WARNING Don't buy Sony Music

[Mtnjim]

A

researcher has dubbed Sony Music's copy restriction measures on
compact disks a "rootkit." The DRM protection on

the CD only allows
Windows users to play the tracks through a bundled version of Media
Player. In addition to

depositing code on the computer that limits the
number of digital copies that can be made, the software also

creates a
hidden directory. When the researcher used a standard rootkit removal
tool on the software, it rendered

his CD drive inoperable. Deleting the
cloaked files inflicts significant damage on the computer requiring

a
complete reformat and reinstall. Sony has said it will offer a patch
that uncloaks the previously hidden

files.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/01/sony_rootkit_drm/print.html
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/

print/?TYPE=story&AT=39235149-39020381t-10000002c
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/03/sony_rootkit_d

rm/print.html

[belgareth]

A patch? That doesn't sound

accidental, more like a carefully engineered block.

[DrSmellThis]

Yuck......

[Mtnjim]

A patch? That

doesn't sound accidental, more like a carefully engineered block.

Plus, the patch doesn't remove the

rootkit, it simply unhides the files. Removing the files requires a wipe and System reinstall, simply removing the

files makes the CD drive unuseable!!

This appears to break UK laws, but not US!!

[belgareth]

Two important articles about

it. I'd suggest everybody boycott Sony Music until the realize that these are not their computers and they have no

right to tamper with them.



http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20051111/tc_nf/39322;_ylt=Akl0xOf5Ditehyb6VgjJjK4jtBAF;_ylu=X3oDM TA5aHJvMDdwBH

NlYwN5bmNhdA (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20051111/tc_nf/39322;_ylt=Akl0xOf5Ditehyb6VgjJjK4jtBAF;_ylu=X3oDM TA5aHJvMDdwBHNlY

wN5bmNhdA)--
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051111/ap_on_hi_te/sony_copy_protec

tion;_ylt=AhLtnZ9IZk5Nq73yxif1SvEjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMT A5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051111/ap_on_hi_te/sony_copy_protection;_ylt=AhLtnZ9IZk5Nq7

3yxif1SvEjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA )--

[Mtnjim]

It's getting worse(From SANS-Bel

should know who they are):

" --Bumpy Road Ahead for Sony's XCP Digital Rights Management Software
(10/9/8

November 2005)
Sony's XCP copy protection software is set to face several challenges.
Computer Associates says it

has begun classifying the software as
spyware, which means the company's anti-spyware software will soon

start
searching for and removing the DRM software. In addition, the
Association for Freedom in Electronic

Interactive Communications -
Electronic Frontiers Italy (ALCEI-EFI), an Italian digital rights
organization, has

filed a complaint with Italy's cyber crime
investigation unit alleging that the DRM software violates

several
Italian computer security laws by damaging users' systems and behaving
like malicious software.

ALCEI-EFI also plans to ask the European Union
to investigate. Also, a class action lawsuit against Sony has

been
filed in California asking that Sony stop manufacturing CDs with the XCP
copy protection and seeking damages

for Californians who have bought CDs
with the software; another class action lawsuit is expected to be filed
in

New York on behalf of all US

citizens.
http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2005/0,4814,106064,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/

1/hi/technology/4424254.stm
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/2005-11-09-sony-usat_x.htm
[Editors Note (Schultz): What a can of worms. The entertainment
industry needs better protection against piracy. Sony's

DRM software
provides this kind of protection, but, unfortunately, with all kinds of
unintended side effects.

Right now it appears that the legal fallout
from this DRM software is just the tip of the iceberg.]"

[Gegogi]

No great loss to mankind. Sony

hasn't signed many artists worth listening to let alone buying. I only have one Sony CD and it came with a Sony CD

Walkman I bought a few years ago. I wonder if their CP software works on Macs too. Most Sony software products

aren't Mac friendly.

[CptKipling]

How silly of them.

I

shalln't be buying any music from sony any time soon then

[valentines_garden]

I'm glad to see that

some recording artists are on our side.

