They don't seem able to do anything right:
http://news.com.com/Sony+fixes+secur...op&tag=nl.e703
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They don't seem able to do anything right:
http://news.com.com/Sony+fixes+secur...op&tag=nl.e703
I didn't quite read the whole thing, but I was at the Computer Associates website and I beleive their scanner now detects the Sony DRM software. I may be mistaken though. I think they called it XCP.Sony.Rootkit.
The bad publicity is strting to get to Sony:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4514678.stm
Though I kind of get the impression that they still don't really get it :rolleyes:
Maybe they should stop treating the customers as criminals and just produce plain old CD's, the same as we've had for the last 20 years. While they're at it they could try and find some bands with some actual musical talent - I have a suspicion it would have a remarkable effect on CD sales.Quote:
The furore about the XCP software had lead Sony BMG to "diligently re-evaluate" how it protects music on CDs.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SuperSparks
:D
Hehe.
http://www.glynhotz.com/
One of what I'm sure will eventually be many class action lawsuites against Sony.
Music Lovers Feel Ripped Off
Cheers,Quote:
Compatibility Woes Dog Digital Music
Proprietary formats and copy-protection schemes leave some music lovers feeling "ripped" off.
PC World
Saturday, December 17, 2005; 12:10 AM
All the advances in digital music players, accessories, and services are bound to be music to the ears of any music lover. But tech journalist Dawn Chmielewski steps in to inject a sour note. It's a matter of compatibility. And it boils down to this: Not all hardware and music services play well together. Particularly when it comes to songs you buy over the Net.
The most popular player around--Apple Computer's IPod --only works with Apple's own music service. That means you can't use it to listen to any of those songs you bought from, say, Napster or Yahoo. And you can't use anything but an IPod to listen to songs you buy from Apple's ITunes Music Store.
Naturally, Apple doesn't see this as a problem. But for consumers, that's a hassle in the making. Say you just bought a new Sonos Digital Music System or a Roku SoundBridge so you can listen to your music throughout your house. Both manufacturers say their devices are compatible with ITunes. But in reality, you can't play any of the songs you bought through Apple's online store on your new digital stereo. The only songs you'll be able to listen to are from the CDs you've imported, or "ripped," onto your computer's hard drive. If you've purchased hundreds of songs through ITunes, that's a major disappointment.
Which brings us to another looming compatibility problem: copy-protected CDs. The record labels behind some of music's best-known acts have begun to release CDs whose songs can't be ripped into unprotected MP3 music files that will play in any portable device. The only way to get the songs off the CD and onto your computer is in the form of a locked Windows Media file. Which, needless to say, can't be stored in your ITunes music library or played on your IPod.
It's simply a mess. And it's happened before: When 45 rpm records came out back in the fifties, they initially played only on special phonographs. Same thing with 33 1/3s. It may have been a good way to sell hardware, but it left consumers angry and confused. But it didn't take long before the music industry got wise to the idea that it was better to have players that could handle both formats--and the old 78s, too. Within a few years, single-speed turntables were history, and every player could play every disc. Then stereo came in and the old players wouldn't work with the new records--but that problem got fixed pretty fast, too.
Let's hope the digital compatibility clash ends soon.
Linda
I bought an EMI CD that had copy protection on it and when you ripped the songs as MP3 they had quite discernible artifcats in them.
For test purposes, I made a back up of the CD using Blin*Wri*e and ripped from the backup CD with no artifacts at all - magic.
Incidentally, my wife has just started getting into buying music off the net and we bought our first song from www.sanity.com.au lastnight and before you made your final purchase it came up with a warning saying that the downloaded track could not be played through Itunes but you could burn it to CD.
Thus implying, in my opinion, that you could then rip it from CD into Itunes.
As a test I burnt the 192Kbps WMA file to a CD and then ripped it to MP3 format.
Copied both the orignal WMA file and the new MP3 file to my Creative MP3 player and the WMA file said it was copy protected, but the MP3 file plays beautifully.
