Cerys Matthews broke my computer

Regular readers will know of my trials and tribulations with my laptop. It's been loyal throughout it's short life but nearly four years on it's showing distinct signs of aging. The screen doesn't always flash into life without careful bumping (lifting it off the table a short way and dropping it) to jog it along, the fan whirs loudly like an aircraft and increasingly it gets stuck on log-out and doesn't switch off (removing the battery helps with this).

But then came along Cerys Matthews. I enjoyed her last album ('Never Said Goodbye') so thought I'd check out her first (solo) album, 'Cockahoop'. So I got it and liked it and wanted to put it on iPod to enjoy wherever I am in future. But would it give up it's music? Would it buggery! The CD drive whirs and then stops, the CD isn't recognised, it doesn't exist. I try to open it manually and it's there, I can see the file icons on screen but can't open them, import them or add them to my music library. The songs are coded as .cda files (whatever that means). Then when I give up the damned disc won't exit. I couldn't get the drive to open for some reason. O woe. So Cerys broke my laptop. Although to be fair, it's her record company or CD manufacturer that's done it really. I give up and try again the next day and out it slides. Phew!

But why is the CD protected anyway? I've bought it, I've bought the right to listen to the music and if I choose to listen to it on the move rather than statically in my living room then that's my right isn't it? What's the point of protection when it's available for download on iTunes?