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Grex > Music3 > #202: The Twenty-Second "Napsterization" Item | |
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| Author |
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| 25 new of 53 responses total. |
charcat
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response 25 of 53:
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Nov 10 03:52 UTC 2005 |
Huh???? =^O.o^=
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naftee
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response 26 of 53:
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Nov 10 04:20 UTC 2005 |
lolol
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mcnally
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response 27 of 53:
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Nov 10 07:55 UTC 2005 |
(that *was* the name of the nebbishy control-freak in the "please
don't squeeze the charmin" ads, wasn't it?)
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krj
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response 28 of 53:
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Nov 10 17:59 UTC 2005 |
The "Sony Rootkit CD" story keeps growing. If the following report
holds up... *grrrrrr*
>>>"According to Computer Associates, the Sony software makes itself a
> default media player on a computer after it is installed. The software
> then reports back the user's Internet address and identifies which CDs
> are played on that computer. Intentionally or not, the software also
> seems to damage a computer's ability to "rip" clean copies of MP3s
> from non-copy protected CDs, the security company said.
>>>"It will effectively insert pseudo-random noise into a file so that
> it becomes less listenable," said Sam Curry, a Computer Associates
> vice president. "What's disturbing about this is the lack of notice,
> the lack of consent, and the lack of an easy removal tool."
Computer Associates is one of the antivirus firms which says it is
going to have their products delete the Sony DRM package.
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/security/soa/Antivirus_firms_target_Sony_rootk
it_/0,2000061744,39221702,00.htm
From other discussions, it is believed that Amazon.com does a good job
of identifying which Sony CDs contain DRM, and presumably the rootkit.
The new Kate Bush release for Sony, oddly, is not listed as a
protected CD, and on the velvetrope.com discussion, two people confirm
that the disc does not contain the rootkit.
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nharmon
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response 29 of 53:
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Nov 10 18:06 UTC 2005 |
Is Kate Bush related to George Walker Bush?
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mcnally
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response 30 of 53:
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Nov 10 18:41 UTC 2005 |
They each share about 97% of their DNA with chimpanzees..
..but don't get too excited, so do the rest of us.
Other than that, no relation so far as I know.
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krj
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response 31 of 53:
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Nov 10 18:42 UTC 2005 |
If nharmon is seriously asking that question, I'd say that 12 years
*was* too long for Kate to be away from the music business. :)
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tod
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response 32 of 53:
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Nov 10 18:43 UTC 2005 |
I really gotta wonder why anybody would burn Sony CDs in the first place.
You've already been suckered once into buying their stuff.
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krj
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response 33 of 53:
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Nov 10 19:56 UTC 2005 |
Why a Sony rootkitted CD might end up in your computer:
1) People might just be into using their computer as a
music audio source, either at home or at work.
2) People might want a backup copy for the car, where CDs could be
more vulnerable to scratching through careless handling.
Big Music has pretty much conceded this falls under fair use.
3) You might want to rip the tracks from the Sony CD you purchased
to load into your portable music player.
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mcnally
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response 34 of 53:
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Nov 10 20:05 UTC 2005 |
From a response on Slashdot that I found amusing:
> I'm still waiting for a worm that uses the Sony rootkit to hide itself,
> spreads to many computers, and then [launches a distributed-denial-of
> service attack against] sony.com.
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tod
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response 35 of 53:
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Nov 10 20:22 UTC 2005 |
AOL once had such a mishap.
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albaugh
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response 36 of 53:
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Nov 11 19:53 UTC 2005 |
Virus Uses Sony BMG Software to Hide on PCs
Los Angeles Times 11/11/05
by Reuters
Copyright 2003 / The Times Mirror Company
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A computer security firm said it had discovered the first virus that used music
publisher Sony BMG's controversial CD copy-protection software to hide on PCs
and wreak havoc.
Under a subject line containing the words Photo approval, a hacker has mass-
mailed the so-called Stinx-E Trojan virus to British e-mail addresses,
said British anti-virus firm Sophos.
When recipients click on an attachment, they install malware, which may tear
down a computer's firewall and give hackers access to a PC. The malware hides
by using Sony BMG software that is also hidden; the software is installed on
a computer when consumers play Sony's copy-protected music CDs.
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remmers
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response 37 of 53:
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Nov 12 12:45 UTC 2005 |
Sony has apparently withdrawn the rootkit. This just posted in the
Techdirt blog (http://tinyurl.com/dzp2v):
You can already see the case studies being written about how badly
Sony-BMG has handled this whole rootkit mess. First they absolutely
denied it was a problem. Then, when the attention didn't die down
immediately, they offered a "patch" and assumed that as long as they
announced they had a patch, everyone would stop paying attention.
