"...Israeli security company Midbar said Wednesday that it released one million copy-protected CDs in the European market and plans are in discussion for entry in the U.S. market. Midbar said the CDs are protected by its technology, dubbed Cactus Data Shield, which prevents potential copyright pirates from illegally reproducing the content. The company said its CDs can play on all types of machines without any alterations to the quality of the recording or the abilities of the playback machinery itself.

The announcement is the latest sign that companies are pushing forward with copy-protection schemes even though attempts to date have proven to be difficult. Last year, Midbar worked with BMG Germany to test secure CDs. The effort failed, however, and the company abandoned the project after finding that the CDs could not play on many ordinary CD players.

BMG Entertainment has higher hopes. Last month the company said it will work with security technology provider SunnComm to create copy-protected CDs. BMG is also testing technologies from Midbar, Macrovision and a handful of other companies. In addition, for the last several months, Macrovision has been quietly testing copy-protected CDs on unwitting consumers to ensure unbiased feedback, according to the company..."