MP3 and Sony Battle

[AndreBoyle]

Hi all,

I've just had a lengthy argument / discussion with Sony on the phone about my pocket vaio.

Essentially I'm a bit miffed. After much research I decided to buy the pocket vaio as it now has MP3 support. The firmware info says it plays it without conversion.

What I now find out is that it adds a DRM layer to the MP3 file which stops me pulling it off my player on my second cradle and moving it to another PC.

Does anyone else agree that this is NOT playing an MP3 file, but instead playing a converted MP3 or OMA file!?

Surely we should be able to lobby through this group for the player to play true native MP3 files.

Also, does anyone else use the photo view option. Is there a hidden thumbnail option which a sales persion told me about. Seems useless to have to scroll through thousands of photos to get to the one you want in a folder which must be called USER_xxx!?!?

Thanks for the help/advice.

Dre

[Twisted-Rizla]

Hi

Welcome to the Forum:smileyhappy:

I couldn't agree with you more. DRM is pants and too prohibitive. If I've purched the track/album I have a right to transfer that music to whatever piece of kit as often as I want. I don't think Sony should have the right to dictate what I can do once I have bought the music.

I'm sure Sony will do little about it as long as they own record, film and video labels. One of the reasons I went for the iPod

[jsonic]

It is possible to make map's with different names as long as they start with user_ (f.e. user_001, user_002) will all work)

JS

About the MP3 attachement, the machine is build to play oma files so it was probably the only way to get MP3 files directly on the player. This is something that you will see on more and more players (like the Ipod etc.) It is just the musicindustry protecting their stuff.

What they should do is like Apple give a few (in the case of Ipod) 5 PC's the right to use the files. Although if you forget to deauthorise a computer you have a problem (I had this experience first hand when I sold my Ipod)

Officially you are entitled to one copy of a CD for backup reasons in most countries, more and more countries are forbidding even to bypass security sistems to create this legal backup copy by law. So if you wnat to fight this battle fight the industrie and countries that imply these laws.

By the way I just copied the files by hand and imported them by hand and this did work without flaw, it is just an enourmous task due to the fact that codes are used and not the names of albums.

[AndreBoyle]

I have to say that I'm not aware of any limit on the use of CDs and copies. You are entitled to do whatever you please with a CD you purchase under fair use laws. This, to the best of my knowledge applies in the US and the UK/Europe.

There has never been a declaration that you are allowed a single copy of the CD for backup purposes, although I've heard a number of people state this.

Since the days of the introduction of video recordes the movie industry, including Sony's movie divisions, feared what they could be used for. The idea of time-shifting was a big issue back in the day (Recording TV for watching at any time) as companies felt this was a copyright violation. This has since been proven to be bunkum hence the introduction and acceptance of fair use.

I have purhcased with my CD the right to listen to the music, which is deamed as a license. SO long as I'm not distributing, using multiple copies at the same time or otherwise profiting from the license by public broadcast or other restrictions then I can do whatever I please, within the fair use restriction.

The same applies with an MP3 file for the most part.

I simply resent that a device was sold as playing files natively, which it doesn't. The firmware does allow MP3 data streams to be played, but Sony is adding a layer of DRM that the MP3 reseller did not feel the need to apply to MY file.

If DRM is require for a specific file by the recording industry source, then it is the resellers responsibility to apply the necessary DRM, not my device player.

If nothing else, I'm peeved that I've been mis-sold a device which I cannot return and Sony will not help me with.