Old hardware fools CD protection

More accidental discoveries have revealed shortcomings in the controversial copy protection mechanisms being brought into use on CDs.

This time round older hardware may work more effectively than a felt tip pen.

Satirical technology magazine Need to Know recently discovered another method of circumventing some of the less obvious copy protection mechanisms.

On CDs protected with the 'corrupt data track' system, a marker pen is all that is needed to beat the system, because the data track is clearly visible on the outside edge of the CD.

But technologies which don't have such an obvious flaw proved more difficult to crack, until CD copying was tried on older hardware.

Attempts to copy the recently released Star Wars: Attack of the Clones soundtrack in a HP8100 CD-Writer Plus proved futile, as did attempts to locate the corrupt data track on the CD.

But a chance attempt on a "crappy old LiteOn LTN382 32X", which is about two years old, copied the CD "without a hiccup".

"So all you need to get round copy protection is a friend with moderately lame old hardware," said the Need to Know crew. "Unless that's illegal under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act nowadays as well."