Scientists Discover New Method to Uncover Bootleg CDs

Scientists Discover New Method to Uncover Bootleg CDs

A new technique proposed by the Department of Optics at University of Granada details a means to identify whether a CD has been recorded using a method different to the process used in the industrial production of CDs and thus, differentiate between the real thing and bootleg.

The idea is that the light diffraction from the surface of a real CD is different to what you’d get with a fake. Information on the study will appear in the American Journal of Physics the team from the University of Granada, which has filed a patent application.

One of the biggest problems with CDs was the rate at which people were burning them. Back in the day you could buy an album and then burn ten copies for your family and friends. 11 people get the CD and the record companies only got the profit for one purchase.

With the introduction of MP3 players, sales of CDs plummeted. No one wanted to buy CDs when they could just as easily get the same thing online (a lot of the time for free) and not have to carry around anything but their music player when they wanted to listen to music.

That said, that hasn’t stopped people making bootleg CDs. They can download the songs (again, downloading pirated music isn’t exactly unusual) and burn them to CDs to use in their cars or where ever else and the record company would see zip in profits.

While we’re not sure this new technology is going to stop the regular Joes and Janes from burning CDs for their friends, it could be pretty handy when it comes to people selling bootleg CDs in bulk and trying to pass them off as the real deal.

Read the official release from the University of Granada here.
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