Netherlands giant Philips Electronics has lobbed a grenade into the audio copy protection arena by insisting that that CDs including anti-copying technology should bear what is effectively a plague warning. They should in Philips" view clearly inform users that they are copy-protected, and they shouldn"t use the "Compact Disc" logo because they are not, in Philips" considered view, proper compact discs at all.
The Philips move comes as the major record companies start to introduce copy-protection as quietly as they can. Unfortunate incidents such as Bertelsmann"s Natalie Imbruglia lash-up have had the humorously opposite effect, widely publicising copy-protected CDs as poison packages to be avoided at all costs, and they"ve also clearly had an effect on Philips" thinking. As custodian of the standard, the company has decided it will oppose anything that will degrade it, and detract from the consumer"s experience of it.