Sony has recalled the 4.7 million CDs that included the First 4 Internet software, and has said it will exchange the 2.1 million albums already sold with the technology installed.
The company has also released albums using antipiracy technology from Sunncomm, which has not posed the security risks of the First 4 Internet variants.
It is adopting copy-protection tools from Macrovision, which do not install hidden files on PCs and do not download any software without consumers' permission, the label says.
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