"Along with lawyers, prosecutors, and furious fans, artists are joining

the backlash against the label for slipping a hidden, anti-theft program into users' computers"



http://ww

w.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2005/tc20051122_343542.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech (http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2005/tc20051122_343542.htm?campaign_id=rss_tech)

[InternationalPlayboy]

I got one of those

discs last week from the BMG music club. Didn't think anything of it until I tried to play it in the computer at

work and its security settings just caused the CD drive to spin and make strange noises.

Naturally, I was

pissed for them sending such crap and immediately went to Sony's website, where I printed out a prepaid UPS

shipping label. I also requested the free MP3 files to download once they receive the CD. Sent it Friday so I hope

to hear from them soon.

What gets me is the list of titles they put this garbage on. It's not really popular

stuff, but artists like Earl Scruggs. Most people I've talked to about this don't even know who Scruggs is. I'm

familar with him for the Beverly Hillbillies episodes he appeared in with Lester Flatt. (Remember, I picked my

handle in honor of Jethro Bodine.)

The title I bought with this program on it was a best of Shel Silverstein

CD. Again, not a household name, though people are sure to be familiar with at least one or two of his songs. He

wrote "A Boy Named Sue" for one, and most of Dr. Hook's stuff when they were good. He was also Playboy magazine's

resident poet for decades.

I hope Sony loses a lot of money over this. This kind of stuff just makes me

defiant and want to make copies of these titles for my friends in spite.

[Donovan]

Is with the Playstation/PS2, when you used a memory card that is not made by Sony. They program the Playstation to

shut down. Then they make you buy a disk that cost 29.95 to reprogram the platstation/PS2 to work again. That or

you have to buy a new Playstation.

[InternationalPlayboy]

Have yet to hear

from Sony about the free MP3 files, let alone the replacement for my CD. According to UPS tracking, they did

overlook my package in Phoenix for several days before it continued on it's way, so it didn't reach it's

destination until December 5th (I shipped it on November 26th).

According to Sony's website, they were to

send the MP3 files as soon as they received the CD. I suspect they must be having a big run on return discs. Serves

them right for trying to sneak this garbage onto people's computers.

[belgareth]

A lot of the artists are pretty

unhappy. Some of them dropped as many as ten places in the ratings because people stopped buying Sony/BMG music over

it. Can't blame them. I hope they take it out on Sony for this stunt. A lot of states are doing that right now,

charges and lawsuits have been filed all over the world.

[Kardz]

Anyone that has played Sony's

original Everquest knows how they try to pull all kinds of stealth and under the radar crap. Constantly doing shady

stuff.

They are a popular brand and place to goto for electronics or anything electronic based. I would never

give any money to them. That's all they are about.

And this isn't just Sony, it's everything Sony. Sony

Online Entertainment, Sony, everything.

[InternationalPlayboy]

They

are a popular brand and place to goto for electronics or anything electronic based. I would never give any money to

them. That's all they are about.

And this isn't just Sony, it's everything Sony. Sony Online

Entertainment, Sony, everything.

I was a big fan of Sony until this. I had a Sony "Boom box" tape

recorder in the 1980's that I was really proud of. A friend going to school in Los Angeles came to visit with a

classmate from Japan. When my friend satrted saying that "so-and-so" had a bigger box than mine, among other

comments, his friend kept asking, "but is so-and-so's a Sony?"

That impressed me at the time, but it was 20

years ago too.

[belgareth]

Texas Expands Lawsuit Against Sony BMG By LIZ AUSTIN, Associated Press

Writer

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott expanded

his lawsuit against Sony BMG Music Entertainment on Wednesday, alleging that a second form of anti-piracy technology

used by the label violates the state's spyware and deceptive trade practices laws.



Abbott sued Sony BMG in November, saying the world's second-largest

music label surreptitiously included spyware on millions of CDs through technology known as XCP. That technology,

included on 52 Sony BMG titles, could leave computers vulnerable to hackers, he

said.

