Here's hoping I can explain this so someone can understand what I'm talking about. I've decided not to buy CDs from Sony/BMG now (even though I'm on a Mac and is unaffected by this).
The short story:
Sony is trying to copyright protect their CDs with something usually used for malicious reasons to screw up your system. With that program installed, it also makes your computer vulnerable to hacks and viruses. Trying to remove it might damage your computer.
The long version:
They are secretly installing hidden software on computer systems from Audio CDs you purchase! It is supposed to ensure the CD can only be played using the media player that ships on the CD itself and that limits 3 copies at the most be made. But the way they're doing it is using Malware (malicious software) as a trojan horse to mess up your system. It basically hides a rootkit on your system and actually makes it easy for any hacker to enter it or makes your system vulnerable to viruses. Rootkits are difficult to detect and are things you want to avoid downloading by accident. They are difficult to remove and can potentially damage your system.
It's really technical but here is the full story in detail:
Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far
Apparently, if you do not have ADMIN rights and you use the CD it won't install onto the system.
Way to go Sony. Now I don't want to legitimately buy music.
The short story:
Sony is trying to copyright protect their CDs with something usually used for malicious reasons to screw up your system. With that program installed, it also makes your computer vulnerable to hacks and viruses. Trying to remove it might damage your computer.
The long version:
They are secretly installing hidden software on computer systems from Audio CDs you purchase! It is supposed to ensure the CD can only be played using the media player that ships on the CD itself and that limits 3 copies at the most be made. But the way they're doing it is using Malware (malicious software) as a trojan horse to mess up your system. It basically hides a rootkit on your system and actually makes it easy for any hacker to enter it or makes your system vulnerable to viruses. Rootkits are difficult to detect and are things you want to avoid downloading by accident. They are difficult to remove and can potentially damage your system.
It's really technical but here is the full story in detail:
Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far
Apparently, if you do not have ADMIN rights and you use the CD it won't install onto the system.
Way to go Sony. Now I don't want to legitimately buy music.
Posted by Stephanie Chan at 13:05 MT [ link to this entry ]
3 Comments:
At 6:28 AM, JK Parkin said…
I had this problem when I bought the Foo Fighters CD this summer. When I would upload it to iTunes, the songs played funky.
I was able to remove the software pretty easily. And I found out if you don't let the autoplay start up when you put the CD in, you can avoid this altogether.
At 9:03 AM, little noodle said…
hello :D
whats your favourite kind of biscuit?
At 9:35 PM, George said…
Check out this little bit about the Sony DRM rootkit on the Suicide Girls technology news section:
http://suicidegirls.com/news/technology/12763/
Funny stuff.
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