< also hear that the latest version of Toast (CD burning
software) has a built-in "copy-protection" scheme > /:b
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Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times
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www.latimes.com/templates/misc/printstory.jsp?slug=la%2Dfi%2Dstreaming18jul18
July 18 2002
Music Companies Seek New Piracy Protection
TECHNOLOGY: RECORDING GROUP WANTS TO DEVELOP
A WAY TO PREVENT INTERNET RADIO SONGS
FROM BEING REDISTRIBUTED ONLINE.
By EDMUND SANDERS and JON HEALEY
TIMES STAFF WRITERS
WASHINGTON -- Opening a new front in the war against digital music
piracy, major record companies are asking computer and electronics
manufacturers to help stop consumers from sharing songs copied from
online radio broadcasts.
The Recording Industry Assn. of America, the industry's main trade group,
wants to develop an "audio performance flag," similar to the "broadcast
flag" technology being developed to protect digital television programs,
Mitch Glazier, senior vice president of the RIAA, disclosed Wednesday at
a Commerce Department meeting on piracy.
The goal is to prevent music transmitted by an Internet radio station
from being redistributed over the Internet. The flags would act as
markers that tell devices not to move any part of the broadcast back onto
the Internet. This approach would require changes to millions of
computers and other Internet-connected devices. Because computers convert
digital audio files to analog in order to play them, it may be impossible
to stop pirates from making fresh recordings with no digital protections.
Internet radio is not a significant source of piracy today, in part
because of its inferior sound quality when compared with CDs. But as
high-speed Internet connections proliferate and broadcasting costs drop,
online stations are expected to shift to higher-fidelity feeds.
Glazier said the RIAA has held "very limited, preliminary discussions"
with people in the consumer electronics and information technology
industries, but the talks haven't progressed far. The next step, he said,
is to ask industry groups and companies more formally to get involved.
The latest effort is one of half a dozen or more by the labels and
Hollywood studios, which are eager to deter piracy with technology.
Others include inter-industry efforts to stop digital movie files from
being copied and to prevent digital TV programs from being transmitted
online.
Yet another set of discussions is expected to start in the next few
weeks, as the Hollywood studios hold high-level talks about piracy with a
group of leading computer and information technology companies. The
companies offered to meet with the studios if the discussions also
included non-technological approaches to piracy, such as giving consumers
a legitimate source of movies online. The Motion Picture Assn. responded
late Tuesday with an offer to meet "with no preconditions."
Under federal copyright law, online broadcasters can automatically obtain
licenses to the labels' music if they follow certain rules for playlists.
They have to pay royalties, but the amount--0.07 cent per song per
listener--is much lower than they would have to pay for an on-demand
service.
If users record those broadcasts and send the songs over the Net, Glazier
said, it undermines the distinction between free or low-cost online radio
and on-demand services. That's why the RIAA wants to put some kind of
digital marker into Webcasts to prevent them from being redistributed, he
said.
Although streams aren't a major piracy problem, the RIAA has an interest
in preserving a range of distribution options, said Jonathan Potter of
the Digital Media Assn., which represents online audio and video
services. "Our industry is all in favor of there being several different
types of business with several different price points," said Potter,
DiMA's executive director.
###
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