11-03-2005, 09:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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DRM Kicks It Up A Notch And Exposes Your Machine To Attackers
http://news.com.com/Sony+to+patch+copy-protected+CD/2100-7355_3-5928608.html?tag=nefd.top
Last month, I purchased a CD for my wife for her birthday. I actually pre-ordered it from Amazon knowing it would ship and arrive on time. At the time of pre-order, Amazon didn't have the blaring [CONTENT/COPY-PROTECTED CD] disclaimer. If it had, I wouldn't have purchased it. As soon as she put it in and tried to play it with Windows Media Player, it told her it needed to install some software. I immediately looked at the case, saw it was copy protected and sent it back for a refund, which Amazon happily provided. Had we allowed that software to install, it is very likely it would have installed the malicious software Mark Russinovich traced back to Sony music CDs.
According to the CNet article, not only is this stuff a hassle, it puts software that is deeply hidden from your view, yet allows virus writers to exploit, bypassing antivirus software. Sony has enlisted the help of anti-virus companies to patch the corporate malware. :roll: I will never knowingly buy a copy protected CD. If it ever came to the point that most CD's were copy protected, I would actually set up a new PC just for the purpose of ripping the music and then running it through external recording devices plugged into the sound card. There is always a way around this stuff. Until Sony and other labels treat me like a customer and not a thief, I'll continue to buy most of my CD's from independent artists through stores like CD Baby.
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11-03-2005, 09:05 PM
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Sage
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 601
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I was completely unaware of this whole issue. Is there a way to tell if CDs are copy protected when looking at the CD in retail outlets? I don't mind copy protection as much as I mind virus backdoors !
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11-03-2005, 09:26 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 99
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some of these copy preotected cds have actually CAUSED me to download music in the past. generally i never download music, because i don't like the quality, and i prefer to rip all of my own CDs as FLAC/CUE for my home theater, and OGG for my PPC with a huge PAR2 backup (i'm paranoid about data loss, to say the least). i have ONE cd from sony purchased a couple of years ago from ebay (a promo of a Tori Amos CD if anyone cares) that i couldn't rip, so i ended up downloading someone elses successful rip.
bottom line (in my opinion, anyway) is the more the corporations treat us like criminals, the more we actually BECOME criminals. maybe that's actually their goal 
the conspiracy theorist in me likens it to the idea that all police officers have small bags of drugs and untraceable pistols in their trunks for the inevitable overzealous "arrest". i don't actually believe this, but occasionally i do wonder...
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11-03-2005, 09:28 PM
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Theorist
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 260
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I haven't purchased an audio CD since about 1999 and with all of the "copy protection" stuff labels hide in the audio CDs I don't foresee me buying any audio CDs anytime soon.
I get all my audio music from online services, than re-rip the files to Mp3s or unprotected WMAs and archive them on CDs or DVDs. It's a process but doesn't take very long to do, but is worth the effort so I can maintain the freedom of playing my music where ever and on whatever I want too, whether audio CDs or portable music players.
It's sad that I have to use "pirate" tactics to have the freedom of use of legally purchased music.
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11-03-2005, 09:52 PM
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Executive Editor
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 29,160
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Lex
Is there a way to tell if CDs are copy protected when looking at the CD in retail outlets?
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Yes, the back it will usually say something to the effect of "this CD does not conform to the CD standard and may not play in all CD players". Those are the ones that have the more invasive DRM.
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11-03-2005, 10:14 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 11
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Sony DRM
Here's another good (to me at least) article:
http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/secu...aids_hack.html
One can at least have the consolation of knowing that these protectionist strategies never work. Sony, who's certainly not the only or maybe even worst offender, has been pulling somewhat related stunts for years. I stopped buying Sony products 7 years ago after discovering my clock radio had a proprietary 9-volt backup battery (which they then stopped making). So I retrofit the radio for a standard 9-volt battery - which is in a sense what people will do in this case. (Hey Sony, we're not STUPID.) My point is the company is too driven by sheer greed without thinking about the customer, IMHO (I mean, really, a proprietary battery? - and it never works as a business strategy, ever.
-W.
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11-03-2005, 10:43 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 171
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Dreadful
I read this one on Slashdot where the anti-DRM geeks were, quite rightly IMHO, livid.
