Sony abandons copy-protected CDs
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Sony is abandoning its copy-protected CDs that use built-in technology to limit copying them. The CDs allow users to copy their music once for free onto a personal computer, but use the internet to charge a fee for subsequent copies of the same disc.
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Japan's Toshiba Corp  said on  Tuesday it would stop promoting its HD DVD format for the  next-generation DVD after losing the support of key studios and  retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony Corp  .
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By Jefferson Graham  LOS ANGELES -- The music industry is looking ahead to life without copy protection.
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Consumer electronics giant Sony Corporation has reversed its policy and now says that it will support the popular MP3 file format for some of its portable music players.
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Japan's Toshiba Corp (6502.T) said on  Tuesday it would stop promoting its HD DVD format for the  next-generation DVD after losing the support of key studios and  retailers to the Blu-ray technology backed by Sony Corp  (6758.T).
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One unit for you desk, one for under it Sony has taken the wraps off a desktop system that contains not only system unit but two, one for the bulk of the PC's innards, the other for the optical drives - one of which is a Blu-ray Disc unit.â¦
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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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With its new Walkman music player, Sony has broken with its tradition of promoting its own proprietary formats. The NW-HD3 will let users import and export tracks in the
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Copyright reform unveiled Circumventing DRM to make copies for personal use will remain illegal for consumers, under copyright reform proposals floated by the UK government today.â¦
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And then there were none Sony BMG, the last major record label that won't sell you music without DRM kneecapping will reverse its stance in February, according to a report today.â¦
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(InfoWorld) - Sony BMG Music Entertainment will pay $1.5 million in penalties to settle lawsuits with two U.S. states over its controversial use of copy protection software. The settlements with the California and Texas attorneys general were announced Tuesday, seven months after theÂ music giant settled a class-action lawsuit in the matter. Sony's trouble began in late 2005, when a computer science researcher disclosed that Sony's had beenÂ shipping CDs with a copy protection program that used dangerous "rootkit" techniquesÂ to cloak itself after installation. Sony licensed this software from First 4 Internet Ltd., based in Banbury, U.K., but problems were also found with a second copy protection program used by Sony. That software, called Media Max, was developed by SunnComm International Inc. of Phoenix. Until Tuesday, Texas had been the only state with an outstanding lawsuit related to the rootkit fiasco, but other state's attorneys general and the U.S. Federal Trade Commission had also been looking into the matter, according to Jeff McGrath, deputy district attorney, with Los Angeles County, which participated in the California lawsuit. Sony has now reached tentative settlements with more than a dozen other states, including Massachusetts and Nebraska, as well as the FTC, McGrath said. The FTC declined to comment on the matter. The California lawsuit was both filed and settled on Tuesday. Sony's rootkit software shipped on an estimated 15 million CDs, bundled with music from artists such as Frank Sinatra, Celine Dion and Earl Scruggs. Consumers were offered refunds as part of the May class-action agreement, but Tuesday's settlements take additional steps by compensating them for damages caused by the rootkit code and "ensuring that this type of thing will not happen again," McGrath said. California and Texas consumers who believe that their computers were damaged by Sony's software can receive up to $175 to cover repair costs. The agreements also force Sony to submit any software it ships with music CDs to third-party audits for the next five years. Sony has created a Web site to address its rootkit settlement. That site is eventually expected to include instructions for consumers seeking refunds for their PC repairs. These refunds will, for example, compensate users who had their CD drives trashed when AOL's antispyware software tried to remove the First 4 files, said Paco Felici, a spokesman with the Texas Attorney General's office. Since the rootkit fiasco, Sony has stopped shipping digital rights management software with its music CDs. However, if it does add this capability to future CDs, it must make this clear to customers. "They're requiring disclosures to consumers before sale on the CD packaging," said Corynne McSherry, a staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "I think that's really crucial. Part of the whole background of the rootkit fiasco was that consumers just didn't know what they were getting into." A Sony spokesman declined to comment on investigations by the FTC and other states. "We are pleased to have reached agreements with the offices of the California and Texas Attorneys General," he said, reading from a statement.
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Sony BMG Music Entertainment will become the last of the big four majors to drop copy protection software on music downloads.
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LOS ANGELES -  The music industry is looking ahead to life without copy protection. Major label EMI - home of Coldplay and Norah Jones - is in discussions with online music stores about selling its music without copy protection, or digital rights management (DRM), according to two sources with direct knowledge of the talks who would not speak for attribution because discussions are ongoing.
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Ending a multiyear format battle with Sony-backed Blu-ray, Toshiba finally throws in the towel Tuesday, announcing it will no longer manufacture or sell HD DVD equipment.
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Business & money: Sony boosted by decision to release DVDs exclusively on Japanese firm's next-generation recording format
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So, you have five hundred tapes and albums of the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and the like, and want then on your computer? Well, you could spend hundreds of dollars replacing music you already paid for once with CDs. Or, instead of paying twenty bucks per album, you could spend twenty cents per album to convert your tapes and vinyl to CD and rip those. Read more for how.    Also, the instructions below will allow you to defeat any copy protection. Period. Just substitute "cheap CD walkman" for "stereo." Caution- doing this in the United Statesor other parts of the world may be a felony. Those in less corrupt, more civilized parts of the world need not fear.    Or alternately, you can make CDs of your own band.
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Toshiba has abandoned the HD DVD high-definition video disc format, it announced Tuesday. (More to fol...