Of course if they do introduce controls that makes the track on the burnt CD protected and not able to rip to MP3 then that's all donw the gurgler for me.
From http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/
There are more comments to this post on this website, http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/Quote:
December 21, 2005
Texas AG: Sony violated deceptive trade practices laws
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott amended his November lawsuit against Sony/BMG today, saying the music giant's copy-protection software violates Texas' deceptive trade practices laws:
In new allegations today, Attorney General Abbott invoked the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The Attorney General alleges the company’s “MediaMax” technology for copy protection violates the state’s spyware and deceptive trade practices laws in that consumers who use these CDs are offered a license agreement, but even if consumers reject that agreement, files are secretly installed on their computers that pose additional security risks to those systems.
“We keep discovering additional methods SONY used to deceive Texas consumers who thought they were simply buying music,” said Attorney General Abbott. “Thousands of Texans are now potential victims of this deceptive game SONY played with consumers for its own purposes.”
The Attorney General’s lawsuit asserts the company failed to clearly warn consumers of the harm its copy protection software could cause when installed on consumers’ personal computers, and the fact that files secretly embedded in certain CDs purchased at retailers would likely compromise computers.
Sony initially denied its rootkit-based copy protection caused any problems. It eventually caved, agreeing to remove it, only to discover that the removal created other security risks. The company eventually agreed to pull its copy-protected discs from stores and is now rethinking its entire copy protection strategy.
But some retailers continue to carry the discs, and Abbott warns they may face his wrath as well.
In addition, Attorney General Abbott is taking action to minimize the number of consumers who become potential victims of SONY’s spyware on millions of certain CDs by various artists. In a letter sent today, he urges retailers who continue to carry the tainted 52 CDs titles to take quick action to remove them.
“These CDs open the door for malicious hackers to target consumers’ computers. Hackers may be using the SONY files to install viruses, malware or even commit identity theft,” warned Attorney General Abbott.
“Retailers that continue to sell these CDs may be just as liable under the law as SONY.”
The amended lawsuit is here; Abbott's letter warning retailers is here.
The music industry, by suing its own customers, is trying to make the point that illegally sharing music isn't worth the trouble it can bring.
Back atcha, guys: Burdening the dying CD format with copy protection isn't worth it, both in terms of legal hassles if you screw up and in further alienating customers.
In other words, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime.
Posted by Dwight Silverman at December 21, 2005 11:09 AM
Cheers,
Linda
;) :rolleyes: :cool:
And more here:
http://news.com.com/New%20spyware%20...5042&subj=news
I'm pleased to say, that this saga looks like it may just hit Sony where it hurts, in the wallet :) Maybe all the music companies will learn something from that.
http://www.globetechnology.com/servl...ry/Technology/
I think that you are right SuperSparks. Consumer sales may not hurt Sony all that bad but by the time all of the lawsuits are heard and settled, Sony will be feeling the pain for their arrogance and deceptive trade practices.
Linda
I'll bet someone's annual bonus takes a BIG hit.
In other Sony news, it seems Sony is trying to anger gamers as well.
Sony developed a technology that could be used to block the playing of used games on the upcoming PS3 console. Supposedly it works by encrypting an authentication code upon the software, thereby making the game playable only on console it was first played on. Though, Sony has yet to announce if they will actually be using this technology or not. :mad:
Here's more interesting news for Sony and the other recording studios, which is designed to hit them in the pocketbook. This is from Dwight Silverman's TechBlog at http://blogs.chron.com/techblog/.
Quote:
December 27, 2005
Spitzer looks at digital music price fixing
While I was semi-vacating, this interesting story broke: New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer is investigating whether the music industry violates antitrust laws in the way it prices music downloads, and Warner Music Group has been subpoenaed, along with two other labels:
Music industry sources said the current probe appeared to center on whether the Big Four music studios -- Warner, Sony Corp.'s Sony BMG Music Entertainment, EMI Group and Vivendi's Universal Music -- colluded to set wholesale pricing for song downloads.
