Copy Protection of CDs

[Mark Wilson]

Evidently, Copy-protection schemes can actually damage hardware:   http://www.silicon.com/bin/bladerunner?30REQEVENT=&REQAUTH=21046&14001REQSUB=REQINT1=53255     That record companies think this is a solution is laughable.  Okay, so a CD won't play in my computer and I can't 'rip' it and encode into MP3.  Does this prevent the technologically savvy from sending the digital signal from their standalone CD player into their soundcard and encoding it this way, and then, of course, distributing to the non-savvy crowd?  So..the record company has achieved nothing as far as preventing piracy, but has diminished the value of their product by not allowing it to be played on a computer, and left themselves open to potential lawsuits from damaged hardware, and possibly from Philips, who owns the CD patent, and is none too happy about this...   Mark Wilson Appalachian State University