CD Copy Protection: EMI may be Investigated by Australian Competition Watchdog


A complaint lodged by a businessman to the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) may result in an investigation of EMI Records' CD copy protection schemes, reports the Melbourne Age.

The formal complaint was made by Tom Dullemond, who sells CD burning software. Mr. Dullemond states that copy-protected CDs do not deliver high-quality sound in either Macs or PCs. "hey play back a low bitrate compressed .WMV file in a proprietary software audio player," he said.

In a reply to Dullemond, EMI said that

"Currently the limited space on the CD is the cause of the quality of audio that comes out of the PC. It is the technology that has been provided that does this. The development of this technology is continuing, so no actual date has been provided to us by our partners. We cannot control what information is to be provided at the point of sale. We can only provide information from our website and any other means deemed possible by the ACCC."

Some PC CD and DVD ROM drives are completely unable to play copy-protected CDs. Last year, Apple issued a warning that use of copy-protected CDs in Macs would void warranties. Some users of slot-loading iMacs reported damage of their drives as a result of using copy-protected discs.

Analysis: The ACCC has exceptionally wide powers of investigation of trade practices and can levy considerable fines, or submit cases to federal courts for arbitration. The test for EMI is whether the product is fit for the purpose it was intended. Whether EMI has breached the relevant provisions of the Trade Practices Act by bringing these CDs to market is for the courts to determine. Bear in mind that Microsoft is a declared monopoly in the US and, logically, it follows that it's a monopoly in Australia. But the spineless ACCC prefer to go after small fish, not politically and economically important ones. Sound like the DoJ to you?