Oliver....Not being a techie I cannot analyze your question but will refer you to the current issue of Business Week, 6/28/99, pg. 67+, Commentary:"Are Music Companies Blinded by Fright", by Steven V. Brull for some (?) potential added info. I will not present the entire piece, only an excerpt. To me it sounds like the Wave model of digital distribution. Might not those Sony chips be a part of this Wave Model?
Excerpt-
"....The industry's plan is called the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI). It's a complex scheme that envisions phasing in a sprawling system to monitor distribution online. The Big Five record companies (Universal Music, BMG Music, Sony Entertainment, EMI Group, and Warner Music Group), with about 80% of the $38.7 billion global industry, back the SDMI. Although details won't be finalized until June 30 and the system won't be fully in place until next year, its framework is beginning to take shape.
At its heart is a bothersome requirement that listeners who try to copy a music file must first get permission. Making a personal copy may be no more complicated than now. But when trying to send music over the Web, the software used will probably require an authorization from a clearinghouse of central server computers run either by record labels or by tech companies such as IBM. A fan who gets permission to download one song, for instance, may not be able to send it from one home computer to another, even though taping for personal use is legal in the U.S. What's more, a song stored on a floppy disk may not be playable on any other device except the one on which it was originally recorded....."
Any thought from anyone? |
