[vorbis] More on CD anti-copying techniques

[safemode]

On Monday 01 October 2001 23:19, Craig Dickson wrote:
> Ross Levis wrote:
> > Some CDs will include all the songs encoded with Windows Media, removing
> > the the need for ripping.  Sounds like it has the potential to stomp out
> > competition from other formats such as MP3 & OGG.
> >
> > http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-201-7320279-0.html
>
> It has the potential to annoy the hell out of a lot of consumers. They
> chose WMA because of its DRM features, meaning that it will be a pain to
> move the files from one machine to another.
>
> Additionally, placing WMA files on the CD significantly reduces the
> amount of room on the CD for music, assuming the files are encoded at a
> reasonable bit rate -- and even at reasonable bit rates, WMA doesn't
> sound all that good. We're talking 10-20% of the CD here, so the audio
> time available drops from 78 to 60-70 minutes.
>
> And of course WMA files are useful only on Microsoft OS's. Is there even
> a Mac decoder for WMA? There certainly isn't one for Linux. You might
> think that Linux is such a small share of the market that that doesn't
> matter, but remember that the average Linux or BSD user has a higher
> level of technical skill than the average Windows or Mac user -- high
> enough, in some cases, to work around whatever obstacles the CD makers
> want to set in their path, and since WMA isn't available for those OS's,
> those users still have an incentive to find a way to rip CDs even if the
> WMA files sounded decent. And once MP3 or Vorbis files exist, they will
> spread via the Internet.
>
> So these protections, and the use of WMA as a lame attempt to defuse
> consumer anger, aren't really going to accomplish much.
>
> Craig
>
avifile decodes WM8 and higher movies.   I assume that means wma as well.  
Although I'm not sure how it handles files without video.  I'm sure the code 
can be altered to play just the audio though if that's the case.   

You're probably going to see record labels advertising True cds to try and 
get more sales than those advertising the retarded broken cds with wma crap 
on them.  

--- >8 ----
List archives:  http://www.xiph.org/archives/
Ogg project homepage: http://www.xiph.org/ogg/
To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to 'vorbis-request at xiph.org'
containing only the word 'unsubscribe' in the body.  No subject is needed.
Unsubscribe messages sent to the list will be ignored/filtered.