|
Fearful of consumer backlash, major record labels in the United States have slowed controversial plans for making CDs more difficult to copy, even as tension over online music piracy mounts.
Last year, news that record companies were planning to add technology to CDs that would block people from making copies or MP3 files--and in many cases might even prevent playback on computers--sparked considerable controversy online, and even lawsuits.
Now major record labels themselves have put the brakes on the drive for copy protection, at least in the United States, even as record stores lobby for the locks to be added as soon as possible.
"From our perspective, CD copy protection is unfortunately not as good as we'd all like it to be," said Christa Haussler, vice president of new technology at music label BMG Entertainment.
Though the labels are slowing their drive for the technological locks, their desire for them has not diminished. Earlier this week, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) reported that CD shipments dropped 7 percent during the first half of 2002 compared with the previous year. The organization blamed the drop on music downloading and CD copying.
Overseas adoption of CD copy-protection technology is growing, moreover. Israel-based Midbar Tech, which makes the Cactus Data Shield product used by Universal Music Group and other labels, said Monday that more than 30 million discs worldwide have been released with its anti-piracy protection built in. Ten million of those discs were released in Japan, where labels began using Midbar tools only this year.
|
Hybrid Mode
