SDMI Spec Restricts CD Copying

Friday, July 16, 1999

SDMI Spec Restricts CD Copying

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"..The Secure Digital Music Initiative, the new standard that aims to wipe out digital music piracy, amounts to a list of choke holds that electronics manufacturers must build into portable stereo systems.
No surprise there -- SDMI does exactly what music industry backers promised it would do. But the new standard goes one step beyond what some find acceptable. It limits the home duplication of standard music CDs.
"This is to protect content that has no rules associated with it," said Jack Lacy, chairman of the SDMI's portable device group. A limit of four copies will only mean that CD owners will "need to keep [their copies] within [their] local circle of friends."
The published specification stipulates that SDMI-compliant devices allow the CD owner to make only four digital copies per copying session. If that person needs to copy again to such a device, she must re-copy from the original CD.."