can be read? If so, how?

I don't see how as a CDR can only be read from, thus there isn't a way to have the CDR know or keep count how may times it's been read.

No, you cannot currently, but i did read a while back that somebody had created a cd where the dye layer degraded over time, eg 2 weeks or so. The idea was for pre release copies of cd's / games.

Whether this has got further than prototype and if it ever hits the consumer market i have no idea though.

Even this would have limited effect though as people can just copy it before it degrades.

a manufacturer could devise a way for a CDR to be able to write to itself each time a CDR is opened, while the rest of the CD would be Read only. I can pretty much limit usage of a program once it is on hard drive. (not 100%, but make it a real pain to circumvent).

Originally posted by amazingd
a manufacturer could devise a way for a CDR to be able to write to itself each time a CDR is opened

Possibly, but it won't be any good unless it's on CDRW and more importantly, in a cd writer.