June 22, 2004

The new Beastie Boys album automaticallty installs copy protection software. Apparently this is becoming more common. And people are pissed. As if I needed one more reason not to buy commercial CDs anymore.
posted by Weezel 20 years ago
  • Over at slashdot and at least one other place people are saying that there is NO copy portection on the US and UK versions. Can anyone verify this? Because I keep mentioning this to people but no one has verified it to be true or false yet. Because if it is true, then those of us in the US or UK don't really have much of a reason to be making a big deal out of this.
  • but damn is it a good one. I just got it off iTunes so it came with copy protection.
  • The source of the original posting is from Japan. The latter link doesn't work. US & UK Cd's don't include copy protection I'm near to certain. My copy ripped A-OK anyway.
  • Yet another reason not to listen to or buy anything by the beastie boys. (should they even be called "boys" anymore?)
  • I read somwhere that the spokesman for the band said that the band didn't want the stuff on there. Also, it's only on the US disc's at the moment. ________ As they say on Fark, these guys are old and busted.
  • I find it difficult to believe it installs something on its own, on MacOS at least. Thank to certain nasty virus scare years ago, every mac head today knows it's better to disable autoplay on inserted CDs and DVDs. There are many audio players besides iTunes, so it's no so that you have to play the tunes in a specific app or else, in which case the copy program would be tailored to it. Maybe some reverse publicity? 'Due to public outrage, our latest CD now doesn't have any copy protection... that we didn't want it to have, in the first place. Fight the Man!'
  • I think its an autorun file on windows that prompts for the user to "upgrade" their system.
  • The Beastie Boys are overrated anyway IMHO.
  • I don't buy commercial CDs anymore, but that luckily has worked out with my musical tastes. I was sad when Grand Royal went bankrupt (this album, and one other, were the only two discs that weren't released on their self-produced label). The DRM software only installs on Windows (hold down shift when loading CD to disable, google for permanent disabling directions), and MacOS9 (turn off autoplay) ONLY. OSX is not affected. I will be picking up this album at some point, for two reasons. I like the Beastie Boys, and this seems to be the album a band makes at the end of their career. And secondly, it's $10 at certain retailers. That's ALL they music companies need to do, in order to sell me music. Make good music, make it cheap. One or the combination of both.
  • and this seems to be the album a band makes at the end of their career. I thought thats what license to ill was... At least for their punk career.
  • Well, the Beasties CD may not be copy protected, but the current # 1 ALBUM IN AMERICA, is. The new release from Velvet Revolver. glad I had no intention to purchase anyway.
  • Daniel, WORD TO THAT! If CDs were $10, i would start buying them again. $17 for 7-10 songs? Fuck that noise.