I've just ordered Radiohead's Hail to the Thief from the U.S. The local copy, you see, is "copy controlled" (i.e., distributed on a deliberately defective CD which doesn't work in some computer CD-ROMs and other devices). It works well enough if you run Windows and run a player application on the CD, not minding the poor quality of the low-bit-rate WMA versions provided and having to have the disc in the drive the whole time and trusting EMI's proprietary player program not to spy on you, delete your MP3s or fux0r your registry out of malice, stupidity or both, but if you use Linux, you're SOL. Unless you're lucky and your CD-ROM drive ignores the "Copy Control" voodoo and lets you rip everything without a hitch; but IMHO, that's not good enough, and if the local EMI subsidiary disagree, they can do without the hefty subsidies I've been paying them over the years. And with the peso being at a high, ordering from the U.S. is affordable again.

This isn't the first EMI disc of which I've ordered a Red Book copy from abroad. A while ago I picked up Goldfrapp's new one, Black Cherry (which is OK, though not as good as Felt Mountain; and it does seem that she's trying to be fashionable and jump on the '80s tinny-synth neo-electro bandwagon like everybody else), and Martin Gore's Counterfeit2 (which is very, very nice; basically a collection of covers, done with the combination of cold electronic glitches and bleeps and aching humanity that Depeche Mode fans will feel right at home with; I'd say it's probably better than any Mode since Violator, in fact). I also picked up the quasi-official fan edition of David Bridie's Hotel Radio (which is also excellent, and not as far from Martin Gore's territory as one would think).

Of course, some EMI titles have fallen by the wayside; for example, I probably won't be bothered to import the new Placebo album.

Posted by: JFB | http:// | Sat Nov 29 08:37:35 2003

Just read your comments on Hail to The Thief etc. I'm writing 'cause I'm interested in this pain of a thing, copy control. In my country, Black Cherry is copy controlled. I'd like to know if there are any regular versions in your country. Thanx for reading.

Posted by: acb | http://dev.null.org | Sat Nov 29 14:24:58 2003

The US release of Black Cherry is a kosher Red Book CD that plays in anything. Or it was when I ordered it.

Not sure about current US EMI releases.

Posted by: Richard | http:// | Sun Nov 13 08:57:21 2005

This is my workaround for EMI's copy-protection. 1. Copy the aiff files from the disk to your harddrive. 2. Open the files with Quicktime and save them as Quicktime .mov files. 3. Open them in iTunes and convert them to what you want... mp3 / aac... 4. Distribute them from your peer to peer application (Hotline / Carracho / Limewire...) whatever !!!

It's a bit of rooting around I know, but I kind of look at it as a community service ;-b

Regarding an earlier post about your Under the Influence Morrissey DMC CD. Thank you for the information... I have sent off my request that I have the CD replaced also.

Greedy F'kers

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