Surf Wiki
Save to docs
general/digital-rights-management-systems

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

MagicGate

Copy-protection technology by Sony

MagicGate

Copy-protection technology by Sony

MagicGate logo
Memory Stick Pro and Memory Stick Pro Duo supporting MagicGate
PlayStation 2 memory card supporting MagicGate

MagicGate (MG) was a copy-protection technology introduced by Sony in 1999 as part of the Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI). It worked by encrypting the content on the device and using MagicGate chips in both the storage device and the reader to enforce control over how files could be copied.

MagicGate encryption was introduced with Sony's first digital audio players, with the related OpenMG technology being its software counterpart. Since then, the encryption has been rolled out to other Sony devices – it is used in the memory cards of the PlayStation 2 and, by 2004, was introduced into all of Sony's Memory Stick products. Some devices only accepted Memory Sticks which supported MagicGate.

All Memory Stick Duo cards equipped with MagicGate can be identified by a notch located on the rear end of the card.

Support

Few (USB or PC Card) Memory Stick-compatible memory card readers support secure MagicGate. Although manufacturers list Memory Stick Pro/Pro Duo (MG) compatibility, where MG means MagicGate, they may not support the security portion of MagicGate. This becomes important when purchasing a card reader/writer for use with SonicStage and Sony CONNECT as even Sony itself does not fully support MagicGate on certain readers. Non-MagicGate memory card reader/writers do not show up in SonicStage, with the notable exception of Sony Ericsson phones.

Sony devices which supported MagicGate included:

  • Memory Stick capable Sony VAIO notebooks and desktops
  • PlayStation 2
  • PlayStation 3
  • PlayStation Portable – The PlayStation Portable in service mode will only boot to Memory Sticks with MagicGate enabled
  • PlayStation Vita – Used for verifying memory cards and PSP Emulation
  • MSAC-US40 USB Memory Stick Card Reader/Writer

State of DRM

In March 2009, Sony Electronics announced they were phasing out the Sony CONNECT service in favor of Windows Media Audio & Windows Media DRM. MagicGate slots were still a part of the default Vaio configuration as of May 2010.

References

References

  1. (September 22, 1999). "Press Release - Sony Announces Memory Stick™ for Audio Application "Memory StickTM Walkman®" and "MagicGate Memory Stick™" To Be Launched".
  2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20090714023845/http://www.memorystick.com/en/memorystick/feature/index.html#p03 Memory Stick copyright protection technology]
  3. Friedman, G.. (2006). "The Complete Guide to Sony's Alpha 100 DSLR". Gary Friedman.
  4. "Mobile：今週のモバイルキーワード「OpenMG【おーぷんえむじー】」".
  5. (1999-11-30). "Memory cards get skinny".
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

digital-rights-management-systems
Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about MagicGate — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report