Larian Studios Forums General Chat Chat (Anything) Sony-BMG and digital rights management

Maybe am I late in my news, but...

Some Sony-BMG music CDs install secret rootkit software on their owners' computers. This software has no uninstall feature, poses security threats and would send information about the user to the company's server. Those who bought CDs from Sony-BMG lately and played it on their PC might want to check that out...
That's interesting... and disgusting. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

The blog that brought the story to light: Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far (worth going through all he posted on the topic)

Now the Legalese Rootkit: Sony-BMG's EULA from Electronic Frontier Foundation. Also from this website: How To Spot Sony's Rootkit & An Open Letter to Sony-BMG
Firestorm rages over lockdown on digital music: gives an overview of the general issue; nice for pretty unaware people (like your devoted <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> )

as for these unethical moves by major companies like sony-bmg, it's pot calling kettle black. why? there they are, accusing people of illegal distribution of songs & such yet they themselves engage in dirty stuff as well.

buying music is not so pleasurable as before anymore.

come to think of it, i kind of miss the cassette days.

@ Fille -> thanks for the heads-up & congratz on what i think is your first thread! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/party.gif" alt="" />

hmm..but for some people it was handy too....

" WoW Hackers hidden by Sony DRM
Sony BMG's music-CD copy protection allows World of Warcraft hackers to remain undetected.
Warcraft cheaters have discovered that the anti-piracy software installed on PCs by Sony BMG music CDs hides hacks from Blizzard's controversial anti-cheating software. It seems that once the Sony BMG DRM software is installed Blizzard's Warden can no longer detect any files on the PC with the added prefix "$sys$".

Of course the trade off for the hackers is that their PC is now infected with Sony software that is deemed malware by many security experts.

Source: Secutiry Focus "

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

This is two weeks old, I think. I had posted it in that Enya thread ... is it still unreadable ?

Thanks, LaFille, this is scary stuff. Also useful to know <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

complete story

Thanks, Cleglaw <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Let's hope Texas win this one...

DMR the root(kit) of all evil.

repost since my joke got lost (4 8 15 16 23 42:The Numbers Are Bad) in the crash

42 ??? THE Meaning of Life ??? Is bad ???

I can't believe this !!!



<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

huh?

Douglas Adams. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

the show Lost has those numbers so every time I hear lost I think of 4 8 15 16 23 42.

Yeah, and to know that I've missed that particular part where you get to see how this story with the numbers ended <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/memad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />

Updates (a shame that the rest got lost; I posted a long one last Friday night, just before the server crash <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cry.gif" alt="" /> )

More and more actions taken against Sony. Sony finally published a list of the (52) CDs containing the XCP software.

But it's far from the end...

We learn that Sony-BMG uses another copy-protection software (MediaMax, by SunnComm corp.) that does just as bad, if not worse:


Also, both software's uninstallers, which were so hard to get (you had to go through several processes and provide personal information in order to get it), open more security holes in your pc.

And we learn that these softwares... would themselves infringe the copyright laws.


The excerpts I quoted are from Freedom to Thinker: full story. See also: EFF: Sony-BMG Litigation.

Thanks, LaFille <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I really, really hope Sony get caned for this. What they are doing is so wrong it's impossible to beieve they can't see it themselves.

I really hope it too; though hope is quite always so hardly challenged when it comes to economy & politics... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />
Another thing that angers me is the so little attention this case had in the mainstream medias. If you don't purposely search for it, chances are that you'd never have heard about it. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />

Of course they probably knew that what they doing is wrong; but in the market and in politics, they often rise themselves above those common principles. Take the first answer that one of Sony-BMG's presidents, Thomas Hesse, had when the story began running the news: "Most peolpe don't even know what a rootkit is, so why would they care about it?" There is no wrong, wrong is what could decrease their income; the rest, whatever it is, is acceptable.
Also, actually they only "recall" the CDs equipped with the XCP software, not SunnComm's one. And they have absolutely no intention to give up on developping their copy-protection scheme.

A little light is that they have now driven the attention of another big one, the NY General attorney:


See also: An interesting paper.

When it comes to major companies, I get the feeling this is the ethics they all follow <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/disagree.gif" alt="" />.

Übereil

Boycott Sony.

I think you are right, sadly...

LaFille...

It probably isn't being widely reported because most newspapers have no clue what it's about, and don't want to look stupid by getting it wrong. If THEY understand what Sony has done wrong in the first place...

As a general rule, most journos are not really high tech experts.