Sony is putting the DRM rootkit on some(all?) its CDs.
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/s...tal-rights.html
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1880572,00.asp
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=2092
Now that they are caught Sony is nervous obout the gaping security hole it makes and is offering a way to remove it.
http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/updates.html
Nasty sneaky stuff in my opinion. But its kind of funny, that if you dont mind having this crap on your PC you can easily use it to hide illegal programs from Blizzards "Warden" software which used to find cheaters in WoW.
http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/34
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It's such a fundamental thing that it is impossible to make a CD that a legacy player can read and play, and yet the CD is actually copy-protected. What, no matter how perfect the encryption is, the absolute most you need is an old CD player with a digital out and a sound card with a digital in? Surely Sony knows this. And they can only go so far in making CDs that won't play on CD players. :rolleyes: Which means they are relying on people being ignorant for their copy-protection scheme to work. I have a feeling that the people who manage to bootleg these albums onto the P2P networks before the album is even released don't fall into that category of being hindered by a stupid pet trick. All it takes is one person to successfully rip a file without DRM riders and the whole world has it.
Sorry if this is incoherent. Copy protection doesn't bug me until it starts to do something like making the CD/CD-Rom unplayable with my desired choice of equipment, causing distortion, or installing unwanted crap on my computer. Unfortunately, copy protection seems to be much more effective at doing these types of things than it is at actually protecting files from being copied.
Although for what it's worth, I buy most of my music through BMG music club (Sony) and don't recall getting anything yet that has been copy-protected. My last CD does have a cute little FBI shield on the back of the jewel case, if that qualifies. :P
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Ghostiger,Nov 4 2005, 08:47 AM Wrote:Sony is putting the DRM rootkit on some(all?) its CDs.
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/s...tal-rights.html
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1880572,00.asp
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=2092
Now that they are caught Sony is nervous obout the gaping security hole it makes and is offering a way to remove it.
http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/updates.html
Nasty sneaky stuff in my opinion. But its kind of funny, that if you dont mind having this crap on your PC you can easily use it to hide illegal programs from Blizzards "Warden" software which used to find cheaters in WoW.
http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/34
[right][snapback]94089[/snapback][/right]
I can't believe it! I was content with my Norton Internet Security and safe web-surfing habits, but now with this information out there, any hacker can write a virus to manipulate these hidden files in almost every computer (no doubt) and would be unstoppable. This is terrible!
Seems the citizens of above blog will start a lawsuit against Sony, however I feel this issue is bigger than Sony and nothing will come of it. The patch Sony released is useless, only exposing the hidden files but still leaving you unable to remove them!
And yes Ghostinger, your evil little mind has concucted a way to hide programs from Warden using the $sys$ rootkit, but just because Sony is doing it dosen't make it right.
NOTE: At work w/out a spellchecker and keyboard at a strange angle below my knees and no time to recheck post, so beware of glaring spelling/grammer errors in my post :( .
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin
Actually I didnt "construct" anything. If you follow the last link you will see hackers are already doing it.
The idea of using a rootkit to hide files isnt new at all. This just makes it easily accessable to people with limited technical know how.
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Ghostiger,Nov 4 2005, 10:50 AM Wrote:Actually I didnt "construct" anything. If you follow the last link you will see hackers are already doing it.
The idea of using a rootkit to hide files isnt new at all. This just makes it easily accessable to people with limited technical know how.
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Yes, I can see you are quite right now - didn't follow-up on the last link. God, kiss internet security good-bye.
Here's my favorite quote:
Quote:Sony BMG and First 4 Internet, the maker of the content protection technology, have both disputed claims that their system could harm the security of a Windows system. Yet, other software makers that rely on the integrity of the operating system are finding that hidden code makes security impossible.
How can Sony possibly claim that? Now that every hacker in the world knows about this, all the current viruses can be made to hide as $sys$ files. Don't download anything from the net ;) . All your privacy are belong to us! Resistance is futile!
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin
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Nystul,Nov 4 2005, 11:33 AM Wrote:Sorry if this is incoherent. Copy protection doesn't bug me until it starts to do something like making the CD/CD-Rom unplayable with my desired choice of equipment, causing distortion, or installing unwanted crap on my computer.
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Ubisoft games don't like my LG CD-RW drive, I have to get no-cd cracks or just use my dvd drive. It happened with Splinter Cell, Far Cry, Uru: Ages Beyond Myst, and a few others. I don't buy ubisoft games anymore.
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation - Henry David Thoreau
Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and at the rate I'm going, I'm going to be invincible.
Chicago wargaming club
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The bean-counters at Sony really pulled a rabbit out of the hat this time. Unfortunately, it looks like Donnie Darko's bunny rabbit. :o
Signature? What do you mean?
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Ghostiger,Nov 4 2005, 09:47 AM Wrote:Sony is putting the DRM rootkit on some(all?) its CDs.
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/s...tal-rights.html
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1880572,00.asp
http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=2092
Now that they are caught Sony is nervous obout the gaping security hole it makes and is offering a way to remove it.
http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/updates.html
Nasty sneaky stuff in my opinion. But its kind of funny, that if you dont mind having this crap on your PC you can easily use it to hide illegal programs from Blizzards "Warden" software which used to find cheaters in WoW.
http://www.securityfocus.com/brief/34
[right][snapback]94089[/snapback][/right]
How likely is a Sony boycott by PC users and gamers? That would learn 'em . . . I don't have any Sony titles, games wise, and I will simply not buy any Sony CD for the next 10 years. Period. This was an unnecessary piece of PC "sheep buggery."
