EMI has recalled a best-selling CD after it was inadvertently encumbered with over-zealous DRM. And Sony has recalled a web posting by one of the bands advising fans how to unbork the borked disc.

Switchfoot's CD debuted at No.3 on the Billboard chart last week, but DRM prevented fans burning backups - or making copies of any kind as they soon discovered (http://forums1.sonymusic.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/716102313/m/8611091364).

A member of the band, Tim Foreman, professed himself "horrified" and advised fans (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/21/christian_rockers_drm_tips/) how to work around the DRM. The board is hosted by Sony Music, which has since deleted the post.

Now EMI says it's removing the settings, which it says were put in place accidentally, and is offering an exchange. Fans can swap a version of the CD that doesn't allow any copies to be made for one that permits three burns - as the record company intended.

The publicity backlash hasn't done the the Christian rockers any harm.

"Thats some major advertising these websites are doing for SF! God is rewarding Timmy's concern for his fans," hoped one fan.

There's no one better placed to advise fans on the perils of DRM than the artists themselves. ®

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