Posted: 02 November 2005 at 11:39am | IP Logged

Hi all

Just a bit of techie stuff.  If you have autorun set on your XP PC then now would be a good time to turn it off.

This site explains how Sony's new music CD copy protection installs a bit of software (without asking you or mention in the licence) which trys to stop you copying the music.  It also has the ability to hide viruses and other malware.  It gets better - if you try to remove it you will end up with a very dead computer, requiring a total reinstall. 

Sony are being very quiet about it and at the moment it is not clear which CD's contain the software.  If it lasts long enough to survive the mountain of lawsuits being planned in the states I will be suprised.

Posted: 03 November 2005 at 3:31pm | IP Logged

Maybe - but it'll already be on a host of pressed CDs, so it'll be around for a while yet.

Paul.

Posted: 04 November 2005 at 1:34pm | IP Logged

That is naughty!

I can see the reasons for doing it but it must be illegal to run a program on someones PC without their knowledge.

Posted: 04 November 2005 at 6:05pm | IP Logged

A little useful microsoft application called Tweak Ui will give you easy access to a lot of hidden switches including autoplay.

On the Tweak Ui control panel click my computer/autoplay uncheck your cd roms job done

Enjoy

http://download.microsoft.com/download/f/c/a/fca6767b-9ed9-4 5a6-b352-839afb2a2679/TweakUiPowertoySetup.exe

Posted: 08 November 2005 at 1:58pm | IP Logged

It's not going away - however much Sony wish it would.

 Italian Police Asked to Investigate Sony DRM Code

In an interview with NPR late last week, Sony BMG's Global Digital Business President Thomas Hesse downplayed the recent DRM fiasco saying he objected to terms such as malware, spyware and rootkit. "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" he said.

Posted: 09 November 2005 at 8:09pm | IP Logged

Ooh. That's very very naughty! I wouldn't want it running on my pc and i'm sure no one else would!

I don't think i'll buy a Sony BMG cd again! I'll get it off iTunes instead!

Posted: 10 November 2005 at 1:07pm | IP Logged

A few updates - 

Sony BMG is facing three lawsuits over its controversial anti-piracy software.

First Trojan Using Sony DRM Spotted

Posted: 11 November 2005 at 11:41am | IP Logged

Sophos to the rescue!!

"UK security firm Sophos plans to release a tool which will detect the existence of Sony's DRM copy-protection rootkit on Windows computers, disable it, and prevent it from re-installing"

Sorry for running with this story but as we all like listening to music I thought I would keep you updated.

Posted: 11 November 2005 at 12:55pm | IP Logged

Hey Mick,

BRING IT ON