MP3 getting antipiracy makeover

[Agent_Steal]

The venerable MP3 music format, the technology most widely associated with unrestricted file swapping, is getting a makeover aimed at blocking unauthorized copying.

MP3 getting antipiracy makeover

Humm I'm beginning to wonder if this will drastically cut more of the illegal downloading of music ?

[alittlebitnumb]

I am kinda surprised this has not been implimented earlier.

[phishphreek]

I can't see this lasting too long...

People have other alternatives... which many portable players support or will soon support...

http://www.vorbis.com/

We've seen it time and time again... for every measure there is also a countermeasure... I can see people either switching to other formats... or ppl defeating the DRM like they did with CSS.

[DeadAddict]

No matter what countermeasure they implement someone will always find a way to crack it and the sharing of music and other things will continue. they are pretty much fighting a endless battle.

[lessthanzero]

It is also interesting to note that Fraunhofer, the german company who holds several mp3 patents, removed the provisions from their licensing agreements that provided for "free-use" under specific scenarios. I know attention was directed to Ogg Vorbis b/c of this, but I'm not sure OV is safe either (as a format/specification).

On topic, I agree with previous posters. This is a loosing struggle for media moguls and it is actually quite sad. Rather than puking their money into fighting piracy, which is akin to chomping off tree branches, they might be better served to invest in competiting technologies that rivaled ease of use/quality/content delivery etc. of the current mp3 technologies. Such a strategem would be akin to hacking at the root of the issue and infinitely more effective imho.

hacking pun not intended

Cheers,
<0

[pooh sun tzu]

lessthanzero,


ogg has always baffled me becaue I know so little about it. Could you give me a real quick rundown of what it offers? I could always google it, but am feeling far too lazy tonight. If it offers more than mp3, then I don't see why I shouldn't start converting to ogg right now

[lumpyporridge]

Ogg Vorbis is an open source codec that stands right up with the best mp3 codecs , it is as good or better that mp3 as a format. Ogg Vorbis or Lame (mp3 codec) are the best for lossy compression, as far as my research and personal likes have found. Its really a 6 of one half a dozen of the other kinda thing.

[lessthanzero]

Pooh - Lumpy covered the topic well enough that I won't repeat his words.

I will say this however: When I first heard that Fraunhofer changed their licensing, I began a slow and ardious process of converting my mp3 collection to Ogg V.

Why?

Well, I said to myself, "self, you see here that mp3 encoding/decoding software is now under complete control of the companies who hold mpeg compression tech. patents. And you also see how Microsoft has changed their EULA for Media Player to accomodate DRM. So, self, you must recognize the hammer and the anvil for that there are..."

Honestly, I just don't want someone dictating what I can or cannot do to/with technology I purchase. Sure, they can slant the EULA's in a way that make it so you never 'own' the technology but rather 'rent' it. I'll simply stop using new technology provided by that vendor. Which is exactly why I began converting to Ogg.

I have nigh 8 gigs of mp3. Not one bit is pirated- i own all of the compact discs to back it up. But i prefer the digital medium b/c it is fluid and portable. It isn't invasive like hardcopy...but forcing DRM in the way these companies are is even more invasive. There are simply better ways to do it imho.

Cheers,
<0

[silver-bullets]

I haven't read everybodies reply so don't bash ^_^

The newer better copy protection methods never last long. By my esimates most of these are broken within 2-3 days of public release. They might as well give up. While I suppose they are losing lots of money, they are already making an obscene amount as it is. Over 1 million dollars? Hell, I could live on 1 million. So yes they deserve credit, and money to live off of, and most bands are making way in excess of 1 million dollars. Greed is once again a driving factor in the always losing battle of copy right protection. They have enough of a fan base and people that believe in buying the CD. /RANT

-Cheers-

[Info Tech Geek]

I have been paying attention to all of this antipiracy stuff and no matter what they do, I have found a solution to. I have been using my old test box running Windows 98 and some old MP3 ripping software and any CD I cannot rip on my new box always seems to rip on the old box. Also, this is always a piece of software created to combat any counter-measure they put into place.

I can't say I could do any better, but I do know if I pay for a CD. I want to be able to rip it and create mix CDs for my car, hold it on atleast one system and my laptop, transfer it to my Mp3 player and also have a back-up copy.

I have not done too much research into iTunes, but is the MP3s stored in their library or is it held on your system? What happens if your harddrive craps out?