a tape cassette or the like employs a resettable counter that disables the playing of the cassette after a limited number of playings consistent with home use . the small number of playings is supported by a machine resetting procedure that automatically records the usage and resets the casette by translating information on a label on the cassette into a sequence of moves that unlocks the resetting mechanism that otherwise is otherwise locked against unauthorized parties . the label also includes a machine readable description of the program . cassettes with the same program material have different reset codes on their labels to limit the resetting of some cassettes to particular machines thus lessening the economic incentive of obtaining or constructing unauthorized resetting equipment .