"Copy Protection" on the album Velvet Revolver: Contraband

There has been a lot of talk about the copy protection on the new CD "Contraband" from Velvet Revolver, but for us we didn't have any problems making MP3s for all our devices despite their efforts to stop us it seems. Here's our story…

Last week we went off to buy a CD, this is something we, like a lot of people, do on a regular basis. This week's CD we wanted to check out was "Contraband" by Velvet Revolver the group formed by ex-members of Guns N' Roses and the lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots. We figure with that much drugs in those boys, there's bound to be a good tune or two in there.

As with all our CDs, after unwrapping 8 layers of plastic on the way to the car we popped it in the CD player on the ride home to listen to, so far, so good- not a bad CD at all. After arriving home, we put the CD in our Xbox and as with all CDs the Xbox copied the songs over to the hard drive so we could use them with other games later or just use it as our jukebox.

Next up, inserted the disc in to our Mac, started iTunes and then iTunes put the newly created MP3s on our iPod. Also, the Linux box in our kitchen (Xandros) was able to read and make MP3s just fine too.

Lastly, we popped the CD in our PC (Win XP) and also ran iTunes to add the songs to our library.

Was this all a dream? Did it really happen? It did. But it shouldn't have if it were up to the people who made that CD.

After looking around on the web it seems the folks from RCA Records actually don't want anyone to make MP3s of the songs, they don't want you to listen to the music you just purchased on your iPod or even your Xbox.

The disc has "Copy Protection" from SunnComn called MediaMax, which on some Windows systems will force the user to install software on their system in order to listen to the music and restrict what they do with the music, for example you cannot make MP3s. If SunnComn sounds familiar, they should, these are the folks who were going to sue a Princeton student for 10 million dollars for writing a paper that showed by pressing the shift key while inserting the CD (and of course, pressing the shift key still works on this CD too according to all reports).

Sadly, the way RCA and SunnComn want you to listen to music is pretty complicated, you'd need to insert the CD on your PC, wait up to one minute, click an end user agreement, then only "listen" to the music, oh- wait there is more- it installs software which blocks making MP3s and it requires a web connection to exchange "data" and keys. On the disc there are music files, WMA, but they don't seem to play on any device we have which plays WMAs, the site says only "approved" devices, yikes!

Well, for us, it wasn't an issue, why? Well, we have always disabled "Auto-Run" on our Windows based system, since like Windows 95, we've always disabled that "feature". By default Windows will automatically look for a file called Autorun.inf on any CD you pop in to your system, we've always known this is a big security issue as there are a lot of spyware and viruses distributed on CDs, you read about this every week. In fact, Microsoft is even disabling this in their next security focused service pack. Just to recap…

Xbox was okay (see the pictures above). We kinda wonder if Microsoft's Xbox violated some deal with the record companies since the Xbox can just copy the songs like it does with all CDs, it's not in any "approved" list either.

Mac was okay.

PC was okay.

SunnComn and everyone else who is trying to "copy protect" music cds have really only one option and this is it, placing an autorun file on their music cds- they still need to have the music tracks so any CD player can play it, but they also will try and take advantage of the fact that if they put data and an application on the CD they can exploit a security flaw. But many people are becoming more vigilant about securing their systems.

Disabling Auto-Run is something we think everyone should do, not only for security from viruses, spyware, but you'll never need to deal with not being able to listen to your music on the devices you own. Here's how on Windows XP.

In Windows Click Start, then Click Run

Type regedit
Click OK

Click >
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>
SYSTEM>
CurrentControlSet>
Services>
Cdrom>

Double click "Autorun" the value is set to 1 by default, change it to zero.

Click OK
Now restart, that's it!

We also created a file which will do this for you, just right click this link and "save target as" to your local file system. Then double click and restart.

Please, tell everyone to disable autorun, use our email option, IM your pals, whatever it takes.

If you a different Operating system or would like to learn more about disabling AutoRun, here's a great article too.

This so called copy protection that record companies are trying to force on users is simply going to push people towards getting the files online without paying for them via file sharing networks, buying a non-Windows system and in general, buy less music. None of those things sounds good to us.

[ChainsawJoe @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I always wondered what could really be done in terms of actual copy protection, since you've got to be able to play the music on a cd player then the tracks have to be on there somewhere. Autorun?! Is that the wonderous copy protection solution they've been going on about?! Wow. I haven't had that enabled for many years...

