Some clever German techies have come up with the free unCDCopy program which allows users to make copies of copy-protected audio CDs.
Their reasoning is that unCDs – i.e. those that refuse to play in CD drives – present an unfair restriction on the fair use of CD owners. ‘The team said it was prompted to action by complaints from CD purchasers that “unCDs”, like those by Celine Dion or crooner Robbie Williams, failed to play in CD drives typically found in PCs and Macintoshes. The tool, unCDcopy, allows these customers to make copies of their purchased CDs, says Heise.’
The clever thing is that the software uses an analogue copy technology, which does not break the copy protection scheme, but merely circumvents it, rather like taking a recording via a cable from the line out socket does. The result whilst not quite digital quality, is apparently not far off.