[Reader-list] Email exchange between aggrieved CD buyer and EMI

[Rana Dasgupta]

Am sure some of you will have seen this,
but...

R


>From an October email exchange between Holger
Turck and EMI Music in Germany. Translated
from the German by Ben Ewing.


Dear Sir or Madam,

Yesterday I purchased the copy-protcted TOTO
CD "Through the Looking Glass." The reverse
side reads: "It is designed to be compatible
with CD audioplayers, DVD players and PC-OS,
MS Windows 95, Pentium II 233 MHz 64 MB RAM
or higher." This statement is definitely
false.

- In reality, only tracks 1-8 are playable in
my DVD player. I don't own an ordinary CD
player anymore, making this CD worthless.

- In reality, my Macintosh plays only tracks
1-7. Result: the CD is worthless.

- In reality, my PC would play the CD only if
I were to use the software found on the CD
itself. I am very careful when selecting the
software that I install on my computer, and I
refuse to be coerced into using proprietary
software. As a result, this CD is worthless.

This is all the more regrettable, as I am a
dedicated fan of the group TOTO and own --
among other items -- all of their albums.
It's a pity that YOU have prevented me from
being able to add their most recent work to
my collection.

You altogether ignore the simple fact that
every purchaser is -- by law -- allowed to
make a copy of his purchased CD. Your
behavior is altogether illegal. As a result,
I will not purchase another CD that is
outfitted with copy-protection from your firm
or from any other.

How do you plan to win me back as a customer
in the future?

Sincerely,
Holger Turck


Dear Mr. Turck,

We will spare ourselves the trouble of
addressing those observations in your email
wich are obviously uninformed. Simply
realize: more than 250 million blank,
recordable discs and tapes were sold and used
this year, in comparison to 213 million
prerecorded albums. Even without formal study
in economics, it should be clear to anyone
reading this that the music industry cannot
continue to exist if the trend holds. The
widespread copying of prerecorded audio
material via the burning of CD-Rs can only be
countered one way: namely, copy protection.
We fear, however, that all these facts will
not interest you in the slightest, as these
measures will herald the end of free music,
which surely won't please you at all.

Should you legitimately have a playback
problem with the CD that you complained
about, we would ask that you specify the
exact CD player model for us. The scenario
you put forth -- multiple players failing to
play the CD -- can only be the stuff of fairy
tales, given our experiences.

In the event that you plan to protest future
releases of copy-protected CDs, we can assure
you that it is only a matter of months until
more or less every CD released worldwide will
include copy protection. To that end, we will
do everything in our power, whether you like
it or not.

Sincerely,
Your EMI Team