Unfortunately, enough people kept paying attention and noticed that
the patch didn't help much, and in some cases made the situation
worse. Following that, they pulled out the desperation card of
basically saying what you don't know can't hurt you, which just made
things even worse for them and resulted in at least one, and
possibly more, lawsuits. So, now, two weeks after this was brought
to their attention, and days after virus writers started using the
rootkit to hide malware (which everyone told Sony was bound to
happen), Sony BMG has finally agreed to stop using the rootkit
technology... temporarily. Not only that, but they do so defiantly,
without an apology, saying there's really no risk and they still
have the right to use such technology, but they'll stop temporarily
as a "precautionary measure." Precautionary against what? It seems
mostly like precautionary against bad press, which they hope will
finally die down.
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nharmon
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response 38 of 53:
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Nov 12 13:17 UTC 2005 |
I read about that on Slashdot. Here is a quote from Stewart Baker,
policy czar for DHS: "It's very important to remember that it's your
intellectual property -- it's not your computer. And in the pursuit of
protection of intellectual property, it's important not to defeat or
undermine the security measures that people need to adopt in these days."
It was suggested that you keep that quote tucked away somewhere for when
Microsoft and the guv'mint starts advocating for "Trusted Computing".
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albaugh
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response 39 of 53:
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Nov 21 18:59 UTC 2005 |
Even the comics are hip to this debacle:
http://www.ucomics.com/foxtrot/2005/11/21/
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remmers
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response 40 of 53:
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Nov 29 14:01 UTC 2005 |
More Sony rootkit news:
It appears that First4Internet, the company that developed the rootkit
software used by Sony, may have used open source code in the product, in
violation of the open source license.
http://techdirt.com/articles/20051128/1412218_F.shtml
Boing Boing has uncovered messages by First4Internet programmers to
mailing lists asking for help in developing the software. They're an
amusing read.
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/27/prehistory_of_the_so.html
http://www.boingboing.net/2005/11/28/sony_rootkit_author_.html
The New York State attorney general is investigating and may seek penalties.
http://tinyurl.com/ad9to
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remmers
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response 41 of 53:
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Dec 4 12:31 UTC 2005 |
A google search on "kazaa" turn up this interesting message at the
bottom of the search page:
----
In response to a complaint we received under the US Digital Millennium
Copyright Act, we have removed 1 result(s) from this page. If you wish,
you may read the DMCA complaint that caused the removal(s) at
ChillingEffects.org.
----
Found this on Digg:
http://digg.com/security/Google_Blocking_Search_Results_Because_of_DMCA
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mcnally
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response 42 of 53:
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Dec 4 19:23 UTC 2005 |
If you don't mind, could you specify the terms of the search that generated
those results? I'd like to know more about what sort of things are being
blocked.
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drew
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response 43 of 53:
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Dec 4 20:24 UTC 2005 |
The linked page proports to be a complaint by the owner of Kazaa against a
series of websites with kazaa in the URL (eg, kazaalite.com, kazaa-france.com,
et) plus a few other sites, for distributing "unauthorized copies" of the
kazaa software.
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remmers
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response 44 of 53:
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Dec 5 13:21 UTC 2005 |
Re #42: The search term was simply "kazaa".
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krj
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response 45 of 53:
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Dec 16 21:47 UTC 2005 |
The Wall Street Journal covers the unhappy Christmas shopping season
of Big Music. Additional chatter from The Velvet Rope, allegedly a
music-biz discussion board.
The headline and sub-heads--
"Silent Night for Music Sales:
Holiday Buyers Spurn Tunes
As Industry Picture Worsens;
'Cesspool of Really Bad Bands'"
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB113469750280524159-cHiBMNTXDkDv9L46K
_JDaIjOcy8_20061215.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
http://www.velvetrope.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB1&Number=722160&page=1&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=2&fpart=1
(( no tinyurl for you!!! ))
Quote:
>> "Music sales at Virgin Megastores' 20 North American locations are
down nearly 20%... Other music retailers report similar numbers."
>> "During the crucial Thanksgiving week, the top 10 albums sold 40%
fewer copies than the top 10 albums during the same week in 2004."
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mcnally
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response 46 of 53:
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Dec 16 21:51 UTC 2005 |
Who are we supposed to be buying this holiday season? I can't
offhand think of any new music I'm excited about and I doubt I'm
the only one.. I'm mildly interested in the boxed set that was
just released of little-known tracks by sixties girl-group bands
but not enough to invest in it..
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marcvh
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response 47 of 53:
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Dec 16 21:59 UTC 2005 |
Well, Kevin Federline's album isn't out yet, so I guess there's not
much. I think that people in our age bracket are supposed to be buying
box-sets of the groups we loved in our adolescence. It's either that or
The Pussycat Dolls.
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remmers
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response 48 of 53:
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Dec 18 11:51 UTC 2005 |
(What if the groups you loved in your adolescence were things like the
New York Philharmonic, the Cleveland Symphony Orchestra, and the
Budapest String Quartet?)
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marcvh
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response 49 of 53:
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Dec 18 21:24 UTC 2005 |
Are there no box-sets of them? Either that or you could buy them on
SACD, which would no doubt make Sony happy. The trouble is most of
their music is timeless, which doesn't make it bad music but does make
for poor nostalgia.
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