10-08-2007, 10:40 AM

Hello all--

I have read on Consumer Reports in the past about Sony's 2005 XCP copy protection which they included on some 50 cd releases and which resulted in a number of class action lawsuits due to damage to computers, unlawful hard drive monitoring etc. etc.

In the CR article (Nov 05), the author mentions that these discs (of which I have two) only effect "Windows PC[s]". I have an Apple Macbook but have so far resisted trying to import these discs into iTunes for fear that something may go wrong. The article also says that XCP will hamper efforts to import these discs on an MP3 or iPod. Naturally, I have an iPod and that is the whole reason I want to get these discs on iTunes in the first place.

Question:

Anyone out there had any issues with these XCP discs on a Mac, or importing them into an iPod?
I've already tried once to make a mix disc with one of these albums and believe me, the copy protection works; it will burn but you end up with an unlistenable mess: the tracks from the protected album skip about every 3 seconds....

Thanks!

10-08-2007, 02:21 PM

Nevermind, just found the answer to my question here:

http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/faq.html

Apparently, according to Sony, "Consumers who wish to check for the presence of XCP content protection software on their computers may download a detection tool here as an EXECUTABLE FILE (246K) or ZIP FILE (124K). Note, XCP content protection software is only for PC users (not Macintoshes)."

Great news for Mac owners...

10-08-2007, 05:18 PM

I had one of these CD's (the last I will ever buy from Sony by the way). It was "The Kings of Leon" if I am not mistaken. Anyway, I had to let it copy the proteced media my PC using media player, burn the MP3's to CD and re-import to get rid of the DRM stuff.

This was before I had a Mac. I wonder though, can the Mac even import it with all that crazy formatting they did on the CD?

10-09-2007, 11:48 AM

Well, I just imported "Suspicious Activity?" by The Bad Plus yesterday and it's fine in iTunes. The rootkit should not even be activated in the Mac OS.