Gartner: piece of tape defeats any CD DRM

November 21, 2005

RTV71 used our news submit to tell us "I'm waiting for RIAA to propose making tape illegal." The
report from Vnunet.com quotes the analyst firm
Gartner, stating that the obscuring of the data track with tape, will cause
a computer to skip to the music and bypass the DRM from loading, as it is
located on the data track or outside edge of the discs. The method
can defeat any such DRM designed now or in the future for use in stand alone CD players.

The highly controversial XCP digital rights management (DRM) technology bundled by Sony BMG on 52 of its audio CD albums can be defeated by applying a small piece of tape to the discs, according to analyst firm Gartner.

Applying a piece of opaque tape to the
outer edge of the disk renders the data track of the CD unreadable. A
computer trying to play the CD will then skip to the music without
accessing the bundled DRM technology."After more than five years of
trying, the recording industry has not yet demonstrated a workable DRM
scheme for music CDs," Gartner concluded in a newly published research
note.

Gartner went on to give this unsettling prediction for the future, as a
result of these findings. They feel that the music industry could begin lobbying
for legislation requiring computer makers to include DRM technology on
their systems in order to thwart piracy.

Source: Vnunet