Pirates. You’ve heard about them. Some of your friends are pirates. Now let’s discuss them.

A pirate is someone that is in hunt of loot, which usually is free stuff gained through somewhat questionable methods. MP3s of the music industry’s finest booty are the plunder modern-day pirates are after and the industry definitely does not like its booty plundered.

As I found out when I recently purchased a Kasabian CD (which isn’t very good by the way), many record labels have gone to great lengths to prevent unlawful copying of CDs. When I picked up the CD I noticed a sticker on the front that read, “This CD is protected against unauthorized duplication. It is designed to play on standard playback devices and an appropriately configured computer.”

You might be asking, “So? Why do I care about this?” I will tell you why. When these CDs are encrypted, specifically by Sony BMG Music Entertainment, the songs can’t be copied into MP3s, which means you can’t put them on your iPod. If you are like the rest of the modern world, you don’t use a portable CD player anymore, making a protected CD a major pain in your MP3.

As I found out on the website for BMG’s encrypted CDs, they blame Apple for not complying with the new CD format they created. It seems to me the only ones that should conform are the ones that are making a new product. Think of it this way: if someone created a new light bulb that didn’t fit into existing sockets, would you buy it? Their new product should meet all current standards and not force everyone else to change because they feel it is necessary.

Sony BMG, I would like to take this moment to thank you for creating a new Betamax. I’m sure it’ll stick around … for a couple more seconds.

What are you to do with your newly acquired CD that you can’t copy onto your iPod? I have a few suggestions. Return it, but most places won’t take an open CD back because they think you might have copied it even if it is “protected against unauthorized duplication.” Make it into a coaster. You don’t want to ruin that nice wooden table in your college apartment; it could be a priceless antique one day. Or you can crack the encryption and post the MP3s online because you are really, really pissed at music labels’ attempts to win a losing battle against piracy known as the “Record Industry’s Vietnam.”

I sent a nasty letter to Sony BMG stating how I wanted my money back and they responded with a letter stating how to crack the encryption!

Talk about shooting yourself in the foot. Sony probably spent millions of dollars to protect their property, now they are giving this information out making their efforts moot! It’s absolutely absurd. I’m going to relay the information they provided in hopes you don’t post the MP3s you are about to make on the internet.

The protected CD allows you to copy the tracks onto your computer, but they are not in the MP3 format. They are in WMA, which can only be used in Windows Media Player. To circumvent the copy protection on the files, you must then burn the files onto a blank CD and then copy the CD into MP3s using iTunes, thus eliminating any copy protection.

However, this definitely doesn’t mean free music for everyone!

It seems the music industry hasn’t learned there is no way they “arrrr” going to stop piracy, so why make it harder for the rest of us to enjoy a new record on our iPod?

John Bobosh is a senior in communications.