I have just ordered the new Radiohead album from the US. I would have
preferred to purchase it locally but EMI Australia have decided to release it
as a "copy-protected" disc. I am not normally someone who copies discs that
they purchase (for myself or others) but as this disc will prove difficult to
play on my CDROM of my work computer (a Linux machine where I listen to a lot
of music), it is simply not practical for me to purchase it locally. EMI's copy-protection raises a bundle of issues here.
EMI Australia are pursuing a stupid strategy with this copy protection idea.
I've been a Radiohead fan since The Bends and have endeavoured to buy each of
their new albums as soon as it's available. Forcing a fan such as me to walk
into a record store on the day of release and then decide not to purchase the
album seems an odd way way of dealing with me. Beyond my own personal
annoyance, there are other issues of concern here.
First, the CD standard is exactly that: a rigidly defined standard. EMI
copy-protected discs do not conform to that standard. Hence, in selling an
album which the general consumer reasonably assumes is a CD borders on
misleading conduct. They're skirting the limitations of the Trade Practices
Act here. Yes, these discs are labelled as copy-protected but that is not
necessarily there as a courtesy for the consumer: if the label was not there,
they would be in breach of the law. As someone recently noted, there should be
a big warning sticker on the front of the disc similar to the warnings of
offensive language stickers we're more familiar with. Could you imagine it? A
CD that stated clearly on the front "WARNING: This product is not a compact
disc and may not play properly".
Second, EMI try to soothe the concerns of computer users by providing computer
files for the songs on the disc itself. This fails to please everyone as it
only works with certain versions of Microsoft Windows and Apple MacOS. Linux
users like myself are left high and dry. This then raises a further issue: how
playable will this disc be on computers in 5 years? 10 years? Will that
technology be obsolete? I can play CDs manufactured during the 80s just fine
but will I encounter problems playing this disc in 20 years? They're
corrupting the whole concept of the CD format here.
Now because EMI CDs are not technically CDs, you would expect any online
retailer to state this clearly. Discovering this fact upon receipt of the item
would probably be reasonable grounds for returning the disc and demanding a
full refund. The three major online CD retailers in Australia are Chaosmusic,
Sanity and HMV. Do they note the copy protection technology when purchasing
EMI discs from them?
Chaosmusic completely stuff it up. On their site, the page for "Hail to the
Thief" clearly states "CD Regular". This is false and blatantly mis-leading
behaviour on their part.
Sanity do no better. They list the album as "Format: CD Album" when it simply isn't.
Again, this is false and blatantly mis-leading behaviour.
The HMV site is currently "closed for maintenance" so I can't check that now. update: Their site lists it as "Format: CD" so I guess they strike out as well.
