Big fight: Illegally copied CDs are dumped

Anti-piracy movement will take a backseat, for sure. Stung by criticism and legal notices, the world’s second-largest music label Sony BMG has temporarily suspended making music CDs with antipiracy technology.

Why? Sony BMG music CDs with their new CD copy-protection software get installed on computers covertly and leave them vulnerable to hackers as well as viruses.

The criticism over safeguards technology highlights the balance record labels are trying to strike as they seek ways to guard their discs against copying. The software digital rights management (DRM) technology called XCP, used by Sony BMG, is intended to prevent people from making unauthorised copies that might then be distributed on the Internet and from loading the CDs’ songs onto Apple iPod and other portable music players. In this case, the CD will only play on a PC if a user agrees to install a specialised software player.

Sony BMG has rejected the description of their technology as ‘spyware’ ? a cloaking technique that hides its presence on a computer, steals personal information and sends spam.

Computer-users’ rights groups are now barking against the security compromise. But they are refusing to respect the issue of copyright infringement of the music and software labels by continuing Internet music file-swapping and widespread CD burning. Thus, as the Recording Industry Association of America data shows, almost 29 per cent of the new music is acquired. And the music and software industry incur a loss of more than a few billion dollars a year.

Major music companies put a price tag for every song they sell through Internet and CDs. Apple iTune online Music store takes $0.99 for a single mp3 song in the US, whereas in India you can get 100 of such songs at the same price, obviously of an inferior quality, in a pirated CD. And we cannot avoid this cheaper, easily-available CDs and softwares. This is the sole reason for the stifling of legal sales and creation of a parallel grey market.

The fight against piracy can be done in two ways: wiping out illegal operators and imposing a technological injunction. Sony BMG may have taken a flawed path by using hacker-type technologies. Their tactics may be hypocritical, in addition to being a security threat. But it is really commendable that at least one company has come up with a technology that bolsters the anti-piracy efforts. The legal action has made things easier for the pirates. By protecting the rights of the users without a proper inspection, law, too, hasn’t done the right thing.

There is a dearth of anti-piracy technology. Mere campaigns won’t make us nobler and keep us away from the grey market.