Last month a copy protected CD took the number one position in the U.S. music sales chart. Because of this some analysts now believe that customers are warming up to the idea of copy protected CDs. Right now these copy protected CDs are not iPod compatible. Eventually this iPod problem will be taken care of. As the two main companies for copy protection are working hard to find a solution. Until that time it looks like iPod owners will be out of luck.
When a copy-protected CD hit No. 1 on the U.S. music sales charts last month, it marked a breakthrough for the antipiracy technology in all but one sense: The music still wouldn"t play on Apple"s iPod.
Now the two companies responsible for most copy-protected CDs are scrambling to create new versions of their technologies that are compatible with Apple"s popular digital music player. In the process, they"re both making substantial changes in the way CDs are digitally locked, changes that could ultimately be a setback to recent Microsoft strides into the music business.
"If you look at the 500 or 600 customer service comments we"ve gotten, you see that 80 percent of them have to do with iPod compatibility," said SunnComm International Chief Executive Officer Peter Jacobs, whose technology was loaded on last month"s chart-topping Velvet Revolver disc. "The rest are, "Why can"t I do what I want with my music." And a lot of those are really iPod questions too." The effort on the part of record labels to protect music CDs against unauthorized copying and "ripping" has been in limbo for several years while the companies that make the technology have been trying to work out bugs that sometimes prevent discs from being played. But new discs are now finding their way into United States markets in growing numbers.