06-29-2005, 07:00 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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My First Experience with a DRM Protected CD
A couple of days ago my wife came with with a CD she purchased: the new Backstreet Boys album, "Never Gone". Now, normally I'd immediately grab it, douse it with lighter fluid, and light it on fire - but I happen to think the new single, "Incomplete" is actually a very good song. I find myself shocked to admit that, but a good song is a good song, regardless of which cheeseball band is singing it. I'm listening to the rest of the album as I write this and there are some cheesy songs after all. But back to the story...
I put the CD into my computer and immediately a MediaMax installer pops up. I thought it was some lame "enhanced media player", so I declined the EULA installer - and it ejected the CD. 8O How curious! I put it back in, left the EULA installer open, and fired up WMP10 to rip the CD. After the first few tracks ripped, I listened to one - and it was a mash of skips and distortions. My first DRM'd CD! I looked at the CD case, and sure enough, there's a paragraph on the back of the CD that explains that the CD is protected against "unauthorized copying" and the software needs to be installed in order to play the CD on a computer. It played fine in my wife's car, but you have to install the MediaMax software to listen to it on a PC - and you can't rip it. Interestingly enough there's also no CD logo anywhere on the case - Philips must have revoked their logo because it's not a compliant CD.
Knowing how lame previous CD DRM efforts have been, I did a quick Google search, and sure enough there's a post in the Hydrogenaudio forums describing this exact issue:
"If you allow the MediaMax software to even show you the license agreement when you insert the Backstreet Boys "Never Gone" album the MediaMax software will automatically install itself without your consent regardless of whether you accept the agreement or not."
That's what I call evil software - installing itself without prompting the user. I checked for it in Add/Remove programs, and it's not listed, so that's one stealth install. After a bit more research I discovered it's more akin to a device driver than a program, and we all know Windows will install devices without prompting the user. Perhaps that's something that needs changing in Longhorn (or sooner). The fix for disabling the MediaMax DRM is quite simple:
"Click Start, Run, and type: command
Now type in the following:
net stop sbcphid
del %systemroot%\system32\drivers\sbcphid.sys"
I ran the above, then ripped the CD without any problems. Now that I know this works, I can go buy the new Dave Matthew's Band CD, which I had been putting off getting because of this issue. Isn't this a twisted world we live in where artists are pitting themselves against their own customers who are actually buying the CD? :roll:
There's a very interesting article discussing the MediaMax software in more detail that's worth reading if this issue interests you.
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