But hey - I also didn't know that XBox's could do that: the whole "ripping to hard drive and using within games" like the old PS games (swapping discs once a game has loaded - great fun playing GTA1 to The Beatles or Hendrix!)... since they'll be down to £99 soon, I may get one of them... :)

[Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

"If SunnComn sounds familiar, they should, these are the folks who were going to sue a Princeton student for 10 million dollars for writing a paper that showed by pressing the shift key while inserting the CD (and of course, pressing the shift key still works on this CD too according to all reports)."

By holding shift you what? (yes, i know it disables auto-run for that session, however others may not.)

[Leo @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

"buying a non-Windows system"
Sounds good enough to me actually. ;)

[Eduardo @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I wonder how SunnComn convinces RCA to buy their crapy "technology". I bet they make some great money to put an Autorun file in the CD, jajaja.

[Scott @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

No matter what kind of copy protection scheme they come up with, someone is always going to find a way to defeat it.

[Seth @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

In response to Scott:
The only people that would be foiled by these types of copy protection (and, really, all types of digital protection) are those that are technically naive enough to not investigate work-arounds. This speech transcript (http://craphound.com/msftdrm.txt) made an interesting suggestion. If someone wants to copy video or audio, and they are foiled by copy protection, what do they do? They either (1) give up and live with it, or (2) find out if there's a way around it. The more frequently they encounter blockage due to protection, the more they lean toward (2). As DRM becomes more pervasive, there is a greater chance of a casual acquaintance telling them about a work-around. If someone isn't able to legitimately copy their own music for their own use, and they discover a way to bypass the protection to allow this, what's stopping them from going that one step further into the grey area of illegal downloads? It is likely that more DRM will actually lead to MORE piracy, not the reverse. The speech makes the point more clearly. :)

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

There wouldn't need to be copyright protection if people weren't buying a cd and then sharing it with anyone who has a copy of Kazaa. But that's progress. There's no puting the genie back in the bottle.
What gets me is that people seem offended that record companies are trying to stop people from copying CD's. If someone was stealing from you would you just sit back and say "Oh well nothing I can do", or would you try to stop it?

[dave ankers @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

In the UK copyright allows "reasonable personal use" or words to that effect. I make MP3s of my CDs so that I can take it with me when travelling, at work, etc. I only share my CDs/MP3s with my wife & kids. I do not download music. I am not a pirate.

I will accept copy protection schemes if they do not interfere with MY reasonable use rights. However, I am getting very frustrated at CDs with copy protection that do not play on my main hi-fi (about 5 years old). The record companies are selling faulty product. Next time, I'll take it back to the shop and demand my money back and I will try to avoid CDs with copy protection in future.

[David @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

You make a good point Dave. I wouldn't dispute your right to burn copies of your cd's as mp3 files if the UK laws allow it.
On many Cd's these days you get access to extra content through a website. When you buy a cd maybe there should be a website linked to it where you can download mp3 versions of the songs to your PC once.
As for copy protection, the record companies obviously need to come up with a better solution than they have at the moment. At the end of the day however they have a right to protect their product. There are plenty of examples where people who break the law have made it tougher for people who don't and I think this is another case.

[Rainman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

How do you remove the software on your pc that blocks you from having MP3's created? The software is loaded on my system and I created MP3's and they skip. Thanks!

[Lance Manion @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I put the CD in my PC before disabling autorun because I'm stupid. When I try to listen to MP3's from this disc they skip too. There's got to be a file that needs to be removed from your system or something like that. Thanks

[stuart johnson @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

so copy protection, if it can be skipped this easily then it shouldn't be there at all. this is just wasting money and ruining reputation. they should put it on cd's were not gonna buy

[Tom @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Well i still buy records regularly - much more fun playing them, none of this copyprotection malarkey! ;-)

[Dave Seaver @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I work for a DJ service and most of our rigs run off of hard drives now. Instead of trying to inventory and haul around 1000s of CD's we copy the original CD's as MP3's and store them on our own removable drives. We pay big bucks to ASCAP and BMI to do this legally and so the Artists get paid for their work. We can also play individual CD's in the computer drive when needed.

The big problem is that I can't use CD's with this copy protection on them. This protection forces you to use some goofy addon program that runs on Media Player. Well we use a couple of different DJ Softwares that are integrated into a music database and to use Media Player you have to close out our stuff. This leaves 20-50 seconds of dead air everytime we go to or leave one of these CD's.

We have had somebody contact Sunncomm about our problem but they never bothered to return either of our two calls. The only alternative our company has found so far is to not use CD's with this type of Copy Protection. So my customers can't listen the artists that use this copy protection and the artists lose out on the ASCAP and BMI royalties since we can't use their work.

