DRM FREE? Major Labels attempt To Get Into Your Computer!!!

This has been an ongoing discussion since 2006 but it's about to come to fusion in 2008 with companies like Amazon and Apple this spring. Major labels are about to embed digital watermarks into MP3 tracks so they can once again make an attempt to get into your computer, similar to the debacle with Sony BMG's attempt to embed spy ware on CD's that led to a massive lawsuit and left Sony with their tail between their legs.

A company named Thomson Multimedia has been behind closed doors with the Major Labels in an attempt to encode DRM free music? and track what you do with your purchase. This is yet another attempt by the RIAA and the Majors to police music and bring more consumers into the court room. I believe that consumers should be aware of this, did you think that the Major label system would lose their ability to lose control of music?. They say they would never use this to sue consumers, because they would never do that to you.

Here is how it will work, you will make your purchase through the Label endorsed and backed music store, sounds like the Nazis a little, and then your track will have a unique watermark assigned to your purchased song. Now every time you give this track to another person, (which by the way is your right as a consumer), or you place this song on a peer to peer network, you will now be flagged as a bad consumer of music and according to the RIAA a criminal or pirate.
They will then have the ability to totally track every aspect of your music and all those you share it with.

The main endorsing company of this technology is the Digital Watermarking Alliance. This is what is says on the front of their site. (The Digital Watermarking Alliance (DWA) is a group of organizations that share a common interest in furthering the adoption of digital watermarking and which are actively involved in commercialization of digital watermarking-based applications, systems and services. Members service a broad range of industries around the world.) . Sounds innocent enough, but it's not it's the George Orwell 1984 version of tracking consumers through music. I'm not a conspirator theorist; I have been in meetings where this is being discussed.

This is yet another attempt to control you from the baby-boomer regime that runs this industry. I never thought I would live in a time when people that listen to music would be considered criminals and that the very system that puts in into the market place would want to try and go after the customer that keeps them in business.

Here is the web site for the Digital Watermarking Alliance, http://www.digitalwatermarkingalliance.org/ Here is the chairman of the DWA Reed Stager
Chairman, DWA 503 469 4684 give him a call and ask him why he wants to track you the consumer.

Stay Informed
Digital Mind 11 !!