The following questions and answers are being presented as a public service of RattleHead Records, to help people understand the New World Order as it is being created by the Universal Artists Group. The questions below seem irrelevant only because it is not the current reality; but sometime in the very near future, if these people remain unchallenged, it will be the reality.
>Okay, you got me; why will I have to pay more than once for all the CD's I buy?
Because you did not purchase a CD, you purchased a license from the record label to play the music on the CD.
>That doesn't make any sense. Since when do I need a license to play music?
You always did. Radio stations pay for each time they play a song. If you own a business that has music in its waiting room, you pay ASCAP and BMI a yearly fee. If you own a club with a DJ (or a live band) you have to have another license. The average person never had to have a license before because the labels couldn't keep track of all of you. Now they can. It's that simple.
>Does this have anything to do with my CD not working anymore?
It has everything to do with it. You've simply played your CD more times than was allowed by your license. The SDMI codex in your CD player recognized that fact and has denied you access to the CD.
>How can I play my CD again?
You can purchase a new license. Or, you can probably get it to play in an older CD player that does not have the SDMI codex, although sometimes it will get a little "jittery".
>Why does an older CD player work?
Because it was manufactured before the whole SDMI thing and, frankly, doesn't give a rat's ass about the digital watermark. All new audio devices have the SDMI codex. Actually, It's a lot like DVD and DIVX.
>DVD? You mean my video disks?
Yes, that's where this all started. DVD movies came out a few years ago. You can buy them and watch them at home like any other purchased VHS tape. But, if you're only renting and you have a DIVX player, you can buy a cheaper DIVX movie and bring it home to watch. It's cheaper because you can only watch it a few times, then the codex locks it up and you just throw away the disk. It's called multiple-use encryption, and it's what SDMI is all about.
>I noticed something. You mentioned DVD and DIVX--so I have a choice. Where can I buy music that's not SDMI encoded?
You can't. The United Artists Group forced compliance on American manufacturers in 1999. All new audio devices will have the SDMI codex. Because, they are being told that if they don't they will be sued for infringing on artists' rights and distributing copyrighted material. (This is all being done In The Name of The Artist, please note). This has occurred precisely because of DIVX's dismal failure -- nobody wanted anyone to tell them how many times they can watch their movies. All the entertainment industry learned from the experience was not to give us a choice this time.
>What a minute...if all this is about piracy being wrong and all that, why do I see the Sony Mini Disc being advertised "to make your own road tapes" and the Phillips dual deck CD copier promoting copying CD's? I thought the labels didn't want that.
Curious, eh? That's because these units will have the SDMI codec installed in the near future. They are being promoted as the acceptable means of copying today, because the labels expect to have control of them tomorrow. Watch carefully how the RIAA stomps around closing mp3 sites for pirating, yet turns a blind eye to widely-advertised and corporate-financed piracy.
>Now about piracy and copyrights; I have an old tape of my friend singing in a band--hardly copyrighted, can I copy that into my computer and burn a CD?
Yes. You just have to purchase the license to use the SDMI encryption technology. It's kind of like purchasing a bar code for retail sales is now. (about $300)
>$300!! Just to copy my own music!?
You have to understand, to make this work they needed to not only control the hardware side of the equation, but the software side. What good is "protecting the artists' rights" if any CD player can still play a CD without a watermark? For it to work, all CD players must be looking for the watermark, and all playable media must have a watermark. They've already threatened player manufacturers under piracy laws to get the players built to their specs, now they need to threaten the people making the CD's. The easiest way to do this is to simply to require that all music be SDMI encoded for it to play at all.
SDMI encoding is not a trivial matter, it's massive cryptographic compression ebedded into the data. It will require that the audio be chewed through another piece of software, and it will require that the person encoding them be identifiable. (After all, what's the point in respecting a copyright if you can just register it under "john q. smith"?) These "licenses to produce SDMI encoded media" are not going to be handed out for free. They've already said so, actually. That comparison to "getting a bar code for retail sales" was theirs, not mine.
>Doesn't this help the artists, though? I thought the whole idea was to stop piracy so the artists get paid for their work.
That was never the idea, only the stated intention. Labels
have always screwed artists. Don't believe me? Try this link: Break
the Pop Stranglehold. Or, this one, written by Nirvana's Producer:
The
Problem With Music. The artist rarely sees a dime from their record
sales. This whole move towards encryption was fueled by greed on the part
of the labels; the artist was never a priority--only an excuse to get
involved. Every CD you buy in the store costs the label under a dollar
to manufacture. Where does the other $20 go? (Hint: it's not the artist.)
>I can't believe that artists are being screwed like this.
It's the way it's always been. Have you ever seen an episode of VH1's Behind the Music or E!'s True Stories? How many of them have happy endings? (Is it getting any clearer?)
>Okay...stop raving...what's to stop me from resampling the music when I first buy it and storing in a different format... like maybe the old mp3 format?
Nothing. And there's even easier ways! In fact, there are several hackers who have developed key-generators and cracking software that will permanently unlock your SDMI files. And, as you mentioned, you can always resample it while it's still yours.
This is important: it shows that the whole SDMI thing was lame to begin with--there are too many ways around it, and everybody knows it. And it only proves my point further: it never was about artists' rights at all, it was always about the label's paycheck. The only thing a label sells is copies of music made by other people. Don't ever forget that. If copies are free, they're out of business.
>So what... I want to know where I can get these cracks and keygens!
I can't tell you that. It's a crime. You could get fined or sent to
jail if you're caught and I could as well for telling you about it. It's
now prosecuted under the same terms as software piracy. (It's all just
ones and zeroes anyway, right?) You could try and search for them, but
the RIAA is attempting to sue search engines now for even locating things
like that. Don't believe me, yet? Try this.
>How did it ever get this way? I remember when I could just buy music and listen to it. Why is it so complicated now?
Because in 1999, you decided the spend your life with your head in the sand while people like me were screaming at you to pay attention. Now it's much, much, too late.
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