Pay for Sony CD, and get extra "Freebies" as well - never mind if u dont want them, or are not even supposed to know about them
dont we all just love people thinking that they are smarter than us, and thinking that they know what is better for us, than us?? Or wait - maybe they dont really have theirour interests at heart after all... And now it seems like the International Behemoths are trying to cut in on the action of the Local Behemoths as well... - that of being "Extremely Paternalistic". OHH NO!!! What's going to happen??? Our Paternalistic Monopoly is being encroached upon....
Breaking story on Halloween - "Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far"
In short, just simply run that cd player software (windows only) on ur system, and u will get a rootkit installed ("for your own good(tm), copyright (c) sing-sing-sing, gah-gah-gah") courtesy of... well, u know who. And what exactly is a "rootkit", u might ask?? Good question. Good answer to be found here (or maybe not - make up ur own mind).
A few selected quotes:
"At that point I knew conclusively that the rootkit and its associated files were related to the First 4 Internet DRM software Sony ships on its CDs. Not happy having underhanded and sloppily written software on my system I looked for a way to uninstall it. However, I didn’t find any reference to it in the Control Panel’s Add or Remove Programs list, nor did I find any uninstall utility or directions on the CD or on First 4 Internet’s site. I checked the EULA ["End User License Agreement"] and saw no mention of the fact that I was agreeing to have software put on my system that I couldn't uninstall. Now I was mad."
"The entire experience was frustrating and irritating. Not only had Sony put software on my system that uses techniques commonly used by malware to mask its presence, the software is poorly written and provides no means for uninstall. Worse, most users that stumble across the cloaked files with a RKR scan will cripple their computer if they attempt the obvious step of deleting the cloaked files."
An update, 11 Nov 2005 -> "Sony halts production of CDs with copy-protection scheme"
Some of them nice quotes: (emphasis mine)
Sony's announcement came one day after leading security companies disclosed that hackers were distributing malicious programs over the Internet that exploited the anti-piracy technology's ability to avoid detection. Hackers discovered they can effectively render their programs invisible by using names for computer files similar to ones cloaked by the Sony technology. *(See also this, and this.)
"This is a step they should have taken immediately," said Mark Russinovich, chief software architect at Internals Software who discovered the hidden copy-protection technology Oct. 31 and posted his findings on his Web log. He said Sony did not admit any wrongdoing, nor did it promise not to use similar techniques in the future.
Security researchers have described Sony's technology as "spyware," saying it is difficult to remove, transmits without warning details about what music is playing, and that Sony's notice to consumers about the technology was inadequate. Sony executives have rejected the description of their technology as spyware.
After Russinovich criticized Sony, it made available a software patch that removed the technology's ability to avoid detection. It also made more broadly available its instructions on how to remove the software permanently. Customers who remove the software are unable to listen to the music CD on their computer.
Breaking story on Halloween - "Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far"
In short, just simply run that cd player software (windows only) on ur system, and u will get a rootkit installed ("for your own good(tm), copyright (c) sing-sing-sing, gah-gah-gah") courtesy of... well, u know who. And what exactly is a "rootkit", u might ask?? Good question. Good answer to be found here (or maybe not - make up ur own mind).
A few selected quotes:
"At that point I knew conclusively that the rootkit and its associated files were related to the First 4 Internet DRM software Sony ships on its CDs. Not happy having underhanded and sloppily written software on my system I looked for a way to uninstall it. However, I didn’t find any reference to it in the Control Panel’s Add or Remove Programs list, nor did I find any uninstall utility or directions on the CD or on First 4 Internet’s site. I checked the EULA ["End User License Agreement"] and saw no mention of the fact that I was agreeing to have software put on my system that I couldn't uninstall. Now I was mad."
"The entire experience was frustrating and irritating. Not only had Sony put software on my system that uses techniques commonly used by malware to mask its presence, the software is poorly written and provides no means for uninstall. Worse, most users that stumble across the cloaked files with a RKR scan will cripple their computer if they attempt the obvious step of deleting the cloaked files."
An update, 11 Nov 2005 -> "Sony halts production of CDs with copy-protection scheme"
Some of them nice quotes: (emphasis mine)
Sony's announcement came one day after leading security companies disclosed that hackers were distributing malicious programs over the Internet that exploited the anti-piracy technology's ability to avoid detection. Hackers discovered they can effectively render their programs invisible by using names for computer files similar to ones cloaked by the Sony technology. *(See also this, and this.)
"This is a step they should have taken immediately," said Mark Russinovich, chief software architect at Internals Software who discovered the hidden copy-protection technology Oct. 31 and posted his findings on his Web log. He said Sony did not admit any wrongdoing, nor did it promise not to use similar techniques in the future.
Security researchers have described Sony's technology as "spyware," saying it is difficult to remove, transmits without warning details about what music is playing, and that Sony's notice to consumers about the technology was inadequate. Sony executives have rejected the description of their technology as spyware.
After Russinovich criticized Sony, it made available a software patch that removed the technology's ability to avoid detection. It also made more broadly available its instructions on how to remove the software permanently. Customers who remove the software are unable to listen to the music CD on their computer.
This post is not sponsored by anybody, but by your author's own precious time, special effort, and hard work.
0 HaHaas:
Give Me a HaHaa!!!
<< Home