[Melanie68]

Sony to Supend Making Antipiracy CDs

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Yeah, I read a similar story on BBC News. What angers me is that before retracting it they bullhsitted and played down the dangerous side effect of this software and didn't immediately respond to their customers and the press. They knew what they were doing when they snuck this crap into their cds. And then they waited until at least three malwares showed up taking advantage and piggybacking on their anti-piracy software to do anything about it. I seriously hope those lawsuits against them go through.

Sony defended its right to prevent customers from illegally copying music but said it will halt manufacturing CDs with the "XCP" technology as a precautionary measure. "We also intend to re-examine all aspects of our content protection initiative to be sure that it continues to meet our goals of security and ease of consumer use," the company said in a statement.

Your goals of security? Your goals? What about your customers' goals?!! Stupid ass gits.

[Erwin_Br]

Originally Posted by pinkgothic

Heeeey... c_c I like Sony. Sure, they're dumb sometimes, sometimes really, really dumb, and someone should pan them... in fact, before I go on, let me...



...but they can still be lovable. Sometimes.

Right?

...

RIGHT?

Sony's also missed the boat on LCD and Plasma TV's, a market now dominated by Samsung, Philips (LG) and Panasonic. They have become too big and slow.

--Erwin

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Sony have been fixated on their game media for a long time now. I remember how, during the 1980s, they were the leaders of innovation in personal portable music systems.



I owned the gold Walkman on the far left when I was in high school (I was working part-time at a bank and had lots of spending money). It was incredible, like some cool toy. When you're not using it, you take the cassette out and the unit literally collapses to the exact size of the plastic case the cassette originally came in (see the one lying down in the pic). It was beautiful! I made countless cassette tape mixes to listen to for hours on end (thanks to my brothers' state-of-the-art stereo system in the basement).

[Jayel]

I hate Sony. They manufacture laptops that overheat and break and they refuse to admit that there's any problem with the design. I'm sure their attitude extends to other hardware they make. PSPs and whatnot.

[Erwin_Br]

Originally Posted by Jayel

I hate Sony. They manufacture laptops that overheat and break and they refuse to admit that there's any problem with the design. I'm sure their attitude extends to other hardware they make. PSPs and whatnot.

Their CRT monitors used to suck too. Which is weird, because their TV's were always state of the art.

--Erwin

[Aj_]

A button on the PSP is too close to the screen and sticks, but it's not a fault according to sony, it's a "feature". The optical disk drive on both the PS1 and PS2 seemed to break and have to replaced if you were a frequent user. The miniDisc player was a pretty pathetic product and made obsolete by HDD based mp3 players.

Their wega TVs used to be great, but I wouldn't buy a Sony LCD TV any time soon, I think they put their effort in plasma, and no one buys plasma anymore.

[reno6]

Originally Posted by Aj_

A button on the PSP is too close to the screen and sticks, but it's not a fault according to sony, it's a "feature".

I love that excuse. "Your PSP isn't broken in half, it's just extra-portable." "Yes your screen has a big crack in the middle. You got a unique prototype PSP DS." "That burning smell? That's a feature. It's aromatherapy."

[RLacey]

Microsoft to remove Sony CD code...

[Melanie68]

Digital Rights Mismanagement

[Avinash_Tyagi]

Originally Posted by Crunchy in milk

There is talk of a patent application by some guys at Sony for that sort of thing, but if it where akin to the above program it would require every ps3 to have internet access to enforce. You put your disc in and the ps3 would send off your machine id and the disc's id to a remote server and never the two shall part... and you could never play a game without getting an online tick of approval (Bioware's premium modules work the same way).

That's not likely. Especially given their stance on no central/organised online service the likes of Xbox Live for the PS3. Online play is strictly up to developers once again (as with the PS2). You may see ps3's able to write data to the blue ray discs but as you say, its a bold (crazy?) move and you'd want to have a monopoly on the entertainment market before doing it. But Sony have been stupid in the past when it comes to DRM (see above and their 60 day 'loan' that costs you full retail for their eBooks). So even if it is pure speculation/rumor its not wholly unbelievable from Sony. Because they're Sony.

Well they could require you to go online to recieve a code to play any game you have, and then spring the trap on you.

[Intrepid Homoludens]

Follow up....

Sony fixes security hole in CDs, again | The New York Times and CNET News, December 8, 2005

Sony BMG is replacing a patch for its CD copy protection software after Princeton University researchers found a security flaw in the update.

Sony announced on Tuesday that a new risk had been found with a batch of 27 of its compact discs, which automatically install antipiracy software on hard drives when put into a computer's disc drive. Along with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, the record label released a patch aimed at fixing that flaw.


However, Princeton computer science professor Ed Felten wrote in his blog on Wednesday that the patch itself could open computers to attack by hackers.


Sony executives said Thursday that they are working as closely as possible with security professionals to address the issues identified by Felten, and would have a new patch available by midday that day.


"The security space is a dynamic one, as we have learned," said Thomas Hesse, president of Sony's global digital businesses. "Our goal is to be diligent and swift, and we have gone to experts to handle this issue."


Sony's ongoing troubles with copy protection software highlight the delicate line that record labels and other content companies are walking in trying to protect their products from widespread duplication.


On the one hand, labels have watched their revenues decrease over the past several years, as more people swap songs online and burn CDs for friends and acquaintances.


However, the labels' technological attempts to create a copy-protected CD that retains compatibility with millions of old CD players have opened them up to the unfamiliar hazards of software development. Several of Sony's attempts to patch security holes in its antipiracy software over the past weeks have turned out to raise their own new problems, instead of quelling concerns.


The current security flaw in Sony's discs is related to software produced by SunnComm Technologies and affects 27 titles that remain on the market.


It's separate from an earlier vulnerability that affected 52 other titles and that related to antipiracy software written by another company, First 4 Internet. Those titles have been recalled from store shelves.


The flaw found by Felten could allow Sony's original patch to trigger malicious software on a computer, if that software was already in place when the patch was installed.