ONCE again the music industry has rolled out a copy control scheme that can easily be defeated. And once again it is Princeton University scientists who have embarrassed the record execs.
It was Princeton that debunked the myth that internet music can be protected by inaudible watermarks. And it was Princeton that worked out that all CD copy protection is in theory worthless (New 杏吧原创, 9 November 2002, p 9). Now Princeton computer scientist Alex Halderman has found a hole in the latest system.
The giant record company BMG is trying the MediaMax anti-copy system, from SunnComm in Phoenix, Arizona, which limits the number of copies made to a PC or MP3 player and which is promoted as having 鈥渁n incredible level of security鈥�.
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Halderman bought a CD protected by MediaMax and discovered a simple get-around: just hold down the Shift key on the PC keyboard while the CD loads. When he published the news on the web, SunnComm threatened legal action under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which bars publication of measures to defeat copy protection. SunComm has since withdrawn the threat, saying it 鈥渄oes not want to contribute to a chilling effect鈥� on copy control research.