Sony says that it is testing CDs featuring technology from UK anti-piracy outfit First4Internet, that will allow punters to only make a limited number of copies.
The technique is known as ‘sterile burning", although the Aussie ABC News failed to say why.
However the big idea is to stop ‘casual piracy’ which it defines as ripping and burning CDs by people who have actually bought the disk in the first place and give copies to their mates.
Sony said that it will be releasing CDs with the technology soon, but will not say which ones.
Under the cunning plan, a user can rip tracks from Microsoft's Windows Media Audio (WMA) format. But if a CD is burned with protected audio, the DRM on the disc prevents it from being burned again.
This means that users will be able to duplicate CDs for their own use. Although I suspect the bottom will drop out of the second hand CD market pretty quick.
Story source:
theinquirer.net.
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