[Free-sklyarov-uk] RE: Sony robotic dog advert

[Andy Buckley]

On Tuesday 02 Jul 2002 12:04 am, Mark McC wrote:
> > I might be a bit naive about this, but they way this advert
> > is marketed sounds like Sony don't want you to copy THEIR
> > Songs but have no objections to you copying and reproducing
> > their Competition's releases!
> >
> > Sound marketing ploy there I think!

You think so? When was the last time that you bought music on the basis of 
the publisher? I would guess that either there's a co-ordination problem at 
Sony (though despite impressions here I find it difficult to imagine that the 
media hardware branch of Sony is completely unaware of developments in DRM 
technology/usage and its sister division's approach to it) or that the 
approach used in reading/encoding CDs by Sony's software is oblivious to 
watermarking/format corruption. I would have thought that selling a player 
which doesn't work with the majority of music releases would be a good way to 
ensure that your player receives lots of bad press and flops...

I also doubt that Sony are the only company that'll be releasing a USB (etc) 
enabled portable MD player -- it's too obvious an idea, though I wouldn't be 
shocked if they've managed to obtain a patent on the idea. (NB. see below re 
netMD press release)

> > "Make sure your CD's can't be copied by your own patented
> > portable music system, therefore keeping a captive market,
> > but making it easier for the consumer to copy other CD's with
> > high quality and speed onto your Personal player."
>
> Not sure about this particular device, but previous Sony "MP3" players
> have only been able to play music ripped in a custom format - hence,
> Sony could alter this custom format to allow their own protected CDs to
> be copied to its portable players.

The netMD system (IIRC) will only rip CDs direct to MD format (ATRAC/ATRAC3, 
which are Sony proprietary AFAIK); I'd guess that all it does is to perform 
the lossy encoding (normally performed in real-time on the MD line-in by the 
MD hardware) at increased read rate on a PC CD-ROM. Enough other 
manufacturers make MD players for it to not make sense for Sony to make 
backwards-incompatible changes to the format -- they have a large investment 
in the format and it's not so ubiquitous that they can do what they like with 
it (a la .doc format). They don't seem to have any problem with employing 
extensions like MD-LP, though. Note also that MD has always had a copy 
protection system to prevent secondary digital copying from MD, even though 
the MD compression itself is lossy and so by definition a copy from MD will 
be inferior to the original...though not so inferior that many people notice.

> As mentioned by others, I don't think this is part of a 'master plan' by
> Sony - more a case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is
> doing. For example, will your Sony DVD player allow you to watch a
> VideoCD filmed on your Sony digital camcorder and recorded to CD using
> your Sony CD-writer? As with any large corp., there are so many business
> units within Sony that maintaining any kind of co-ordinated strategy is
> very difficult, esp. when it comes to something as horrendously
> complicated as DRM.

I just had a look for a bit more info and found the original Sony Japan press 
release about netMD; it actually looks a bit more coordinated than has been 
mentioned. To me it looks like Sony have had intentions to start purely 
software music distribution for well-over a year -- it mentions ripping from 
CDs and "Net MD-compliant electronic music distribution services". Note also 
that endorsing format companies include Liquid Audio and Real Networks. And 
there are lots of hardware licensees such as Sharp, Kenwood etc...this isn't 
just going to be a Sony thing.

The original PR is available at 
http://www.sony.co.jp/en/SonyInfo/News/Press/200106/01-037E/
but as that's quite old now I'm sure there are more up to date ones that I 
haven't got the time to search for now. I've copied the text below for 
convenience...

---

"Net MD" New Application Interface Connects PC to MD
- Will Support High Speed Transfer of Copyright Protected Music Content -

Tokyo, Japan, June 27, 2001 - Sony Corporation today announced a new 
application interface called "Net MD" to connect PC and MD players via 
Universal Serial Bus (USB). By employing a number of security technologies, 
the Net MD interface will make it possible to transfer music data at high 
speeds from PC to MD products while protecting copyrighted material.

The Net MD interface will include specifications that address secure data 
transfer through USB as well as authentication between PC and MD. Based on 
the security technologies that Net MD will employ, music data recorded from 
CDs or Net MD-compliant electronic music distribution services can be easily 
transferred from a PC to the authorized MD product. Because Net MD will 
accept current MiniDiscs and will be compatible with both ATRAC and ATRAC3 
audio codecs, Net MD recordings can also be played on existing MD products.

"We anticipate Net MD to help further expand the MD market by increasing PC 
connectivity," said Shizuo Takashino, Corporate Senior Executive Vice 
President of Sony Corporation. "We also believe Net MD with security 
technologies will significantly contribute to the vitalization of music 
distribution business."

Since the MD format was first commercialized in 1992, the format has been 
widely accepted based on its easy editing and random access operation, and 
approximately 54 million MD hardware units cumulative world-wide are expected 
to be sold by the end of 2001. In addition, the market size of recording 
MiniDiscs is expected to reach 270 million for the year 2001 (source: Japan 
Recording-Media Industries Association.) Sony aims to further expand the MD 
market by actively promoting the new Net MD application interface.

Key Benefits of Net MD

1) Convenient PC connectivity:
By employing a standard "USB" interface, music data can be transferred from a 
PC to a Net MD product at high speed. In addition, the Net MD protocol will 
enable a PC to control a Net MD product while editing music that has been 
recorded on a MiniDisc.

2) Compatibility with the existing MD hardware:
To ensure backward compatibility with existing MD products, Net MD will 
support both ATRAC and ATRAC3 audio compression technologies. Music recorded 
in ATRAC3 must be played in ATRAC3 compliant devices.

3) Secure data transmission:
Net MD can securely transfer music data from an authenticated PC hard drive 
to an authenticated Net MD player. The Net MD interface is also designed to 
support Serial Copy Management System (SCMS) to prevent second-generation 
music data digital copying.

MD Hardware Licensees
Accuphase Laboratory, Inc., Aiwa Co., Ltd, Akai Electric Co., Ltd, Alco 
Electronics Ltd., Alpine Electronics Inc., Anam Electronics Co., Ltd., Asahi 
Corporation, Becker Autoradioweak GMBH, Clarion Co., Ltd, Daewoo Electronics 
Co., Ltd., Etronics Corporation, Foster Electric Co., Ltd., Fujitsu Ten 
Limited, Funai Electric Co., Ltd, Goldstar Co., Ltd., HHB Communications 
Ltd., Hitachi, Ltd., Kenwood Corporation, Lotte Electronic Corporation, 
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, 
Mitsumi Electric Co., Ltd., Nakamichi Corporation, Nippon Chemi-Con 
Corporation, Nippon Columbia Co., Ltd., Onkyo Corporation, Pioneer Electronic 
Corporation, Ricoh Company, Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, Sansui 
Electronic Co., Ltd., Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Shinano 
Kenshi Co., Ltd., Suzuki Motor Corporation, Tae Kwang Industrial Co., Ltd., 
Teac Corporation, Tonic Industries Holdings Ltd., Toshiba Corporation, Victor 
Company of Japan, Limited, Welton Electronics Limited, Ya Horng Electronics 
Co., Ltd., Yamaha Corporation

"Net MD" endorsing companies
Fujitsu Limited, Kenwood Geobit Corporation, Liquid Audio, Inc., NEC 
Corporation, RealNetworks, Inc.

---

Phew,
Andy

-- 
Andy Buckley :: HEP Group, University of Cambridge
Currently at CERN: EP Division, B2-1-018
http://www.insectnation.co.uk