Tuesday, August 01, 2006

Music Companies and DVD Manufacturers Blocking Customers' fair Use Of The Music They Buy

This BBC article talks about the confusing range of locks and codes on the CDs and other products people buy: record companies -- while claiming they are simply trying to protect their product -- spy on customers, sell defective goods that won't play in many devices and block people from the "fair use" of that product. (Ie. if you buy a CD and want to make a copy to play and keep in your car (or on your boat or whatever, you have that right but record companies are increasingly making it impossible.) Further, VCRs are blocked from making copies of DVDs you own -- something I discovered when I wanted to make a "mix tape" of Christmas specials for a holiday party. And don't even try to make a mix tape off your CDs playing in a DVD player -- they'll block your tape deck from working at all. All of this is completely ILLEGAL, but no consumer rights group has stepped forward yet to file a class action lawsuit against the major companies. I'm waiting.

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