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By Jerry Finkelstein

It's finally arrived. Now you too can purchase a compromised CD. For the full purchase price of a music CD you can buy one that will not allow you to burn it, copy it or just play it from your PC. It is so compromised that it may not even play in your CD player at home or in your car. There is no identification on the CD that informs you that this is a CD that was fiddled with by the record companies. You won't know it. And so far there are no plans to let the clerks who sell you the CD know about it either. The only way you can know that you bought a compromised disk is to take it home and try it out.

In order to eliminate piracy of the CD, record companies are messing with the CD so that it will be "impossible" to burn from a PC. Never mind that they are also messing with my legal right to make one copy for my own private use. Never mind too that the guard creates potential hazards re even the normal use of the CD, it may not play in certain CD players.

If you do have a burner and you want to listen to your music your way, or if you simply want to play your CD through your PC, you might want to acquaint yourself with the return policies of our local stores selling CDs. As of mid-April, Circuit City has the toughest return policy. Once you break the wrapper on the CD or the seal you can return it for another of the same CD. That's not very helpful since you are back where you started from but this time you know it's a compromised disk. I guess you can always do what one of our members suggested, exchange this new and unopened CD for a different CD.

The Unicorn has a policy that allows you 70% of the purchase price if the CD has been opened and the seal is broken. But if you call Marc at the Unicorn about this particular problem, the policy will be reconsidered. You will not walk out an unhappy customer. Fye Records at the Sangertown Mall tells me there will be no problem exchanging your nonburning CD.

Alert the stores to your concern about this matter of compromised CDs by enquiring of their return policy before you buy. Maybe a list of the compromised CDs can be generated. Maybe enough concern will affect sales. Maybe the record companies will reconsider their piracy technology so that even as they get their guard up customers can still listen to the music their way.

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