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This topic comprises 6 pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6
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Author
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Topic: Sony puts malware on its music CDs.
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Frank Angel
Film God
Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 12-10-2005 06:47 PM
iTunes....hmmm. I have a friend who claims that when you purchase iTunes and load them from the player into your computer, the firmware writes the computer's ID into the iTunes pod. He had amassed a library of a few hundred tunes that he had no trouble synchronizing between the pod and the computer. His hard drive subsequently failed, but no problem, the tunes were all nicely copied on his pod.
So he bought a new computer and when he tried to upload the tunes back to new computer, he found to his surprise and a bit of a dismay, they wouldn't transfer from the pods back to the new computer. The pod knew it was not the computer which it was originally synced to, and it refused to upload his already bought-and-paid-for-in-full iTunes. So you say, OK, that's understandable, they don't want everyone going around giving off all those bought tunes to someone else's computer who didn't buy them.
Ah, but the Gestapo tactics don't stop there -- when he tried to upload them a second time, the iTunes pod said "Illegal Transfer" and ERASED ALL HIS TUNES!! Now he has no tunes on either his computer or his pod. All gone, in the name of copyright protection.
You see, shit like this kinda gives you a bit of an insight into the mind of the schlub who walks into a music conglomerate's corporate headquarters brandishing an Uzi and just starts spray firing anything and everything in sight.
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Randy Stankey
Film God
Posts: 6539
From: Erie, Pennsylvania
Registered: Jun 99
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posted 12-10-2005 10:53 PM
iTunes does, indeed, use "Digital Rights Management" on their downloadable music but:
1) Apple admits it up front.
2) No software is loaded onto the user's computer without consent.
The protection scheme that Apple uses does look at the serial number of the computer that's attempting to play the music but I doubt that anything in iTunes or the downloaded music files actually erases anything on the user's computer.
I have heard that, if iTunes malfunctions in a certain way, it can take out the music library but:
1) It's not intentional.
2) It's often recoverable.
3) I've never seen it happen, myself.
I have managed music on about a dozen computers using iTunes... Both Mac & Windows. I have seen some pretty STOOPIT people do some pretty brain-dead things to their computers. The two most common causes of problems with iTunes involve:
1) People moving or renaming the folder(s) that hold their music library.
2) Corruption/moving/renaming of the XML file that iTunes uses to keep track of the music library.
In every case, restoring the files to their original locations solved the problem. In the case of the XML file getting lost, it can be rebuilt in a pretty short time. The only things that REALLY get lost are the user's playlists and the playcount information.
As to iTunes not allowing files to be transferred between computers, you ARE allowed to do it but ONLY if the computer you are transfering to is "Authorized". When your friend bought the new computer he should have de-authorized the old one and authorized the new one. That problem wouldn't have happened, then. I.I.R.C. you are allowed to have up to 3 computers authorized at the same time. I don't believe that there is an overall lifetime limit to the number of times you may autorize and de-authorize any particular computer.
iTunes D.R.M. isn't that hard to crack, either. You can hit Google and find out how to do it in a fairly short time. However, few people even waste the time to crack the code because it's not as restrictive as most other kinds of D.R.M. Furthermore, simply burning the song to a CD then re-importing it removes the protection once and for all with only a negligable loss of quality.
The way I was told, Apple didn't even want to have D.R.M. on their downloads at first but they had to do it or else thee record companies wouldn't allow their stuff to be sold on iTunes.
So, whether you agree with iTunes' form of D.R.M or not, it all comes back to the record companies.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 12-22-2005 12:08 PM
Here's another new development on the Sony/BMG story:
Texas expands lawsuit against Sony/BMG
quote:
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - 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. and Bertelsmann AG.
Since several weeks have passed since this Sony rootkit scam first hit the news, I'm wondering if any business publications that track music industry sales have seen a noticeable downturn in sales over this problem.
The two camps in the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray format battle are trying to finalize their copy protection schemes. I'm wondering how those -cough- pay per view infrastructure -cough cough- I mean copy protection systems are going to be changed in light of the lawsuits.
No matter what scheme is developed, people on there in "cyberspace" will quickly crack the system. Piracy will still continue and the only people adversely affected by this stuff will be honest customers who actually bought the product. And that just makes me not want to buy at all.
Here's an analogy on it. I have a legitimately purchased upgrade of Adobe's Creative Suite 2 Premium package. It has all sorts of activation schemes in it that prevent me from running it on more than one computer simultaneously. It is limited to two installations and both computers have to be in my name. Compare that to a cracked version of Adobe CS2. I know people who have that on CD-R. They didn't pay for it, and they can install it on as many computers as they like. So, I, the honest customer, get lots of inconvenience out of the deal.
Usually bad customer service equals downturns in sales. Maybe that's why all those music companies have been merging with each other. Elminate competition so you can get away with bad customer service. But they're forgetting a critical thing. I make a living using Adobe's software. The music industry's product OTOH is not a necessity at all. I can do without it just fine.
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