My brilliant business idea

[Caleb]

Only I don't have the technical training.  I'm hoping someone here does.  I can probably import a generic mp3 player from overseas(by "generic" I mean non-name brand, NOT low quality.  I can then put my own brand name on it.)  Does anyone here know how to configure software to make it play?  I want to create an MP3 player that doesn't filter out non-licensed music, and that will run on pretty much any of the major formats.  I think it has the potential to be a big seller, (since the Sonys and the IPODs of the world are in bed with the music industry.)

Caleb

[Lex]

Only I don't have the technical training.  I'm hoping someone here does.  I can probably import a generic mp3 player from overseas(by "generic" I mean non-name brand, NOT low quality.  I can then put my own brand name on it.)  Does anyone here know how to configure software to make it play?  I want to create an MP3 player that doesn't filter out non-licensed music, and that will run on pretty much any of the major formats.  I think it has the potential to be a big seller, (since the Sonys and the IPODs of the world are in bed with the music industry.)

Caleb

As far as I know all of the MP3 players out on the makret will play any MP3 file. I think the problem you are bringing up is not with MP3 players but with the actual files.

[Russell Kanning]

Maybe they will come the way you want it already.

[Ron Helwig]

I think what you want is to have the device automatically strip out the copywrong protection.

Not my particular area of expertise, but perhaps a system update could be created that could be placed onto portable media players that would do it.

[Caleb]

The problem isn't with the MP3 players themselves, per se.  It is the SOFTWARE used to load them.  That's what I want help with. 

For instance, Sony has their software called "Sonicstage" that must be used to load the files into the mp3 player.  The problem is it filters out any music that you don't have a license for.  It is possible to corrupt the file (and then fix it), such that it will remove the licensing requirement.  But that's an irritation. 

My understanding is that IPOD has pretty much the same problems.  (I don't have an IPOD myself, but going off of what I'm told.) 

Commercial multipurpose software such as Windows Media also seems afflicted by the fanatical obsession with "licensing" of music.  What's stupid is that I'm NOT talking about pirated music.  The music I pirated all plays on my Sony MP3 player!  It's the music that I actually BOUGHT that I have trouble with.

Any time I start to get irritated by a company ... I start to think, "Here's a good business idea" because you know that others have to be irritated too.

Caleb

[Ron Helwig]

The problem isn't with the MP3 players themselves, per se.  It is the SOFTWARE used to load them.  That's what I want help with. 

For instance, Sony has their software called "Sonicstage" that must be used to load the files into the mp3 player.  The problem is it filters out any music that you don't have a license for.  It is possible to corrupt the file (and then fix it), such that it will remove the licensing requirement.  But that's an irritation. 

Commercial multipurpose software such as Windows Media also seems afflicted by the fanatical obsession with "licensing" of music.  What's stupid is that I'm NOT talking about pirated music.  The music I pirated all plays on my Sony MP3 player!  It's the music that I actually BOUGHT that I have trouble with.

Exactly.
If the software (firmware, actually) on the device can be upgraded, it can actually do the removal. Then any time you copy a file over to the device, it will automatically fix it.

You just need to:
write the code to strip the CP
add that code to the firmware code
figure out how to install it on the device

But it is probably a lot easier to just run a copy protection removal tool on all your files before trying to load them on the player. I'll bet there's already free programs out there to do it.

[Lex]

The problem isn't with the MP3 players themselves, per se.  It is the SOFTWARE used to load them.  That's what I want help with. 

For instance, Sony has their software called "Sonicstage" that must be used to load the files into the mp3 player.  The problem is it filters out any music that you don't have a license for.  It is possible to corrupt the file (and then fix it), such that it will remove the licensing requirement.  But that's an irritation. 

My understanding is that IPOD has pretty much the same problems.  (I don't have an IPOD myself, but going off of what I'm told.) 

Commercial multipurpose software such as Windows Media also seems afflicted by the fanatical obsession with "licensing" of music.  What's stupid is that I'm NOT talking about pirated music.  The music I pirated all plays on my Sony MP3 player!  It's the music that I actually BOUGHT that I have trouble with.

Any time I start to get irritated by a company ... I start to think, "Here's a good business idea" because you know that others have to be irritated too.

I think if you just switched from Windows to Linux your entire perspective on things will change. I switched to Linux in '99 and haven't had to deal with anything as you describe ever since. Almost all of the software I use is free and allows me to do whatever I want and if not I can just fix/change it myself, recompile and enjoy! :-)

Here is a program for iPod: http://www.gtkpod.org

[Lex]

There is also a way to run linux on the iPod: http://ipodlinux.org

[Fluff and Stuff]

My understanding is that IPOD has pretty much the same problems.? (I don't have an IPOD myself, but going off of what I'm told.)?

I have a iPod and a Creative and I've never had any trouble running any songs on them.  I don't know anything about this licensing that you speak of.

[Russell Kanning]

But it is probably a lot easier to just run a copy protection removal tool on all your files before trying to load them on the player. I'll bet there's already free programs out there to do it.

That is the way I would go too.

[Dreepa]

I'll buy one.

[Russell Kanning]

I don't have an mp3 player .... who knows ... I might need one.

[Kat Kanning]

What's an mp3?

[Lex]

What's an mp3?

MP3 is a popular digital audio encoding and lossy compression format invented and standardized in 1991 by a team of engineers working in the framework of the ISO/IEC MPEG audio committee under the chairmanship of Professor Hans Musmann (University of Hannover - Germany). It was designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent audio, yet still sound like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio to most listeners. In popular usage, MP3 also refers to files of sound or music recordings stored in the MP3 format on computers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mp3

[president]

What's an mp3?

MPEG-1 Audio Layer-3

MPEG=Moving Picture Experts Group ..... it is a family of standards used for audio/video info in a compressed digital format