[Dixielandjazz] Technology Breakthrough

[dhs@ev1.net]

Folks, if you're thinking about doing a CD, and are worried about piracy,
read about the recording breakthrough below.

Dave Stoddard

RIAA BREAKTHROUGH

Music Industry Unveils New Piracy-Proof Format:
A Black, Plastic Disc With Grooves In It

Music bosses have unveiled a revolutionary new recording format
that they hope will help win the war on illegal file sharing,
which is thought to be costing the industry millions of dollars
in lost revenue.

Nicknamed the "Record," the new format takes the form of a black,
vinyl disc measuring 12" in diameter, which must be played on a
specially designed turntable.

"We can state with absolute certainty that no computer in the
world can access the data on this disc," said spokesman Brett
Campbell. "We are also confident that no one is going to be able
to produce pirate copies in this format without going to a heck
of a lot of trouble. This is without doubt the best anti-piracy
invention the music industry has ever seen."

As part of the invention's rigorous testing process, the
designers gave some discs to a group of teenage computer experts
who regularly use file-swapping software such as Limewire and
Gnutella and who admit to pirating music CDs.

Despite several days of trying, none of them were able to hack
into the disc's code or access any of the music files contained
within it.

"It's like, really big and stuff," said Doug Flamboise, one of
the testers. "I couldn't get it into  any of my drives. I mean,
what format is it? Is it, like, from France or something?"

In the new format, raw audio data in the form of music is encoded
by physically etching grooves onto the vinyl disc. The sound is
thus translated into variations on the disc's surface in a
process that industry insiders are describing as "completely
revolutionary" and "stunningly clever."

To decode the data stored on the disc, the listener must use a
special player which contains a "needle" that runs along the
grooves on the record surface, reading the indentations and
transforming the movements back into audio that can be fed
through externally amplified loudspeakers.

Even Shawn Fanning, the man who invented Napster, admits the new
format will make file swapping much more difficult. "I've never
seen anything like this," he told reporters. "How does it work?"

As rumors that a Taiwanese company has been secretly developing a
12" wide, turntable-driven,  needle-based, firewire drive remain
unconfirmed, it would appear that the music industry may, at
last, have found the pirate-proof format it has long been
searching for.