[From MDJ, available at macjournal.com. --DBM] --- **Follow-Ups** * Apple Computer garnered lots of press for its KnowledgeBase article on copy-protected "CDs." That was the one that said, in part, that if you put one of those platters in your optical drive and couldn't get it out, any procedure necessary to remove it would not be covered by your warranty. Apple got dinged for not helping users affected by the plastic impostors in coverage from Wired News [1], the Hollywood Reporter [2], and Macworld UK [3], along with lots of Mac sites that didn't necessarily emphasize the warranty issue. [1] <http://wired.com/news/mac/0,2125,52513,00.html> [2] <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/bpihw/20020513/en_bpihw/apple__some_cds_don_t_compute> [3] <http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/main_news.cfm?NewsID=4645> Apple seems to have meant that if a non-standard disc gets stuck in a drive, any repairs necessary to get it out - or any damage you cause trying to get it out - are not covered by warranty. That's bad enough, but the original article left the distinct impression that simply _inserting_ such a disc voided your warranty and could damage the drive in some way even after the disc was removed. Other sources dispute this interpretation, but it may be a moot point. Apple first removed and then replaced the KnowledgeBase article [4] on the topic. The new version, dated 2002.05.16, says only this: "Audio discs that incorporate copyright protection technologies do not adhere to published Compact Disc standards. Apple designs its optical disc drives to support media that conform to such standards." The company suggests you take your computer in for service if a paranoid CD has crippled it. The word "warranty" is nowhere to be found in the new article. It's not clear if Apple has changed its policy or not, but at least the company isn't publicly blaming you for not reading the fine print on CDs. (MDJ_ 2002.05.12) [4] <http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106882> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Like Politech? Make a donation here: http://www.politechbot.com/donate/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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