The new allegations involve an unrelated CD copy-protection

technology known as MediaMax, which was loaded on 27 Sony BMG titles, including Alicia Keys' "Unplugged" and

Cassidy's "I'm a Hustla."

"We keep discovering additional methods

Sony used to deceive Texas consumers who thought they were simply buying music," Abbott said in a

statement.

BMG officials said in a statement that they are working

with Abbott's office and believe they can prove they have responded appropriately to his

concerns.

"The security issues with MediaMax are not uncommon and are

completely addressed by a software update which we already have made available, as is standard practice when

problems with consumer software are identified," the statement said.

Anti-piracy technology restricts the number of times a single disc can be copied and can make it extremely

inconvenient to transfer songs into the format used by Apple Computer Inc.'s

iPods.

The MediaMax technology limits how many backup copies can be

made of the CD on a computer or how the tracks can be shared with other users.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation, an online civil liberty group, discovered that, like XCP, MediaMax

could allow an outsider to gain unauthorized access to a computer. Two weeks ago, Sony BMG began urging consumers to

download a patch that would plug the potential security breach. About 5.7 million CDs were shipped with the

software.

Abbott said MediaMax violates Texas law because some

versions secretly install files when the CD is inserted into a computer, before the consumer has a chance to accept

or decline a license agreement. The files can lead to the security breach.

Sony BMG misleads consumers by saying no files will be installed if the agreement is rejected, Abbott said,

when, in reality, the installation already has occurred. It is difficult for consumers to remove the files, he

added.

Sony BMG, which rejects the spyware description, said it has

provided consumers with a one-click "uninstall" application that lets them remove MediaMax from their

computers.

The label recalled the discs with XCP in November and

released a way to remove the files from users' computers. Some 4.7 million CDs had been made with the technology

and 2.1 million had been sold.

The state can recover up to $100,000

in damages for each violation of the spyware law and $20,000 in damages for each violation of the deceptive trade

practices law. Individuals whose computers were affected by the anti-piracy technology also can recover

damages.

Abbott has said that any money recovered by the state would

go to Texas' general revenue fund.

Sony BMG is a joint venture of

Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). and Bertelsmann AG.

[InternationalPlayboy]

I got my downloads

from my returned CD last night (Dec. 22). They offerer them individually and the whole album as a zip file, with

three attempts to download each file. I opted for the zip file, downloaded and unzipped it, but haven't checked out

the files yet. Since I have two downloads left, I think I'll just download the zip file again at work so I can load

them on my hard drive there, which was what I was trying to do when I discovered the disc had the copy protection

program on it.

[InternationalPlayboy]

PlayStation Graffiti Ads Spark Controversy By MARYCLAIRE DALE, Associated Press Writer
Thu

Dec 29, 6:23 AM ET



Sony Corp (NYSE:SNE - news). scouted out an unusual place to advertise its

PlayStation Portable before the holidays: the side of an abandoned building in a gritty North Philadelphia

neighborhood.

The black-on-white graffiti shows wide-eyed cartoon characters riding the PlayStation like a

skateboard, licking it like a lollipop or cranking it like a Jack-in-the-Box.

But there's no mention of the

Sony or PlayStation brands — nor any hint the wordless display is an ad.

The stealth marketing campaign has

popped up in San Francisco, New York and other large U.S. cities.

"It's all about hip-hop, urban and all

that. They're just trying to get into the teenagers' minds," said Eddie Torres, 29, who works at a nearby

furniture shop. "I think it's sharp."

Anti-blight advocates think otherwise.

"They're breaking the

law," said Mary Tracy, who runs the Society Created to Reduce Urban Blight, a watchdog group that fights illegal or

ill-advised billboards in Philadelphia.

Tracy said Sony ignored the zoning process that regulates outdoor

commercial advertising in the city.

Philadelphia Managing Director Pedro Ramos on Wednesday faxed a

cease-and-desist letter to Sony Computer Entertainment's U.S. division in San Mateo, Calif. He could seek modest

fines allowed by city code or sue to recover any profit the ads produced.