[Thexder @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I have a program called Easy CD Ripper, and I have not come across a cd (new or old) that I cannot rip to mp3 (regardless of autorun or any other feature). You can download the program off the net (download.com, i think). You have to pay for it but there are ways around that too! But I recommend you pay for it and support the developers. I firmly beleive that the company's who make these so called protections are the one's that release information to the public on how to get around it. Think about it, if they invent a copy protection that no one can beat, they wouldn't get paid to develop more programs....hmmm!

[JP Welling @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I am a Songwriter and a ASCAP member. The major finacial problems that the recording industry is having has nothing to do with piracy or bootlegging. They are lazy canabalistic idots this argument has been their legal crutch since Xerox made the first buisness mime-o-graph machine that could be used to make copies of sheetmusic. They wont admit that the losses in revenue are because thousands of artists can and do create quality products from home studios w/o the need for record companies contract slavery for studio time and production. This is a perfect example why there profits have tanked, find an excuse and throw money at it... sueing their consumer base is even a better way to insure increased profitability.

JPW

[CKap @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I have the new VR cd and it happens that the copywright software got on to my computer. But all I had to do to get around it is just right click and go to copy to cd and windows media player copied the cd for me. I also have a question does anyone know how to remove the copyright software

[Duh @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

EVER HEARD OF RCA CABLE? No matter what a CD can or can not do on your computer, if you can get the CD to play, you can record it. Simply use either an RCA cable from your DVD player, or standard stereo cord from your Discman, directly into your computer. Record the imput to MP3 format, or even uncompressed WAV. A program like MusicMatch does this terrifically.

Where's the mystery in this?

[Duh @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

EVER HEARD OF RCA CABLE? No matter what a CD can or can not do on your computer, if you can get the CD to play, you can record it. Simply use either an RCA cable from your DVD player, or standard stereo cord from your Discman, directly into your computer. Record the imput to MP3 format, or even uncompressed WAV. A program like MusicMatch does this terrifically.

Where's the mystery in this?

[Martin Carroll @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

There is a way to remove this software (well at least to prevent it working in any case) IF you are running Windows XP (& maybe Windows ME). Simply use XP's System Restore functionality and roll back your system to a Restore Point dated prior to the installation of the Copy Protection software. You won't lose any data (emails, documents, etc) but any software installed after the Restore Point's date will be broken and require reinstallation, if you want it ;-) The software WILL still be on system but it won't work.
Note: I have not personally tried this with the exact Copy Protection software you speak of but I'd pretty much bet it'll work like a charm!
System Restore is located under the Start Menu->Programs->Accessories->System Tools.
Note 2: Windows ME has System Restore as well but it is a 'poor cousin' compared to XP's version and I won't vouch for Windows ME's Restore functionality.

[Kathleen @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

If you have not disabled auto run and have installed the scrambling software on your computer - search for a file called SbcpHid it is in the WindowsSystem32Drivers folder. Delete it and that will take care of the problem - no need to roll back the computer.
I can't tell you how mad it makes me to try to play an audio cd and find that someone has installed an unwanted program of any sort on my hard drive - grrrr.

[Josh Turpen @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

--------------
I work for a DJ service and most of our rigs run off of hard drives now. Instead of trying to inventory and haul around 1000s of CD's we copy the original CD's as MP3's and store them on our own removable drives. We pay big bucks to ASCAP and BMI to do this legally and so the Artists get paid for their work. We can also play individual CD's in the computer drive when needed.

The big problem is that I can't use CD's with this copy protection on them. This protection forces you to use some goofy addon program that runs on Media Player. Well we use a couple of different DJ Softwares that are integrated into a music database and to use Media Player you have to close out our stuff. This leaves 20-50 seconds of dead air everytime we go to or leave one of these CD's.

We have had somebody contact Sunncomm about our problem but they never bothered to return either of our two calls. The only alternative our company has found so far is to not use CD's with this type of Copy Protection. So my customers can't listen the artists that use this copy protection and the artists lose out on the ASCAP and BMI royalties since we can't use their work.

-----------------

I'm sorry you haven't been able to get in contact with anybody at SunnComm. Tech support should be able to fix your situation promptly.

If MediaMAX is somehow on your machine and you do not agree to the End User License Agreemeent, tech support will remove it.

[a j stiles @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

cdparanoia reads most things just fine. I bought the Avril Lavigne album "under my skin" (uses CDS200) specifically because it was copy protected, just for the H4X0R 5K!11Z challenge -- and was disappointed to find it just ripped OK. cdrdao also read it fine.