Could Apple, whose iTunes Music Store dominates the digital download landscape, be drawn into the probe?
The investigation also could be related to the studios' upcoming licensing renegotiations with Apple, maker of the wildly popular iPod digital music player, for its iTunes music store, the sources said.
Apple could not immediately be reached for comment. But in September, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs called the music industry "greedy" for considering hiking digital download prices and warned that the move could drive iPod users to piracy.
The studios have indicated that they want to institute variable pricing at the iTunes store, which now charges 99 cents a song.
Spitzer's already smacked Warner around once this year, winning a $5 million settlement in his payola probe.
My questions are these:
If Jobs is fighting industry moves to have variable pricing, and almost all commercial music download sites are selling songs for 99 cents, exactly who's controlling the pricing? The music stores? The music labels? Or a conspiracy consortium of all the players? Or is the market actually dictating these prices?
Let us know soon, Mr. Spitzer, mmm-kay?
Posted by Dwight at December 27, 2005 07:04 AM
Comments
We all know who is controlling these prices. It's those greedy men and women on Wall Street.
Posted by: Ricky at December 27, 2005 07:56 AM
At a dollar a song, that would price an analog LP record at about $13-14. With its greater capacity, that would price a CD at roughly $20. This with far lower sonic quality (lower sampling rate, cheesy compression, etc.), and absolutely no production costs; cheap really. And far, far lower marketing cost. Yet despite the too high price and lower costs - there are no price "wars", no competition, no "sales" events, and/or low ball competition taking advantage of the high profit margin.
Like Jack Sparrow said: "take all you can and give back nothing"! These "angels" are doing that real well as a group! All the while prosecuting mothers for "illegal downloads" and crying wolf about music "pirates". Makes you wonder who the pirates really are...
Posted by: rick roberts at December 27, 2005 08:35 AM
I much prefer paying 99 cents for a song I want to paying $14 for an album which has only 4 or 5 songs I really want. And though it is true that the MP3 format has lower quality, my ears can't detect the difference. My best argument in favor of MP3, however, is it's freedom from copy-prevention technology. That's a 99-cent bargain.
Posted by: Joe Marcom at December 27, 2005 10:12 AM
I still prefer to get my music on CD, but iTunes got most of my music
dollars this past year. Getting a single track off an album is the distinct advantage of downloading. Then there's: "I can get it now for $10, or wait for Amazon to deliver a package..." Instant gratification is a powerful incentive to buy at iTunes.
Then there's the hassle of the strange things the labels are doing to CD's. Sony's Rootkit is the worst example. The various formats that give computer CD players fits are also annoying.
I've been happy with the audio quality of iTunes, my ears were never golden. Heck, I'm listening to the internal speakers on my PowerBook now.
It's interesting that the AG is looking to rein in the music labels, but payola isn't terribly interesting -- it's stupid. Does Broadcast Radio still influence what we buy at the record store? I can't remember the last time I tuned in an FM station to listen to music, it's been awhile (actually in Denver - the Neo-Radio movement offered promise, but the format hasn't been tried in Houston). Some years ago, it seemed to me that the marketing suits took over radio programming and I stopped listening.
NPR is still cool, though. See www.npr.org and click on the music button on the left side of the page. You'll have to listen online to get the good stuff in Houston, since our NPR affiliate only does classical.
As for price fixing, I think Apple set the market price and has control, for the moment. I won't be spending more than 99 cents for a track any time soon.
Posted by: Rick Roberts at December 27, 2005 11:54 AM
In the US WalMart has 88 cent pricing but you have to pay sales tax and put up with limited selection. Best deals are the Russian sites where they are 8 - 20 cents per song and you can get 192K lame or higher quality MP3s - thank a cheap ruble and a different rights system. The British eMusic also has a more limited selection but better pricing than American sites and offers 50 free downloads to try'em.
This Christmas NPR had a great selection of free concerts and music.
