November 2, 2005
Sony Installing Spyware When You Play Their CDs?
Why must they always be so evil?
Sony Ships Sneaky DRM Software
Music giant uses spyware and virus writers' techniques to prevent unauthorized music copying.
Mark Russinovich couldn't understand how the rootkit had sneaked onto his system. An expert on the internals of the Windows operating system, he was careful when it came to computer security and generally had a pretty good idea of what was running on his PC at any given time. And yet the security tool he was using to check his PC was pretty clear: It had found the rootkit cloaking software typically used by virus and spyware writers.
After a bit of detective work, Russinovich eventually tracked down the source: a Sony BMG Music Entertainment CD titled Get Right with the Man, performed by country music duo Donnie and Johnny Van Zant.
It turns out that Sony is using techniques normally seen only in spyware and computer viruses in order to restrict the unauthorized copying of some of its music CDs. Sony's software, licensed by Sony from a Banbury, UK, company called First 4 Internet, has become the basis of a dispute that once again pits computer advocates against an entertainment company experimenting with new ways to prevent the unauthorized copying of its products...
The slashdotters already posted a fix for the Sony malware here.
Posted by jsmooth995 at November 2, 2005 5:54 PM
Wow. I'm glad that I bought Alicia Keys's Unplugged on iTunes instead of buying the disc, especially if a disc that has copy protection can do that to my computer (although I haven't heard that Unplugged can do that to a computer yet). I just recovered from a virus attack on my computer, and it would have sucked to remove yet another virus placed on my computer by Sony (and companies like Sony). I hate copy protected discs.
Posted by: Penny Woods at November 2, 2005 7:44 PM
Big Brother is everywhere. I suggest switching to MAC simply for PRIVACY's sake. But they're moving over to intel this year or next...So...maybe Mac will start getting hacked/attacked finally now too.
Anyway, we need to start boycotting these electronic shackles...GPS...RFID...the whole nine...red-lite cameras...don't even get me started on the random subway searches. Ya'll NYC follows UN law, NOT U.S. so keep your heads AND fists up out there!!!
www.infowars.com
Posted by: CItiZEN EMily at November 6, 2005 1:20 AM
Nah, I heard that DRM can shed Macs too.
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