Too funny. To prevent the new Pearl Jam CD from being ripped and put on file sharing apps before the release, prerelease copies are being supplied in sealed CD players with headphones. Read here:
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99992804

Just when you thought it couldn't get funnier... it does.

Funny thing is that the MP3's for their new CD "Riot Act" are already out there in circulation.

- Jon

Umm, couldn't you just plug the player into the computer anyway? Even if the headphones are not removable, a simple splice will get you to MP3-ville.

Obviously, these people aren't rocket scientists.

There was a prelease copy of a Playstation (or was it Dreamcast? Don't remember) game being shown at one of the PlanetQuake "beatdown" LAN party events, it was sealed inside a game console just like that to prevent being copied.

I forget the name of the game, but it was a really fun 3D fighting game with four simultaneous players. It got the axe when its parent company got sold to a larger company, and was never released. It was novel because instead of tracking the damage your opponent was taking, it tracked the amount of "dishing out" you were giving to all the other opponents in the game. The one player (out of four) who did the most overall damage and humiliation would then win the level and it would play these hilariously sick animations where the winning player would dispatch the other three players in disturbing ways. I remember one of the characters was a dominatrix who would whip and beat the other players and do dominatrix-type things to them. It was really funny, dark humor.

Anyone remember the name of that game? I'm wondering if it ever got sold off to another company. They were literally done with development and ready to release it when it got the axe.

Well, presumbly they have to give these back at some point in time...otherwise a Dremel would do nicely as well.

I liked the name of the anti-RIAA group in that article, the "Campaign for Digital Rights", which acronyms to a very fitting "CDR". I wonder if they did that on purpose.

"Campaign for Digital Rights", which acronyms to a very fitting "CDR".

Verbing weirds language.

You could attack it with a Dremel and then buy a new one of the same player and seal the disc back in when it's time to return it...

Ah yes, but wierding embiggens the vocabulary

And we need to strive towards the embetterment of vocabulary.

BTW: I've had the new Tori Amos (not due out for another month) for 6 weeks or so.. This pre-release 6-track sampler was issued to journalist via these sealed CD players. Not sure how it was beaten.. maybe at the CD duplicator. Anyone who messes w. this system risks never being given advanced copies again, so buying an identical CD player wouldn't work (either serial numbers or etched case).

My wife was given the CD by someone who had access to it.. she owns every CD Tori's made, so for her, it's just an advanced treat to the CD she will buy next month..

Anyone remember the name of that game?

If I recall correctly it was called "Thrill Kill"... it sounded like it was really over the top with some, uh... interesting finishing moves.

try here -> http://www.dunmac.com/~jcfancy/thrill_kill.htm [/url]

[EDIT oops...spellign]

Ah, yup, that was the one! Thrill Kill. Fun game. Too bad they axed it.