Posted by: Gary Denton at December 27, 2005 09:28 PM
Cheers,
Linda
;) :rolleyes: :cool:
Well that didn't take long, though $7.50 doesn't seem like much payment given the amount of effort involved in removing the rootkit :rolleyes:
Preliminary Settlement filed in Sony suit
I agree.
It's a terrible settlement for those who went thru all the pc problems.
Sony would love that settlement, if it goes thru as the article states, that would set a precedent for all the future lawsuits to come their way. They shouldn't get off that easy.
I hope it doesn't happen.
$7.50? that's before legal fees are paid, of course. if the rootkit victim will "... return the XCP laden CD to Sony, or provide the company with a receipt ...", the cost of postage will probably reduce the payout into the realm of negative numbers.
as i said previously, my niece is a victim of this rootkit obtained from a *legally* purchased cd. she is one of those who lost her burning capabilities in iTunes and whose system has slowed down because the rootkit continually tries to phone home. the only way for her to proceed now is to reformat and reinstall. however, iTunes will not let her re-download her legally purchased music. so she sits in a quandry - get rid of the rootkit and lose all her music or keep the music but have a crippled pc.
too bad that settlement will not reimburse her for the hundreds (she's a big music buff) of dollars spent at iTunes *legally* downloading music.
if there weren't enough illegal downloads going on now, sony seems to be trying very hard to convert their loyal and legally-purchasing customers into crimilals via the illegal dl realm.
Maybe they're trying to be realistic and stop outrageous lawsuits where people sue for millions of dollars when their kid trips over in your front yard when many years ago you'd slap a bandage on it and send the kid back out to play.
Maybe no comparison, but you get the idea.
Becuase it's Sony everyone is thinking of the big $$$ they can try to claim and now Sony is giving them a slap in the face.
Afterall who is suing all the other companies that send spam / malware etc.
Btw I have no idea how itunes works but it seems doubtful you can't re-donwload legally purchased tunes. Maybe time to visit the itunes forums.
Couple of things about the proposed settlement:
- If anyone wants to pursue their own action outside of the class action, they can.
- The settlement only affects purchasers' lawsuits. As far as I know, the Texas state case against Sony is still pending.
just saw the following on http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail...r/1135959812/1
is this just another program to un-cloak the software while leaving it on the system?Quote:
Lavasoft ARIES Rootkit Remover 1.0
Publisher's Description:
Lavasoft ARIES Rootkit Remover will get rid of the rootkit developed by First4Internet used by Sony BMG to hide their DRM (Digital Rights Management) software.
During Autumn 2005, Sony included rootkit-style content-protection software on approximately 4.7 million CDs of over 50 artists worldwide exposing consumer PCs to security holes. The XCP rootkit, developed by First4Internet, was inadvertently placed on unsuspecting systems and networks to hide Sony BMG’s DRM protection software. According to Sony, about six million CDs currently have this software on December 2005.
saw this posted today....
FYI
" Lavasoft is pleased to launch a new Project ECO Tool, the ARIES Rootkit Remover, to get rid of the rootkit developed by First4Internet used by Sony BMG to hide their DRM (Digital Rights Management) software.
The ARIES Rootkit Remover developed by Lavasoft provides the means to locate and permanently remove the Sony rootkit from the system and disable the rootkit's ability to run once more after reboot. This standalone tool is a reliable, trustworthy, and safe way of removing the rootkit--unlike Sony's own rootkit remover that has been known to cause blue screens.
This primarily protects consumers and ensures privacy. The tool is developed by Lavasoft in line with our common goals to steer computing environment towards better standards.
The Lavasoft ARIES Rootkit Remover removes only the ARIES rootkit; it does not touch the DRM software from Sony. Once the ARIES Rootkit is removed, you can put the CD from which the rootkit was originally installed on your PC into the CD drive, and the ARIES rootkit will not be installed again.
