Protected CD and ripping
Reply #22 – 2006-05-19 20:21:28
Hello everyone... Most CD copy protection schemes are based on software so you could... 1) Turn off autorun / autoplay 2) Hold the 'shift' key while inserting the disk, or 3) Put the disk in while the computer boots. If you have let the disk autoplay, there is probably a bogus device driver or, even worse, Sony's rootkit malware on your system. Research the copy protection to find out how to delete that trash. Other copy protections are based on the TOC and C2 / ECC sectors of the disc. These are a bit more annoying. Research the exact copy protection. If nothing works, return the disk for a refund- remember, they deliberately put errors on the disk and you don't have to take that. The copy-protected disk I got was the recent Foo Fighters release and all I wanted to do was back the disc up on my hard drive to use my computer to play it and not scratch the disc. Personal back-ups of a CD IS NOT PIRACY! Puting music on a MP3 player IS NOT PIRACY! These copy protections violate your fair-use rights and thus need to be taken out of existance. I have started a thread myself on the subject here, "New DRM Schemes Threaten Ability To Back Up Audio", and was not warned by the mods about #9. They've even posted links to CD Freaks (see above post). My guess is that they feel the same on this subject. It's different from taking about how to get around I-Tunes Fair-Play or the like because Fair-Play lets you listen, transfer, and burn to CD. These copy protections let you listen and that's it. What's more is that you are warned that I-Tunes tracks are copy-protected prior to purchase, but CD copy protections have little or no warning. Sony's rootkit had no warning and nobody knew until things screwed up. The most you are warned on a CD is the absence of the 'Disc' logo or fine print that says that it might not work on all CD players. Look over the CD case for those clues before you buy, and if you get one, take it back and send the record execs the message that we don't want that crap on our CDs.