Customer Reviews

Brown Sugar [Copy Protected CD]

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I loved the movie and had to have the soundtrack. Unfortunatly, when I got it home, I could not get it to play in my stereo's CD player! Won't work on my computer either! Stay away from these copy protected CDs! There's a good chance, you will not be able to listen to it!

I knew I wouldn't be able to copy selected songs to my PDA for my own private use when I purchased this CD so I have no complaints about that aspect of the copy-protection. I didn't expect to have a hard time playing it on a computer, however. The 'player' that's supposed to launch when you insert the CD into your drive is adequate *when* it plays. It took awhile to get the player and CD to do their thing the first time but it did eventually play. I had to restart my computer in order to use my standard player for other CDs and no CD is worth that much trouble. When I tried a second time the CD just plain wasn't recognized so I tried it on another computer and that CD drive completely disappeared from 'My Computer', the CD never loaded and now I'm wondering what kind of re-configuring I have to do there. And, guess what - it also proves occasionally problematic on my new CD player which supports mp3s. I'm not a computer newbie and it's not a matter of my not understanding. This is way beyond a minor inconvenience.

The copy protection has so soured me on this soundtrack I kinda loathe it and shy away from attempting to play it. From what I've heard, it's pretty good, maybe worth a 3.

Amazon is selling a copy protected CD that cannot be transferred to an iPod for personal use. Don't be bullied and do not buy this CD!

I bought this the day it came out and listened to it a few times. I enjoyed the Roots remake of "Love Of My Life" and was very excited to hear new material from Jill Scott, Rahsaan Patterson and Angie Stone. As much as I was excited about the artists and music on this soundtrack, I don't agree with Universal Music Group's ridiculous attempt to redefine the CD standard by introducing errors and other tricks designed to prevent computers from playing the disc normally (they call it "copy protection" but it isn't very effective at that and it won't play on many legitimate systems).

I own a PowerMac G4, and on each track I could listen to exactly 8 seconds before the CD would just stop and refuse to play. I could not get the CD to play on my Windows XP computer at work either. This computer did not have a soundcard, but it plays every other audio CD perfectly through the headphone jack of the CD-ROM drive.

If you believe in your right to makes copies of the CDs you spend your hard earned money on for personal use (not mention your right to PLAY the CDs you buy on ANY CD player that works) you should NOT buy this CD to send Universal Music Group a message. You should also go to their copy protection help site to let them know how you feel about this issue:

http://www.musichelponline.com/feedback/comments.asp

*Probably* this disc won't cause problems on non-computer players (or on Macs, apparently), but it can *seriously* damage your Windows-based computer even now, and probably destroy future versions of the operating system.

While there are numerous Bad Possibilities inherent in using this disc's proprietary player software on any existing Windows 95/98/NT/2K/ME/XP system which result in annoyances and problems that can be worked around, i read recently that F-Secure tested it on Windows Longhorn/Vista and discovered that it completely destroyed that operating system.

As reported at http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html (which has been cited in other reviews of copy-protected CDs), this CD requires you to use its proprietary player software to listen to it on your computer, in order t prevent you from making more than three copies of the music.

This player installs dangerous (and very poorly written, making it more dangerous) malware called a "rootkit", which is undetectable and almost unremovable, even by the top virus/spyware protection products, on your system without your knowledge or permission.

The installed malware is unstable, resulting in the possibility of system crashes or data corruption, and removing it is likely to render your computer's CD or DVD discs completely unuseable.

And, beyond that, because of how poorly written this thing is, it provides a handy back door for any malicious person to install undectable worms or other malware on your computer.

Don't buy this disc or any other from SONY/BMG until they stop packaging them with this dangerous malware.

(Actual star rating is about Negative 1000, but Amazon's system won't allow that.)

I purchased this cd as a gift for a friend before I knew she unly listens to cd's in her computer. After we recieved it and found out that it did not play I simply downloaded ISOBUSTER ripping software and that bypassed that protection right away. With ISOBUSTER you can rip any copy protected cd and burn as many copies as you want. You can also make MP3's of the wave files. After doing this I Gave her a CDR copy so she could actually play it and I kept a copy for myself.

This is one of those Sony CD's that contains "XCP" spyware. XCP was written with the intent of concealing its presence and operation from the owner of the computer, and once installed, elements of the software run continuously -- even when no Sony-BMG music CD is in use. It provides no clear uninstallation option.

Additionally, without notifying users, the software appears to contact a remote machine under your control.

Sony has shocked and angered people over this issue. Software that deceives the owner of the computer it runs upon and opens that computer up to attacks by third parties may be expected to come from malicious cyber-attacks; it is certainly not expected nor acceptable to be distributed and sold to paying customers by a major music company.

Sony should temporarily halt manufacturing CDs with XCP and reexamine "all aspects" of their "content protection initiative."

If Sony truly intends to undo the harm that they have caused, they should immediately and publicly commit to the following measures:

1) Sony should recall all CDs that contain the XCP and SunnComm MediaMax technology. It must include removing all infected CDs from store shelves as well as halting all online sales of the affected merchandise.

A recent New York Times article said that well over 2 million infected CDs with the XCP technology are in the marketplace and have yet to be sold.

2) Sony should remove from all current and future marketing materials statements like that on http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/updates.html that say the cloaking software "is not malicious and does not compromise security."

3) Sony should widely publicize the potential security and other risks associated with the XCP and SunnComm MediaMax technology to allow the 2.1 million consumers who have already purchased the CDs to make informed decisions regarding their use of those CDs. The publicity campaign should include, at a minimum, issuing a public statement describing the risks and listing every Sony CD, DVD or other product that contains XCP or SunnComm MediaMax. The publicity campaign should be advertised in a manner reasonably calculated to reach all consumers who have purchased the products, in all markets where the CDs have been sold.

4) Sony should cooperate fully with any interested manufacturer of anti-virus, anti-spyware, or similar computer security tools to facilitate the identification and complete removal of XCP and SunnComm MediaMax from the computers of those infected. In particular, Sony should publicly waive any claims it may have for investigation or removal of these tools under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and any similar laws.

5) Sony should offer to refund the purchase price of infected CDs or, at the consumer's election, provide a replacement CD that does not contain the XCP or SunnComm technology. For those consumers who choose to retain infected CDs, develop and make widely available a software update that will allow consumers to easily uninstall the technology without losing the ability to play the CD on their computers.

In addition, consumers should not be required to reveal any personally identifying information to Sony in order to access the update, as Sony is currently requiring.

6) Sony should compensate consumers for any damage to their computers caused by the infected products, including the time, effort, and expenditure required to remedy the damage or verify that their computer systems or networks were or were not altered or damaged by XCP or SunnComm MediaMax products.

I'm not buying any more Sony CD's until they do the above!

Sony has gone too far. Until they recall all XCP DRM discs and hand out free copies to exploited consumers then I will continue to boycott them. Five stars for Don't give Sony a penny till they make a full applogy for this mess. Don't buy this cd.

Don't play this CD on your PC, it does something that screws up the operating system. I had to re-install Windows :-(

WARNING - DO NOT BUY THIS CD. This CD is infected with DRM, a technology that not only limits what you can do with the music but actually affects the ability of your computer to do other unrelated tasks and opens you up to viruses and privacy infringements. Sony has actually recalled this CD and by all rights it should no longer be for sale on Amazon. In general, don't buy any CDs that are labeled "Copy Protected" or are made by Sony.