Copy Restriction Alliance

Although some record labels have scaled back plans to add restricted-use technology to all CD releases, efforts continue to find the protection formula that consumers, and in particular record labels, will accept.

Latest to announce a new alliance in an effort to promote its copy-control system is SunnComm, which has formed a strategic partnership with DCA, a manufacturer of optical disc signal-processing technologies used by CD pressing plants. SunnComm says that the new partnership will enable an "expeditious worldwide rollout" of SunnComm's latest restricted-use CD system, known as MediaMax CD-3 Technology.

According to SunnComm, CD-3 is a collection of technologies that provide record labels with control over CD/DVD audio disc usage by tightly integrating Microsoft's Windows Media Platform and its Digital Rights Management (DRM) capabilities.

SunnComm explains that when a consumer puts a MediaMax CD-3 disc in a computer's CD-ROM drive, the computer can read and play the restricted Windows Media Audio files through SunnComm's proprietary, multimedia user interface, but the user will not be able to copy songs directly from the CD's main audio tracks. Instead, a second set of compressed music files, also located on the disc, can be copied from the CD by the user and either played back on the user's PC or shared with others for a limited period of time or number of plays, using the company's PromoPlay technology. However, SunnComm insists that those same music tracks cannot be sent through standard e-mail or made available to file-sharing services such as KaZaA or Morpheus.

SunnComm says that the MediaMax suite of products will be available to every manufacturing plant hosting a DCA Mastering Interface System signal processor. The company adds that the new partnership allows it to begin fulfilling a "multitude of requests" from the CD manufacturing industry to deploy the latest version of MediaMax without delay.

DCA's Doug Carson comments, "To further reduce rampant CD piracy, it is critical to utilize technology which enables the music industry to protect its digital content." SunnComm's William H. Whitmore, Jr. adds, "Feedback from the music industry on our MediaMax product suite has been overwhelmingly supportive. Implementing our technology into the manufacturing environment is our final step prior to concluding our first major record company contract."

The record labels may be on board, but consumer reaction to SunnComm's latest attempt to control how they use music remains to be seen. SunnComm was previously involved in a consumer lawsuit, settled last February, that requires record labels to make it clear which discs use SunnComm restriction systems.

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