Solution for ripping Sony DRM-protected audio CDs

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I recently bought a Sony released audio CD that was incapable of playing on several of my cd players, and my computer would hang for about a minute when trying to read the CD, finally concluding that nothing was in the drive. After some time I realised the only way to rip the music from the CD was to use my Sony PS3 to rip the music, before transferring the files via flash memory back to my computer.

Way to go Sony, you're not only annoying consumers by making them run the gauntlet before they can make legitimate use of their purchases, but you're showing your incompetence by making one of your highest profile products able to circumvent your own DRM.

Download it from elsewhere?

If it is DRM then its probably a pretty well know artist right?

I hate DRM. It should be illegal.

WOW

Thanks for the warning. I'll think twice before I buy any Sony CDs. Imagine buying a CD and not being able to play it on a CD player!

You're not the only one. Look at the rating and reviews for Spore (DRM protected) on Amazon.

This is why I will never purchase itunes or wma files. You buy a song, and they only let you play it so many times or put it on only a few computers before they take it away from you.

I only download MP3s. I usually just buy CDs and rip them.

I can understand the concerns about piracy, but the way they've written these copyright protections you can't do a lot of legal stuff.

I am so anti-Sony. I don't purchase anything from them and never will. What they did with DRM and the rootkits was CRIMINAL! Yeah, just innocently skip down to the local music store, purchase a CD with music from a Sony musician, stick it in your PC, and boom, sony just HACKED your system! And for what, so your musician could afford to purchase their gold bathtub! Back in the day with cassette tapes, the cost of piracy was added to the cost of the cassette tape, whereas when CDs came out, nothing was added to the price of the disc to make up for illegal copies. The recording industry gets a F- for their actions. They are the lowest of the low in my book.

Google this file "FairUse4WM.exe".

If you can find it, download it. It removes DRM from WMA files. Its quite handy to have. Once the DRM is gone, you can convert to MP3 or simply play it as WMA as often as you like and on as many machines as you like.

/me extends middle finger at Sony for DRMing it's CDs which is completely ridiculous. I have no sony devices in my house other than a reliable Walkman D-E220 CD player that I've owned since 1999. It hasn't given up the ghost yet along with my Game Boy Pocket that will be 12 years old and my Game Boy Color which will be 10 years old on September 25th which is my birthday.