Journal of Legislation Volume 29 | Issue 1 Article 6 1-1-2003 Getting Ripped off yb Copy-Protected CDs;Note Ida Shum Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/jleg Recommended Citation Shum, Ida (2003) "Getting Ripped off yb Copy-Protected CDs;Note," Journal of Legislation: Vol. 29: Iss. 1, Article 6. Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/jleg/vol29/iss1/6 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Journal of Legislation at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Legislation by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. GETTING "RIPPED" OFF BY COPY-PROTECTED CDs Ida Shum * Without much fanfare, copy-protected compact discs ("CDs") found their way next to regular music CDs in record stores last year. On May 15, 2001, Charley Pride released the first commercial CD to use technology de- veloped by SunnComm called MediaCloq.' The technology prevents con- sumers from burning2 the CD or ripping3 tracks and compressing music into digital audio formats such as MP3.4 Record companies hope that copy- protected CDs can suppress the insidious effects of digital music piracy spurred by Napster and CD burners. Copy-protected CDs utilize technology aimed at protecting copyrights by disabling the burning and ripping of CDs. Copy-protected CDs prevent copying and strive to limit the means of sharing digital music files over the Internet. In September 2001, a consumer filed a suit against an independent record label and program manufacturer for embedding technology that blocked the listening of the CDs on a computer.' The disc's packaging car- ried a disclaimer warning that the CD could not be played with a DVD player6 and by extension, a computer with a DVD-ROM drive.