Sony BMG to offer gift cards for unprotected MP3s
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In the latest proof that the label is at least testing DRM-free music sales, consumers can buy gift cards from physical stores and redeem digital albums online. The bad news is that the music is also "anonymously watermarked."
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Users of HD Radio devices will soon be able to 'tag' songs they hear for later purchase using iTunes.
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Napster Inc. said Sunday it will begin selling music downloads as unprotected MP3 files in the spring, joining other online retailers.
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U.S. regulators said Tuesday that Sony BMG Music Entertainment agreed to reimburse consumers up to $150 for damage to their computers from CDs with hidden anti-piracy software.
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People who received MP3 players as holiday gifts may want to steer clear of some Web sites that claim to offer legal music but don&#39;t have licensing agreements with major music labels, the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) said.
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The U.S. Department of Justice has requested information from Sony BMG and Universal Music Group about their talks to launch an online music subscription service, said a record company executive on Thursday.
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(InfoWorld) - More than two years after a security researcher first called attention to Sony BMG's use of a stealth program to enforce digital rights management on its music CDs, the company reached a deal with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission over the incident, the FTC announced on Tuesday. In a deal that was approved by a 5-0 vote by the FTC, Sony agreed to clearly disclose limitations on consumers' use of its music CDs and promised not to collect information for marketing or install software without consumers consent, the FTC said. The company also agreed to reimburse consumers up to $150 for computers damaged by the program, the FTC said. The settlement marks an end to a long and embarrassing incident for the company, which began when Mark Russinovich, an expert on Windows security of WinTernals Software, now part of Microsoft, published the results of his investigation into a rootkit that had infiltrated his Windows machine. Russinovich's research uncovered a stealth program, dubbed "XCP," distributed on CDs from Sony BMG that silently installed and concealed itself on the machines of customers who played the CD. The revelation and Sony's awkward response to it -- first denying that there was any problem with the XCP program, then making halting efforts to release programs to remove XCP -- set of a chorus of criticism on blogs and in the mainstream press. Subsequent investigation revealed that the XCP program was poorly conceived, hastily written and could be used by hackers to conceal their own malicious programs on systems that had the XCP program installed. Eventually, Sony posted a software removal program for the XCP and conducted a widescale recall of XCP enabled CDs. But the incident was a watershed, prompting discussions of the competing interests of copy protection by corporations and consumers' right to privacy. In the consent agreement announced today, the FTC said that "the installation of software without consumer consent that exposed consumers' computers to security risks was unfair and violated federal law." Hiding the software and failing to provide a way to remove it were also violations of U.S. law, the FTC said. The company will have to offer its removal program for another two years and will have to continue allowing customers to exchange CDs with the concealed software purchased before December 31, 2006. The company will also have to provide retailers with financial inducements to return XCP infected CDs and allow the FTC to continue to monitor its compliance with the consent decree.
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Amazon.com said its digital music store will now offer songs from Sony BMG Music Entertainment without  digital rights management protection.
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Apple made good on its promise to add unprotected tracks to its online digital media store Wednesday. As expected, individual unprotected tracks are available for $1.29.
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The tune seems to be changing ever so slowly at some record labels when it comes to DRM. Both out of consumer demand and to some extent necessity, some have begun to offer digital downloads in the unprotected MP3 format.
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One of the hottest holiday gifts this year is the Apple iPod, the digital-age equivalent of the Sony Walkman. The iPod, which stores music files downloaded from a computer
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Online retailer Amazon.com Inc   said on Thursday its digital music store will now  offer songs by artists on the roster of Sony BMG Music  Entertainment without copy-protection technology, known as  digital rights management.
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BusinessWeek.com reports that Sony BMG will offer some of its collection free of copy-protection software in coming weeks.
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The U.S. Federal Trade Commission  said on Tuesday Sony BMG agreed to settle charges that it  secretly embedded potentially damaging anti-piracy software in  some of its CDs.
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Sony BMG Music Entertainment, the  world's second largest music company, will this month become  the last of the big four majors to drop copy protection  software on music downloads, also known as digital rights  management (DRM).
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Sony BMG Music Entertainment, the last major music label holding out against selling music online without copy protection, relented Thursday and announced Amazon.com Inc.'s digital music store will carry songs by its artists.
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The U.S. Department of Justice has  requested information from Sony BMG and Universal Music Group  about their talks to launch an online music subscription  service, said a record company executive on Thursday.