DescentBB

Well here's proof of how RIAAs measures can cause harm to others. Sony came up with the idea of making their CDs carry a Windows rootkit which installs itself to your PC without permission and makes the CD uncopyable.

Unfortunately not only does the rootkit F**k up your PC requiring a reinstall it also allows other processes to get onto your PC and hide themselves from anything else.

The first example of this is a WoW cheat that is completely undetectable by Blizzard's Warden program but how long is it going to be before virus makers figure out that they can exploit this to make bot nets that are completely undetectable to anti-virus and anti-spyware programs?

To be honest I think this sort of thing has a potential class action lawsuit stamped all over it. If Sony have made it easier to compromise a machine without even bothering to warn the user first I see no reason why they can't be prosecuted under anti virus laws.

I'll tell you one thing for certain. I'm not letting a single Sony CD touch my PC from now on. I'm gonna download everything I want by any band they publish

Again, the fact is that most users of Sonyâ??s DRM wonâ??t realize that they even have software that can be uninstalled. Also, the comment does not explain why Sony wonâ??t simply make the uninstaller available as a freely accessible download like they do the patch, nor why users have to submit two requests for the uninstaller and then wait for further instructions to be emailed (I still have not received the uninstaller). The only motivation I can see for this is that Sony hopes youâ??ll give up somewhere in the process and leave their DRM software on your system. Iâ??ve seen similar strategies used by adware programs that make it difficult, but not impossible, for you to remove them.

Ferno wrote:I can't remember when I bought a CD last.

Microsoft is to re-christen its anti-spyware software, currently a beta product still in development, as Windows Defender. On debut the product will protect against a range of threats including rootkits and keystroke loggers as well as spyware applications.... blah blah blah...

MD-2389 wrote:So turn off auto-run.

Sarge wrote:Here, this'll fix it all!

http://www.theregister.com/2005/11/07/windows_defender/

Microsoft is to re-christen its anti-spyware software, currently a beta product still in development, as Windows Defender. On debut the product will protect against a range of threats including rootkits and keystroke loggers as well as spyware applications.... blah blah blah...

I'm feel confident that M$ will protect us... oh yea, how did Sony figure this out again?

First you have to go to Sonyâ??s support site, guess that the uninstall information is in the FAQ, click on the uninstall link and then fill out a form with your email address and purchasing information, possibly adding yourself to Sonyâ??s marketing lists in the process.

Lobber wrote:Spybot, Search & Destroy, has a feature (setting) that prevents any program or application from changing any registry entry without your permission. Whenever I'm installing anything new, it will interrupt that install program to ask me if its ok to change that registry entry.

I have a feeling that it would also stop any cd from doing the same.

"Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" he (Sony BMG's Thomas Hesse) huffed.

Virus writers have begun taking advantage of Sony-BMG's use of rootkit technology in DRM software bundled with its music CDs.

Sony-BMG's rootkit DRM technology masks files whose filenames start with "$sys$". A newly-discovered variant of of the Breplibot Trojan takes advantage of this to drop the file "$sys$drv.exe" in the Windows system directory.

Sophos's tool will remove this cloaking behaviour but will not remove the software components installed by Sony-BMG, the deletion of which might cause system instability. But this very cloaking means it may not be obvious to users that they need the tool. Around 20 CDs from Sony-BMG which have shipped an estimated 2m copies around the world feature the controversial DRM technology, developed by UK security developer First4Internet. Sophos obtained advice from First4Internet in developing its tool.

Birdseye wrote:You're

Birdseye wrote:You're

roid wrote:

Birdseye wrote:You're

huh?

(During a discussion concerning the Sony rootkit controversy.)

[21:11] <DmncAtrny> I will write on a huge cement block "BY ACCEPTING THIS BRICK THROUGH YOUR WINDOW, YOU ACCEPT IT AS IS AND AGREE TO MY DISCLAIMER OF ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS WELL AS DISCLAIMERS OF ALL LIABILITY, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL, THAT MAY ARISE FROM THE INSTALLATION OF THIS BRICK INTO YOUR BUILDING."
[21:11] <DmncAtrny> And then hurl it through the window of a Sony officer
[21:11] <DmncAtrny> and run like hell