Removal will definitely neutralize the ARIES rootkit. However, in some cases the removal tool may report traces of the rootkit after the next startup. This is due to how the Sony DRM software works and does not indicate any risk, unless the tool reports: "Aries rootkit module detected". In this case, please report this behavior to Lavasoft Development Team."
http://www.majorgeeks.com/Lavasoft_A...ver_d4912.html
Happy New Year.... :D
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28847Quote:
Sony, has been rigorously slapped on the face with a wet bus ticket by the US courts.
it's too bad that the judge in the NY court doesn't own an infected pc. now *that* would have been interesting.
What a 'crock'....just another case of the little folks getting it 'up the bum'...
and big $ getting off the hook. :mad: :mad:
Well as I predicted in post 67 of this thread, they haven't got away with it completely, but pretty darn close.Quote:
Originally Posted by Nix
Story found at http://www.hardwarezone.com/news/vie...id=3804&cid=11Quote:
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 14 -- CyberDefender Corporation, the security developer with the industry's most advanced early defense technology, today announced that as of update build [6.02.08.17] its powerful detection and removal tool also removes the XCP RootKit that was being installed from music CDs purchased from Sony BMG Music. Those wishing to try CyberDefender AntiSpyware 2006 to remove Spyware from their machines may install the free fully functioning 30 day demo at http://www.cyberdefender.com/demo30.
"This will help those unsuspecting music fans who found their machines infected from what should have been a trusted source or music and software. We'll continue to be on the lookout for solutions to intrusion problems," said CyberDefender's Chief Software Architect Bing Liu.
CyberDefender AntiSpyware 2006 features fast updates using a secure client-to-client relay network. This patent-pending technology features user-level monitoring for new attacks, automated threat analysis, and real-time updating once signatures have been confirmed. Fast scans protect against both new and existing Spyware and Adware.
CyberDefender AntiSpyware 2006 works with other desktop security software, providing an early line of defense without interfering with existing scanning or monitoring activities. That means added peace of mind for both users and network administrators.
System Requirements and Pricing:
For Windows XP, 2000, Me, NT, and 98. CyberDefender AntiSpyware 2006 is $39.95.
Fully functional 30-day trials of CyberDefender products are available for download at www.cyberdefender.com/demo30.
Wonder if it actually works?
I hear the new Windows Defender (beta)--successor to MS AntiSpyware--will detect rootkits.
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/secu...e/default.mspx
Yes it does - detects and removes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Welshjim
It'll try. The nasty thing about rootkits is that the system is lying -- the good ones are almost undetectable, certainly by automatic tools which run inside the infected OS.Quote:
Originally Posted by Welshjim
"Everyone Wants to 'Own' Your PC"
http://www.wired.com/news/columns/0,...rss.technology
Everyone Wants to 'Own' Your PC
"Security MattersWhen technology serves its owners, it is liberating. When it is designed to serve others, over the owner's objection, it is oppressive. There's a battle raging on your computer right now -- one that pits you against worms and viruses, Trojans, spyware, automatic update features and digital rights management technologies. It's the battle to determine who owns your computer.
"You own your computer, of course. You bought it. You paid for it. But how much control do you really have over what happens on your machine? Technically you might have bought the hardware and software, but you have less control over what it's doing behind the scenes."
To discuss this further, go to Sal_Gal's new thread at
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...d.php?t=205560
Cheers,
Linda
Reposted in correct thread.
http://discussions.virtualdr.com/sho...06#post1054206
Cheers,
Linda
SPAM removed by mod.
Looks like a settlement that makes everyone happy.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/05...it_settlement/
It would have been nice if the mainstream news outlets had picked this up and told everyone.
Doc
About rootkits or the settlement ?Quote:
Originally Posted by Doc
If the former, then where were you when this rootkit issue broke.
If the latter "rootkit settlement" currently gets 1,090,000 hits on google http://www.google.com.au/search?hl=e...e+Search&meta=
Talking about the settlement. It is not being mentioned on tv or radio here.
Doc
Did it get coverage last time or just spread like wildfire over the www ?
Only those people who got stung and 'geeks' on computer forums would probably be aware of it in the first place.
So coverage of a settlement might not mean much to anyone ?