Editing Serial Copy Management System (section)

{{Short description|Copy protection scheme}}
The '''Serial Copy Management System''' ('''SCMS''') is a [[copy protection]] scheme that was created in response to the [[digital audio tape]] (DAT) invention, in order to prevent DAT recorders from making second-generation or [[wikt:serial|serial]] copies.  SCMS sets a "copy" [[bit]] in all copies, which prevents anyone from making further copies of those first copies.  It does not, however, limit the number of first-generation copies made from a [[Master recording|master]].

SCMS was also included in consumer [[CD-R]], [[MiniDisc]] and [[Digital Compact Cassette]] (DCC) players and recorders.  With the demise of these formats, SCMS is not in widespread use.  However, the concept of SCMS was resurrected in the [[broadcast flag]], a measure formerly mandated by the [[Federal Communications Commission]] (FCC) to limit the copying of digital TV signals.<ref>{{cite web|last=Techopedia|title=Serial Copy Management System|date=4 September 2011 |url=http://www.techopedia.com/definition/10865/serial-copy-management-system-scms|accessdate=18 April 2012}}</ref> SCMS flags are also included in the [[MP3]] specifications,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://svn.code.sf.net/p/lame/svn/trunk/lame/USAGE|title=Guide to Command Line Options|last=|first=|date=|website=LAME|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=September 29, 2018}}</ref> though no known decoder or player honors them. Personal Computers were not required to include SCMS in the US.<ref>{{cite book|last=Knopper|first=Steve|title=Appetite for Self-Destruction|url=https://archive.org/details/appetiteforselfd00knop_0|url-access=registration|year=2009|publisher=Simon and Schuster: Free Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/appetiteforselfd00knop_0/page/78 78–9]|isbn=9781416552154 }}</ref>