Sony Tries To Stamp Out Casual CD Burning

Alongside a US rollout of content-enhanced and
copy-protected CDs, Sony BMG Music Entertainment is testing technology
solutions that bar consumers from making additional copies of burned
CD-R discs, CNET reports.

Since March, the company has released at least 1 million discs featuring 10 commercial
titles. Each discs has technology that allows consumers to
make limited copies of protected discs, but blocks users from making
copies of the copies. The concept is known as ‘sterile burning’. And in the eyes of
Sony BMG executives, the initiative is central to the industry’s
efforts to curb casual CD burning.

"The casual piracy, the schoolyard piracy, is a huge issue for
us," says Thomas Hesse, president of global digital business for Sony
BMG. "Two-thirds of all piracy comes from ripping and burning CDs,
which is why making the CD a secure format is of the utmost importance."

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