Sony are absolutely dreadful, not only do they implement using a rootkit which leaves you open to all kinds of attacks, but they don't let you uninstall it without a PHd in Computer Science. The only upside to this is that it leaves them open to all sorts of legal action for, amongst other things apparently, trespass :evil:
And at the same time, they've built and maintained an empire on devices such as the Walkman and where would they have been if music on LPs had had some form of DRM?
Dreadful.
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11-03-2005, 11:02 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: Sep 2003
Posts: 34
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I have been purchasing my music online for a while and I don't think I will be changing that anytime soon. These DRM moves not only cripple technical users but also put fear into regular consumers. When you buy a CD it "should" work in your CD Player no matter if you purchased a CD player in 1980 or 2005. (Yes I own a CD Player that still works from 1980).
As far a legal actions against these companies. Sony should be forced to pay for damages that thier DRM causes. Consumers and corporate users should not be liable for paying for computer repairs especially if all they are doing is listening to thier music CD.
I have said this before, but here I go again... If all entertainment companies force consumers to adopt new technologies and on top of that make it more difficult to use because of "required" updates, then the industry in a whole will colapse because of this greed.
( Look at the PSP, every freaking month Sony puts out a new firmware update to prevent people from experimenting with the PSP. I think if you buy it, then it is technically yours to do whatever you want, otherwise Sony should be leasing this unit to you)
Thank you,
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11-03-2005, 11:05 PM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 238
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Read about this last week, but not only is what Sony doing terrible, but it also points to problems with Windows and using autorun, IMO (and Windows in general).
I read the worst thing about that rootkit, is that it basically makes XP unusable if you try to uninstall it (it shows up under some goofy heading in Add/Remove Programs).
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11-03-2005, 11:07 PM
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Pontificator
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 1,043
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In contracting this UK-based software company to add potentially dangerous software (and according to the discoverer's report, not even very well written software) to customer's computers, and then distributing these CDs to at least 2million customers, they have yet again shot their public image in the foot.
Sony has taken something of a beating over leaky plasma TVs (and possibly grave health issues for employees building the things), ever-changing Memory Stick formats and the commensurate incompatibility issues with relatively new devices, and just generally consumer-unfriendly tactics. It would seem that Sony's PR team has a lot of work to do in quieting the angry and vocal consumers who pay their way. Abusive practices along the lines of what the RIAA would love to see cannot possibly endear Sony nor any other company to the public at large.
Of course people are finding workarounds! What else would they do? If I have to rip CDs in realtime from my stereo's CD player just to have freedom of copying and transfer, that's just too much trouble. I'll either avoid the CD altogether or look to other sources for the tracks. If those tracks are not available through legal sites then many people will find other sources.
It's very basic psychology folks, nothing new here. Prohibition didn't slow down alcohol consumption, it escalated drinking rates, and made not a few millionaires in the process. Same deal with making harder drugs illegal. Controlled access makes people mad, makes them want to know what all the fuss is about, encourages the most juvenile impulses in many of us.
On the other hand, making things open source and fair tends to bring a smile to the faces of many (if not Bill Gates or the RIAA etc.), and a general feeling of community. Shared information is good, provided it's not dangerous. Anyone ever been killed by a pop song, had their head explode while listening, or perhaps spontaneously transformed into a terrorist because the music isn't DRM'd?
There are a few quotes springing to mind. Here are two, from an American poet and from a fictional princess:
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Something there is which does not love a wall, which wants it down.
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Quote:
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The more you tighten your grip [insert name of favourite draconian megacorporation or government or lobby group here] the more systems will slip through your fingers.
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Coupled with the RI- and MPAA's latest big lobby in the US - a sweeping proposal to disable ALL analog copying of digital media at the hardware level on new devices - these do seem more and more like times ripe for rebellion. Of course the abusers of power have never admitted that rebels were rebels. They've always preferred to label them 'theives', 'pirates', or whatever unsavoury euphemism. In the cases of digital media, they seem unable or unwilling to appreciate that the vast majority of consumers will pay a fair price for a good product. There is money to be made, for honest business practicioners. For those hoping to make billions through the devious and abusive actions of vast legal teams, there is no future, because consumers will simply stop buying from them in the longer run as alternatives appear.
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