Copy protection will *never* work; in the limiting case you will always be able to train a mic on a loudspeaker. It's all just snake oil, and it serves no other purpose save to increase the sale price of CDs.

The real problem is that the assumption on which the recording industry was founded -- that the combination of wherewithal and knowhow to manufacture recordings, is scarce -- has been invalidated. Any idiot can manufacture recordings. Why should I pay £10 to BMG just to press a CD and print a booklet? Let's face it, the only person in the whole damn supply chain from studio to stereo whose job couldn't have been done just as well by someone else, was Avril Lavigne herself. And if there was a way to pay her the same few pence she would get if I bought the ten pound CD from a store, I think I would.

[p newsham @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

If you really want the artists to see more cash and the record companies to see less, here's the answer. Stop buying CDs (just download, copy, whatever) and go see the band live. They'll get more money than if you bought 5 of their CDs.

[Sparky @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Thats where you are wrong Dave, the UK does not allow a "fair use" style copyright clause. Ripping your bought CDs to mp3 is illegal in the UK full stop. If you're interested in the law check out the Campaign for Digital Rights at:

http://ukcdr.org/

particularly:

http://ukcdr.org/faq/#fairuse_ukrights

[Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I have a sony minidisc player and i bought contraband thinking i would just copy the files to a MD but they skip. I an running win XP and I have already installed the program that came with it. if anyone can help me out that would be great.

[Tahir @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

i have a panasonic mp3 player (portable) and when ever i try to put copy protected songs on it, it skips, however on my pc these same songs work absolutely fine. I would really appreciate if someone can help me.

[Sean @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I have just bought Under My Skin and was pleased to find that the latest version of CDex (freeware) which I have installed on my XPee system ripped the CD no problem whatsoever. I then used Anapod Explorer to send the Mp3's to my Ipod, no problems again, plays perfectly, sweet. The Cd plays with Winamp on my PC no problem as do the Mp3 versions on my Hdd. What copy protection ???

[MG @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

If you can't remove the copy protection from your computer after your done with the cd then it can be considered illegal under the Federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

[Chris Pennington @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I like buying CD's. Almost consider myself a collector. I like buying em. Think it's fun. Like loads of you I use my computer as a jukebox. I'm a HUGE s.t.p. fan. It makes sense to migrate to VR.

This corporate crap that comes included... with my CD purchase, well... Avast ye! Make me want to keel haul em. I'm about ready to hoyst the Jolly Roger. Arrg!

[Dave @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

i didn't even know there was copy protection on the CD...i just ripped it so i could listen to it on my computer.
oh wait, i'm on a Mac...

[Johnny Dep The Pirate @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Well I know another way to overrun the copy control systems of ANY music cd. However this requires a deck cd player/recorder. For instance, i have a Phillips deck player which features 3 cd players and a cd recorder. The fact that the copy is analog means that the copy control files are not copied since only the music is copied! So if the trick with the autorun doesn't fit you, you can copy the cd you want to convert in mp3 later with the trick i described above and then convert the tracks from the copied cd! Moreover if you need to get rid of the software installed after inserting the Velvet Revolver cd, instead of deleting the SbcpHid.sys file, you can do the same thing with the RegCleaner which is a really convenient programm! Just delete every file which has the name SunnComm in the Software section.That's all!CU AROUND!!!

[Jim @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Does anyone know how to remove the copy protection from a Win98SE machine? I could not find the SbcpHid.sys file, either on my machine or in the registry. I tried deleting the SCCD3X*.DLL files that are installed when you insert the CD, but that did not work either. Any other suggestions?

[uswine @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

It's no problem to copy the files to your hard drive for personal use, even with the auto run funcion and the MediaMax player installed. Try making a local CD image file on your hard drive using a CD emulation program like "Paragon CD-Rom Emmulator". The CD image that is created on your local drive by the software copies each song as a separate wave file ... no rights management.

[Froggie @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

To remove the Sunncomm stuff from your Win98 machine, scan (Edit/Find) the Registry for character string 'SCCD' and delete the keys that contain it. Delete files c:windowssystemsccd3x*.dll
Like other unsuspecting users, this crap installed when I accepted the EULA on the VR Cd.

[Froggie @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

To remove the Sunncomm stuff from your Win98 machine, scan (Edit/Find) the Registry for character string 'SCCD' and delete the keys that contain it. Delete files c:windowssystemsccd3x*.dll
Like other unsuspecting users, this crap installed when I accepted the EULA on the VR Cd.

