Watermarking red-book cd's

See this months Absolute Sound. It appears they are already doing a form of this primarily designed to reduce copying on PCs. There are ticks in the bitstream that are exaggerated when the data is processed on the PC. Is it audible prior to copying--the manufacturer says no--but who knows. I'd like to see a list of CDs that has this encoding, maybe someone else knows some of these CDs.

Thanks Abstract7 for your reply. What also worries me is that they may not mention this protection on the cd. As a potential consumer I feel I have a right to know what I'm buying...if it can't be heard then they should not be afraid to list it on the cd....thanks again. Bluenose

I agree--I'd like to know too. I think the only way is if someone comes up with an independent list of CDs that use this protection scheme. I don't think they are going to come up with the "Audiophile Advisory" sticker on the cover of the CD any time soon.

There is a small article in this months (Nov.) Acoustic Guitar that claims BMG is begining to release some discs with an anti-piracy encryption. Don't have the mag here in front of me but I was very,very, surprised by this.

If...the watermarking is audible, would an artist have grounds for a lawsuit against the label. The basis for the suit being that the label has "added" content that is not the artist's intent.

Would a consumer be able to file a lawsuit against a label on the same basis?

Thanks Doug

My suggestion to those who have unknowingly purchased a watermakred disc and think the sound has been impaired, is to return the CD to the place of purchase and demand a full refund. Follow-up with angry letters to the retail owners (if a chain), the record manufacturer, the recording artist and your Congressional representative. Be pro-active.

BTW, the watermark system is easily defeatible by computer users. The goal of watermarking is to have a disc that plays perfectly on a normal CD player, but produces errors on CD-ROM drives. If someone has a CD player with a digital ouput and a computer with a soundcard with a digital input, then the watermarking will be by-passed.