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admin
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| Posted: 15 November 2005 at 10:44am | IP Logged
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Current list of affected music CD is here
Sony say it only affects 20 titles!!! (which it wont list)
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getlostdave
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| Posted: 17 November 2005 at 10:04am | IP Logged
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And it gets worse:
Sony XCP uninstaller a greater security risk than root kit?
Apparently the online uninstaller opens leaves a powerful back door open after uninstalling the root kit!
Dave
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getlostdave
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| Posted: 17 November 2005 at 2:08pm | IP Logged
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getlostdave wrote:
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And it gets worse:
Sony XCP uninstaller a greater security risk than root kit?
Apparently the online uninstaller leaves a powerful back door open after uninstalling the root kit!
Dave |
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admin
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| Posted: 18 November 2005 at 11:24am | IP Logged
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They could not make this up.
It has now come to light that the Sony DRM (Digital Rights Management) used code by "DVD Jon" Johansen who was pursued through the courts (without success) for circumventing the DRM's on DVDs.
"The British company that developed the DRM software for Sony, First4Internet Ltd, has included free software code covered by the Free Software Foundation's LGPL, a cousin of the GPL, amateur sleuths have discovered.
The LGPL, or Lesser General Public License, was designed to protect author's rights for chunks of code rather than finished programs."
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admin
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| Posted: 21 November 2005 at 3:01pm | IP Logged
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How to defeat the Sony DRM
" Now analyst house Gartner has discovered that the technology can be easily defeated simply by applying a fingernail-sized piece of opaque tape to the outer edge of the disc. This renders session two — which contains the self-loading DRM software — unreadable."
I wonder how much they paid for it and how much it will cost them?
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Timestar
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| Posted: 21 November 2005 at 3:10pm | IP Logged
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mick wrote:
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apply a fingernail-sized piece of opaque tape to the outer edge of the disc. This renders session two — which contains the self-loading DRM software — unreadable.
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Hey Mick - that is a real Hi tech fix
Edited by Timestar - 21 November 2005 at 3:10pm
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admin
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| Posted: 29 November 2005 at 10:23am | IP Logged
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Sony BMG's Other Copy Protection Tech Installs Even If You Tell It Not To
Ok - they have another great copy protection that steam-rollers over users rights.
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Timestar
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| Posted: 29 November 2005 at 2:18pm | IP Logged
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Are we suprised...!
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admin
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| Posted: 30 November 2005 at 9:06pm | IP Logged
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A bit of light reading from the WindowsITPro Update Newsletter
("Mark Minasi is a best-selling author, popular technology
columnist, commentator, keynote speaker, and all-around alpha geek. What
separates him from many of the other alpha geeks, however, is that he knows
how to explain things to normal humans and often make them laugh while doing
it." www.minasi.com)
==== 1. Commentary: Sony, What Were You Thinking? ====
by Mark Minasi,
senior contributing editor
Sony, What Were You Thinking?
You've probably heard by now that in
early November, PC internals expert and senior contributing editor for
"Windows IT Pro" Mark Russinovich bought a copy-protected music CD from
Sony. The CD wouldn't let him play the music on it without first installing
a special player, so he installed the player.
Fortunately for all of
us, he happened to install it on a workstation that he uses while writing
his useful utilities, most of which he gives away at his http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=1AB82:5AAE3
site. One of those free programs is called RootkitRevealer, a program that
detects malware that hides itself from the OS by "stealthing" its
presence on a computer. Mark was surprised to find RootkitRevealer
report what looked like a rootkit on his computer. A bit of sleuthing
showed that there was indeed a piece of software trying to keep its
existence secret--the Sony music player software. Worse yet, subsequent
testing showed that this cloaked application gets on the Internet when
you play the CD and contacts a Web site, essentially phoning home to
Sony that your particular CD is being played. (Every copy of "Get Right
With The Man," the CD in question, has its own ID burned into it.) No,
there doesn't seem to be a way for Sony to connect each CD's fingerprint
with its owner; nevertheless, I'd hate for John Cleese or
Mike Judge to know
how often I watch "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" or "Office Space." Mark
broke the news about the malware, and Sony is in damage-control mode. But
not, as I write this, in "I'm sorry, we were wrong, we'll never do it again"
mode. I can't say that I'm surprised by Sony's action, but it saddens me for
several reasons.
As I've said before in this column, I believe that it's
not unreasonable for someone who's giving us something for free to ask
something in return, as in the case of the people who want to put you on
their mailing list in return for your being able to download some free
doodad off the Internet. It's reasonable so long as they make very clear
what data they're collecting. But I think Sony went over the line.
First, this isn't a free product. It's a $19 music CD, the same list price as the new--but unprotected--Madonna CD, so imposing a cost on the
listener's privacy seems inappropriate. Second, is the root kit aspect.
Where did Sony get the idea that sneaking a piece of spyware on its
customers' systems--and stealthing it--is acceptable?
What saddens me
most is that, as regular readers know, I'm strongly--rabidly, you might
say--in favor of finding and punishing people who steal copyrighted
materials. It troubles me greatly that we've raised a generation of
Americans who see stealing someone else's intellectual property as "illegal"
in the same way that going 56mph in a 55mph zone is illegal--unlawful on the
books but not in reality. But I know that merely passing laws and making
arrests won't do the job of protecting intellectual property rights,
although that helps. No, the job won't get
done until people feel viscerally
that stealing intellectual property isn't okay. (Let me, however, forestall
the mountain of email that will claim that the evil recording industry is
getting filthy rich off poor starving artists by observing that, according
to the recording industry, the music business is about a $30 billion annual
business. That isn't much, as worldwide businesses go--honest.) And although
a lot of piracy still occurs, I see more and more people coming around to
the point of view that heck, if Apple Computer's going to sell a tune for 49
cents,
then perhaps paying for music isn't so unreasonable.
But now
Sony has given copyright thieves an answer to my entreaties: "Hey, Sony
doesn't follow the rules, why should we?" It's not a supportable argument.
As far as I know, "He did it first!" isn't a valid principle of
jurisprudence after kindergarten.
So Sony, the next time you complain
about losing money to music piracy, try blaming the guy in the mirror. A
huge corporation that sells me a CD, then thanks me for my support of its
intellectual property rights by sneaking a piece of stealthed spyware onto
my computer has behaved in a monumentally cowardly and dishonorable manner.
I would guess that Sony is as decentralized as most big firms so I think it
ill-considered to start saying the word "boycott," but I do hope a few Sony
execs find themselves thinking another word these days: "Seppuku."
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admin
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| Posted: 30 December 2005 at 8:40am | IP Logged
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Sony caving in - "Sony BMG has agreed to settle with a group of plaintiffs in a New York
class action lawsuit relating to the DRM software that triggered
consumer outrage and a PR disaster for the company. As part of the
settlement, Sony will compensate those who purchased infected CDs and
fix their computers."
BBC's news story here
Edited by mick - 30 December 2005 at 11:37am
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