[Thomas McCullough @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I deleted the SbcpHid driver from my WinXP sys. Velvet Revolver is still garbled. Also used TweakUI to un-autorun all drives. Restarted and pressed shift while inserting, and it's still garbled using both WMP10 and iTunes. Any help? I thought it'd be no problem...

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I use Real One player it has setting to copy Mp3 or any other format and I havent a problem with any cd or format. No skipping perfect sound and Works with most cds in under 5min. try it out

[Jim @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I have deleted all references to SCCD in my registry, deleted the 2 DLLs from my computer and even removed the license files. The CD still plays/rips as garbled. What am I missing?

[Michael Doss @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Where can I find that software that keeps people from making a copy of a cd with music all ready on it.I make cds and its hard on me because people keep on burning my music can you help me. thank you

[briand805 @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I recently recieved a shipment of cd's from bmg..I riped and copied all of them no problem to my mac then to my ipod.

The as i was backing them up onto my pc i ran ito a problem with this velvet revolver disc..The obivious copy protection poped up and the song skiped when i attempted to rip it..I tried the steps explained above as well with no success.. Then i tried to rip it using Itunes for pc.. thats when all hell broke lose.

The rom began to spin very fast and then i heard the disc self destruct inside my pc.. it auto ejected with a sever gouge around the outside of the disc! I have never and have not had a problem with any other cd in this pc.. I can only guess that this is a new form of copy protection.

[Ryan @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I removed all sccd3x from the registry but my cd still skips when it plays I have windows 98. Any suggestions?

[Elizabeth @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Can anyone help me with the copy protection on iTunes? I purchased a cd through iTunes music store but then found I can't transfer to iPod on this pc because I can't upgrade to Windows 2000 SP4 due to work issues (can't upgrade own laptop, Winlan must allow it). So I can't listen to the music except on my tinny (as in tin can) laptop speakers and I can't transfer to iPod. On my home pc, I access iTunes music store and they don't know I've purchased/have rights to that music. Help!

[H. Marq Conner @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

If you follow the steps above to remove the SCCD software and registrys, remember that if you don't restart the system the software remains in active memory. So the way around is to delete the keys and software, fix the auto-run key, and then restart your system. I did it in this order, and was able to rip the CD right out of microsoft media player no problem. I'm listening to the music now

Keep in mind, these companies do what they do to frustrate the average person because it's the average person that has abused the ability to copy music for own use. What music companies don't understand is that people still buy albums, still buy tickets, still go to shows, still want to hear their favorite bands. All Copy protection like this does is make not really the bands, but the production companies look like greedy self important jerks...which they are anyway

[Chris @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

To remove the effects of the SunnComm stuff from a Win98 computer, you need to do a couple of things. First, search through the registry for SCCD and SBCP and delete anything with that in it. Next, delete the files sccd3x*.dll and the sbcp9x*.vxd from the windowssystem folder. If you want a really quick fix, I think just deleting the .vxd files and the .dll files will do the trick, but you'll get error messages every time you start up windows.

[Brendan Richman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Why can't I take songs from a CD and put them into iTunes?

[Mary Fetch @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Thanks a lot! No I'm not being sarcastic I really mean it. I've just spent 16 days loading all my CDs onto my Rio Karma without problem until I got to Velvet Revolver. Although I don't seem to have gotten stuck with the MP3 disabling program, maybe because I'm storing in WMA, that particular CD did skip. After learning about the autorun turn off trick I reloaded the CD without problem.

I'm not a techie but I'm no technophobe either. I'm learning as I go. This site was immensely helpful to me.

I love my new Rio. I just want to carry my music with me everywhere without fear of messing up my CDs. I don't download. I don't pirate or steal. I just want my music safe and sound at home.

[A. W. @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

Thanks a lot. I just got Contraband, and I was wondering why it wouldn't work w/ my Ipod.

[axton @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I tried everything you guys said and I still cannot rip or burn this Velvet Revolver disc of mine.What program do you use to burn??I have tried Clone CD,CDEX (cd ripper) and Roxio thru Media Player.Nothing works.I still get jitter errors in CDEX.

[ryplane @ Dec 19th 2005 2:26AM]

I had this prbolem too. I just searched the windows folder for the file SbcpHid.sys. I deleted it and restarted the computer. After it restarted, I put the CD in again holding down shift to dissable autorun. This worked great. Nice try SunnComm!!!!!! HAHAHAH We rule!