Stolen from TKT:

==> HI-TECH CDs YIELD TO LOW-TECH FELT-TIP MARKER TRICK

Sony’s elaborate “Key2Audio” CD copy-protection technology has succumbed to a decidedly low-tech felt-tip marker used to scribble around the rim of a disc. Internet postings say that tape or even a sticky note can be used to cover the security track, typically located on the disc’s outer edge. The technology prevents users from playing the CDs on a computer by adding a track that contains bogus data. Because computer drives are programmed to read data files first, the PC tries to play the bogus data file over and over again and never gets to the music files elsewhere on the disc. The result is a CD that will play on standard CD players, but not on CD-ROM drives, some portable devices and even some car stereo systems. Sony has shipped more than 11 million copy-protected CDs in Europe, with the largest number going to Germany — a market executives say is a hotbed of illegal CD-burning.

http://www.techknowtimes.com/jump/v5i20011.html

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