No. "Copy protection" is disallowed.
Please note that the following is most definitely
not "my opinion"... it is specified in the
settlement.
Posted by: Joe R
" Thank you for posting this document. I perused it and it appears to say what some of the longs here have contended for some time. Sony/BMG has left the door open to manufacture Cds with a newer version of Mediamax"
As had been previously noted.
"and has placed in line a framework for including copy protection on its CDs."
No. "Copy protection" is disallowed.
"Business as usual" for Mediamax (and XCP) is
flat out.
On the other hand "content protection" is
allowed... under supervision... and with the
fully informed consent of the user.
There is more than wordplay involved.
"Copy protection" meant that the malware
attempted to prohibit the user was from copying
the the CD content, except as specified by
Sony, and thus their PC was hijacked out from
under them using loopholes and default settings
in Windows.
That is now forbidden.
(Actually, that was forbidden to begin with :)
The user can now copy at will where permitted by
their court-mandated rights, and Sony (and
Mediamax) may not attempt to interfere.
That is the settlement.
Thus the old Mediamax battlecry of "you have no
rights but what we give you!" is as dead as the
dodo.
Sony will now have to trust the consumer... as will
Mediamax.
And before protests erupt, remember my previous
warning about the ingrained arrogance of Mediamax operations... that will have to change.
The settlement abandons the purported DMCA shield
against inquiries that Mediamax previously relied
on to deflect pointed questions.
Not opinion. Mandated by the settlement.
So Mediamax supporters might well start by
turning off the "All who question us are thieves!"
shtick.
(Yes, questioning Mediamax is mandated by the
settlement :)
That said, it must also be said that "content
protection", as agreed to by a fully informed user,
is allowed. But that means trusting the
consumer to honor the protection.
Remember my previous posts about negotiating in
good faith with the consumer? Mediamax should
now be brushing up on those negotiating skills :)
A question, an honest question, not meant as a
trap:
Do investors think that the Mediamax corporate
culture, a culture literally built built on the
arrogant appropriation of user PCs, do you think
that it has the ability to change so drastically?
Can it adapt to Sony's professed wish to change
it's hostile attitude towards consumers?