Occhi
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
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I am glad my Macintosh isn't bothered by any of this "sheep buggery."
**Hugs** :wub:
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
Why do you think that?
Not near as many people are looking close at Apples, plenty of bad stuff could be happening under your nose.
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Ghostiger,Nov 4 2005, 08:32 PM Wrote:Why do you think that?
Not near as many people are looking close at Apples, plenty of bad stuff could be happening under your nose.
[right][snapback]94161[/snapback][/right]
No. It wont. And it can't. All people can come up with are theoretical viruses for the Mac. Things that should work in theory but don't actually work in real life. All security issues are minor at best, and that's only with Macs right out of the box. Configure them a bit and they become fortresses.
For the past six years nobody has won the annual Hack a Mac contest where the winner gets a fully loaded top of the line Mac. This years prize had one of those giant Apple LCD displays... And lots of people wanted it, nobody got it. Hack a Mac uses a stock Macintosh with all of the security features turned on, with no additional software to emulate a user experience of a fresh new computer.
The only time Macs develop any real security issues is when Microsoft products are loaded on to them. And those are easy to avoid.
And for the record, I like *nix in general. Linux, unix, whatever. But I appreciate and am comfortable with the highly polished finish of nix on a Mac. (BSD, whatever)
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
You are naive.
Im not saying this particular issue effects Macs, but a similar one could.
This isnt a matter of true hacking. It people loaded this stuff on thier PCs thinking they could trust Sony.
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11-05-2005, 03:06 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-05-2005, 04:31 PM by Griselda.)
edited
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
11-05-2005, 03:08 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-05-2005, 04:32 PM by Griselda.)
edited
Posts: 1,991
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Joined: May 2003
11-05-2005, 03:35 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-05-2005, 04:32 PM by Griselda.)
edited
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
Posts: 1,190
Threads: 39
Joined: Feb 2003
Doc,Nov 4 2005, 10:35 PM Wrote:So I have been around since personal computers were conceived and somehow you think I don't know what I am talking about or that I am lacking in experience? I have watched Microsoft deliver disapointment after disapointment since the earliest days of home computing. I have seen failures of all shapes and sizes for all kinds of machines, including Apple. Good God, it's been what, 30 years now that I have been watching this whole drama unfold, and you try to make some kind of claim like that one?
How so? Please, like I said, explain. #$%& or get off the pot boy. Don't play stupid little word games quoting a dictionary because you can't really deliver any real substance for your claims. Put up or shut up.
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I don't think this situation should have exploded to what it is starting to become.
Can I please make an appeal (meant equally to Ghostiger as to you, Doc). Can we please both just leave this one well enough alone? I don't think I'm the only one that is sick of flames back and forth over something that started over something trivial. It's not until the post has about 10-15 replies - when it is completely derailed - that the flaming/replying is curtailed.
Please, save the arguing/flaming/waring for PM's. I'm getting despairingly sick of posts that end up like this.
Cheers,
Munk
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Munkay,Nov 4 2005, 10:50 PM Wrote:I don't think this situation should have exploded to what it is starting to become.
Can I please make an appeal (meant equally to Ghostiger as to you, Doc). Can we please both just leave this one well enough alone? I don't think I'm the only one that is sick of flames back and forth over something that started over something trivial. It's not until the post has about 10-15 replies - when it is completely derailed - that the flaming/replying is curtailed.
Please, save the arguing/flaming/waring for PM's. I'm getting despairingly sick of posts that end up like this.
Cheers,
Munk
[right][snapback]94171[/snapback][/right]
Sure. Will do. I didn't mean to let it get out of hand. Personal attacks are frowned upon.
My apologies. :blush:
All alone, or in twos,
The ones who really love you
Walk up and down outside the wall.
Some hand in hand
And some gathered together in bands.
The bleeding hearts and artists
Make their stand.
And when they've given you their all
Some stagger and fall, after all it's not easy
Banging your heart against some mad buggers wall.
"Isn't this where...."
Posts: 3,499
Threads: 412
Joined: Feb 2003
Nystul,Nov 4 2005, 12:33 PM Wrote:It's such a fundamental thing that it is impossible to make a CD that a legacy player can read and play, and yet the CD is actually copy-protected. What, no matter how perfect the encryption is, the absolute most you need is an old CD player with a digital out and a sound card with a digital in? Surely Sony knows this. And they can only go so far in making CDs that won't play on CD players. :rolleyes:
[right][snapback]94094[/snapback][/right]
This is so true it's not even funny. This does nothing.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but these copy-protected audio CDs shouldn't even be called "CDs". They violate the Red Book audio Compact Disc standard (which, funnily enough, Sony helped define 25 years ago).
Wikipedia link
If these CDs carry this logo
![[Image: cdda4ir.png]](http://img356.imageshack.us/img356/7420/cdda4ir.png)
and carry this copy-protection nonsense, they are misrepresenting the product.
Also, the copy-protection nasty software can be defeated by disabling the stupid autorun feature in Windows. It's as simple as pressing a "shift" key while inserting the disc.
Sony really dropped the ball on this one and is in need of a massive PR campaign. I really like Sony products, but this kind of thing makes me angry.
11-05-2005, 06:42 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-05-2005, 04:32 PM by Griselda.)
edited
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11-05-2005, 06:54 AM
(This post was last modified: 11-05-2005, 07:02 AM by DeeBye.)
Editted.
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