[Free-sklyarov-uk] New gentle-reader leaflet, plus Chuck's variant on AD's leaflet

[Jim Peters]

I said on IRC that I'd do a more gentle leaflet that could be left on
library counters and so on, and here it is:

  http://uazu.net/cd/test.pdf
  http://uazu.net/cd/test.ps

I've used bullet-points, following AlistairD's example, and borrowed
ideas from all over.  If this looks okay to everyone, I'll release it
on the site.  The idea is to give a more gentle, less hard-hitting
leaflet, that could be left around or posted in libraries, hi-fi
shops, bars or whatever.  (Without upsetting the management, so that
we have their cooperation).  A plain-text version is attached below.

Incidentally, I've now got everything set up to generate leaflets
using lout/includeres/ps2pdf, so if this works reliably, then making
new leaflets will be much quicker from now on.  Any trouble with the
PDF, let me know.  (I know xpdf 0.90 has problems on Linux, but gv
works fine).

Chuck Heffner has created a variant of Alistair Davidson's
bullet-point leaflet for his US campaign (he checked the idea over
with me), which is available here:

  http://www.fatchucks.com/corruptcds/y.alert.html

Alistair - do you want to borrow any new ideas from Chuck's version
for ours ?  Once you're ready, I can now format your version up into a
similar format to the original leaflet.

Jim

-- 
 Jim Peters                  (_)/=\~/_(_)                        Uazú
                          (_)  /=\  ~/_  (_)
 jim@                  (_)    /=\    ~/_    (_)                  www.
 uazu.net           (_) ____ /=\ ____ ~/_ ____ (_)           uazu.net

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              Did you know that unlabelled Copy-Protected CDs

                     are now on sale in this country ?


     It's true - the record companies have introduced them into the
     shops, secretly, and without warning labels.  We've found several
     artists' CDs have been protected (for example Natalie Imbruglia's
     new album), and we know there must be more.  We can't buy every
     CD to test, and for this reason we're asking the public's help
     to track down these bad CDs.  If you have access to a computer
     this is easy to do.  See the step-by-step instructions on our
     pages at:

                    http://uk.eurorights.org/issues/cd/

     So what's this ``copy-protection'' all about, then?  Well,
     in brief:

       o  Copy-protected CDs are being created by the record companies
          so that they won't play on computers or laptops, but they
          will play on most other machines.

       o  They are also designed to prevent people from making
          digital copies, either using a computer, or with a digital
          connection to a MiniDisk player.

       o  However, because it's technically difficult to create a CD
          that plays on one machine but not on another, these CDs also
          have problems with some other CD players (for example, we
          have found problems with DVD players, PS2 machines, car CD
          players and some older CD players).

       o  These CDs are technically sub-standard -- they do not meet
          the official standard definition of how an audio CD should
          be made.

       o  Some of these CDs actually corrupt the audio data by
          manipulating the error-correction codes on the disk.  These
          codes are designed to help a CD player play correctly when
          there are scratches on the disk.  Interfering with this
          mechanism makes CDs less resistant to scratches.

     So what are our objections to what the record companies are
     doing ?

       o  Well, we object very strongly to the fact that these CDs are
          being released without any labelling.  The least that the
          record companies should do is to make it clearly known that
          these CDs won't work on certain machines.  We would also
          like them to indicate whether or not the audio signal and
          error correction codes have been tampered with, so that the
          customer can make an informed decision before buying.

       o  It seems nonsense that you might be caused to pay four
          times over for an album -- one for your home system, another
          for your car system, another for your MiniDisk player, and
          another for your portable MP3 player.  Stopping digital
          copies means that MiniDisk and MP3 players are now next
          to useless.

       o  In truth they are trying to stop copying of music on the
          internet, but anyone with some technical understanding would
          be able to make a copy of these CDs, so really this is just
          causing inconvenience for everyday people without actually
          stopping unauthorized copying.

       o  We feel that consumer issues demand that these corrupt CDs
          should be withdrawn, and that the existing tried-and-tested
          CD format should be used once again for all new releases.

     At the moment, the public is still being lied to and mislead
     by the record companies, and we think something should be done
     about this.

     There are also other issues behind the copy-protection issue,
     such as the up-coming EUCD laws in Europe, and the DMCA and SSSCA
     laws in America.  These laws are backed by the record and video
     companies, and we are concerned about the implications of what
     they are doing.  For more information, see our web pages here:

                         http://uk.eurorights.org/

      Many thanks for your help    -- The Campaign for Digital Rights