Reply With QuoteA patch? That doesn't sound
accidental, more like a carefully engineered block.
WARNING Don't buy Sony Music
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...drm/print.html
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/<br /> <br /...381t-10000002c
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11... rm/print.html
Freedom begins when you tell Mrs. Grundy to go fly a kite.
--Lazarus Long
A patch? That doesn't sound
accidental, more like a carefully engineered block.
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
Yuck......
DrSmellThis (creator of P H E R O S)
Plus, the patch doesn't remove theOriginally Posted by belgareth
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!!
Freedom begins when you tell Mrs. Grundy to go fly a kite.
--Lazarus Long
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/ap/20051111/ap_on_hi_te/sony_copy_protec
tion;_ylt=AhLtnZ9IZk5Nq73yxif1SvEjtBAF;_ylu=X3oDMT A5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
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/printth...106064,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/<br /> <br />...gy/4424254.stm
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/20...ony-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.]"
Freedom begins when you tell Mrs. Grundy to go fly a kite.
--Lazarus Long
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.
"I'm just a dirty hornytoad" -Gegogi
How silly of them.
I
shalln't be buying any music from sony any time soon then
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
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.
Another little trick of Sony's
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.
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.
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.
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
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.
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.
Texas Expands Lawsuit Against Sony BMG
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.
To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.
Thomas Jefferson
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.
Looks Like Sony's Batting 1000
These words are added as my message wasPlayStation 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."
too short with just the quote.
Homeland security urges DRM rootkit ban
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/
Freedom begins when you tell Mrs. Grundy to go fly a kite.
--Lazarus Long
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.
I'd go with the cash too.
BTW, I like Alton Brown! Crazy chef!
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one."
Yeah, he's pretty cool. His show,BTW, I like Alton Brown! Crazy chef!
"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.
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