"My fines aren't going to scare

Sony," Ramos said. "What will worry them is what the parents and their users will think. This really flies in the

face of everything we've been trying to do with our anti-blight initiative."

The Sony division did not

immediately respond to the letter or to a telephone message left by The Associated Press. However, Sony spokeswoman

Molly Smith told an Internet news site earlier this month that Sony was hiring artists in seven cities — Atlanta,

Los Angeles, Miami and Chicago were the others — to spray paint the pre-drawn designs.

"With PSP being a

portable product, our target is what we consider to be urban nomads," Smith told Wired News.

In San

Francisco, the ads were defaced soon after they appeared as word spread that Sony was behind them. "Get out of my

city!!!" and "Fony" were written on one.

"I thought it was sneaky. Not cool," said Zan Sterling, who works at

a bar near one of the ads, which has since been painted over. "I hope that they paid for the cleanup and

removal."

Critics and supporters agree the campaign is designed to crack through the clutter of marketing

that pervades daily life. Others have criticized its visual appeal.

"They hired artists to just copy this

same figure over and over, which isn't too creative," said 29-year-old Jake Dobkin, a New Yorker who writes for the

blog Gothamist.com.

That matters little to North Philadelphia resident Leslie Griggs, 39, who said the Sony

ad is an improvement over the handbills and scrawls it replaced.

"I don't think that's graffiti," Griggs

said as she paused beside the PlayStation ad. "That's art."

These words are added as my message was

too short with just the quote.

[Mtnjim]

Homeland security urges DRM rootkit ban - The Register
US government officials took Sony BMG to task

over its controversial use of rootkit-style copy protection at a security conference this week. If the technology

proves harmful to consumers, tougher laws and regulations might be proposed, a senior Department of Homeland

Security exec warned.
[Read More]:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/17/rootkit/

[InternationalPlayboy]

Update on my

experience with this Sony fiasco. About a month or so after receiving my replacement CD, I received a letter from

the BMG music club warning me about the CD that they had sold me and how to return it, though I had already done

so.

Today, I received a letter from the "Sony BMG CD Technologies Settlement Administrator." I had forgotten

that I had added my name to the class action lawsuit against them. Usually I'm against these things as it's mainly

the lawyers who profit from them the most and they start the lawsuits just so they can profit from them. But I was

disgusted with Sony, whom I had higher respect for in the past. The letter states that I may receive one of the

following two benefits:

"A payment of $7.50 and one free album download from a list of albums in Exhibit 4 of

the Notice." (I can find no Exhibit 4 included.)

Or, "three free album downloads from the list of albums in

Exhibit 4 of the Notice."

I have to select from one of four Digital Music Services to download from and mark

my choice on my form, along with the album title. The four services are Connect, iTunes, Wal-Mart Music Downloads,

and FYE.com. I don't have an iPod and IIRC, iTunes only supports that format. I have issues with Wal-Mart to begin

with, and they don't carry recordings with parents advisories on them. So that leaves me with two choices, neither

of which I know anything about.

I also have to sign a statement saying that "I have either updated or

uninstalled the XCP software or MediaMax software on each and every computer upon which I previously installed that

software." I never installed any of that software. Never tried the disk in the home computer and when I tried to

play it at work, which led to my discovery that it was one of the tainted CDs, security settings wouldn't let the

CD do anything except spin wildly in the drive until I ejected it.

It appears I have to go online to

www.sonybmgcdtechsettlement.com to view my download choices. I think I'll opt for the cash and one

download. And if I have to install something to use the download service, like I did when I checked out iTunes a

couple of years ago, I'll just pass on that and be happy with the cash.

[Netghost56]

I'd go with the cash too.




BTW, I like Alton Brown! Crazy chef! :D

[InternationalPlayboy]

BTW, I like Alton Brown! Crazy chef! :D

Yeah, he's pretty cool. His show,

"Good Eats" is entertaining and he gives more information about the food he's preparing than I ever thought I

wanted to know. He does a good job as the commentator on Iron Chef America too.