To prevent pirates from making unauthorised copies of songs, some CDs just will not play on a PC. Now, First 4 Internet of Banbury, near Oxford, UK, has patented a technique which it believes will allow CDs to be played but not copied on a PC (GB 2 386 245). The trick is to place two versions of the music on the CD. One plays on an ordinary CD player but not on a PC. The other version will play on a PC but only after the user downloads some software from the disc. This decodes the music and senses…
Technology
Computers make tracks
By Barry Fox
1 November 2003
