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Old 11-20-2005, 02:32 PM   #1
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Default Sony, wot's the dope, man?

Here are a couple links about the Sony BMG scandal:

The Rootkit of All Evil | The New York Times, November 19, 2005

Quote:
SONY BMG can take two lessons from its recent wayward attempt to fend off digital piracy: One, in a world of technology-astute bloggers, it's not easy to get away with secretly infecting your customers' computers with potentially malicious code. And two, as many a politician has learned, explaining your own screw-up badly is often worse than the screw-up itself.

Or as Wired News put it, "The Cover-Up Is the Crime."

It all started on Halloween, when Mark Russinovich, a computer security researcher, discovered that the antipiracy software that a Sony BMG CD had installed on his machine was based on a "rootkit." Rootkits are often used by malicious hackers to disguise spyware, malware and other nasty stuff. Removing one can do damage, even destroying an operating system. Mr. Russinovich posted his tale on his blog, sysinternals.com/blog, and the pile-on commenced.

Sony BMG responded by offering a piece of software it said would remove the rootkit, but at the same time said the rootkit was "not malicious and does not compromise security." Thomas Hesse, president of Sony BMG's Global Digital Business, went on National Public Radio to say that "most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?"

Cory Doctorow on boingboing.net wrote: "What petulant jerks. Look, Sony, you got caught sleazing your customers' computers. Telling us that it wasn't so bad is just infuriating and insulting. An apology would have been better received."

Things grew worse for Sony BMG. The company angered many music fans with its complicated uninstall process, which required them to disclose their e-mail addresses and make multiple visits to sonybmg.com. (Several days later, researchers at Princeton asserted that the removal tool itself left computers vulnerable to attack, prompting Sony BMG to remove it temporarily.)

Antivirus companies said they had detected malicious software on the Internet that was aimed at the vulnerability created by the rootkit. Dan Goodin, a Wired News columnist, called for a boycott of Sony BMG.

This week, Sony BMG relented, somewhat, and announced a recall of all rootkit-containing CD's, in exchange for "clean" ones. Mr. Doctorow, less than impressed, called Sony BMG's statement "a non-apology apology."
Worth reading are the updates and accounts about it on boingboing.net:

Quote:
Latest news on Sony lawsuits

Mark sez, "This website tracks the class action lawsuits surrounding the Sony BMG Music Entertainment/First4Internet XCP Rootkit. Additionally, it offers information about how individuals who do not wish to wait for the class action can sue Sony in their local small claims court." Link (Thanks, Mark!), Sony Rootkit Roundup Part I, Sony Rootkit Roundup Part II.

posted by Cory Doctorow at 07:23:32 AM
IIRC, I found a story somewhere in those links about Sony reconsidering the anti-piracy system for PS3. That's a stupid idea, yes, but I don't think Sony are complete 'tards about it, especially now that they're gonna get sued big time (several lawsuits are brewing) over the audio cd ugliness:

Quote:
There are two class action lawsuits already filed, with more certainly on the way. One is based in New York and is designed to cover all US citizens [PDF], the other in California and focuses solely on Californians [ PDF]. It also appears that the Law Firm of Lawrence E. Feldman & Associates is planning to file suit soon.
sonysuit.com

What d'you guys think'll go on with the PS3 in this case? If Sony decide to implement it as we've heard, it could easily affect the sales of the console and further stain their reputation, giving MS and Nintendo better opportunity to snag shares of the market. But they'd still sell a lot of PS3s, I'm sure.
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Old 11-20-2005, 02:42 PM   #2
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They're definately going to sell a lot of PS3's, no matter what happens. But like the former king Nintendo fell, so could Sony just as easily. They've got to face the fact that Microsoft has a pretty strong set-up this time, and Nintendo aren't going to pussy out of this game.
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Old 11-20-2005, 03:44 PM   #3
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As I said before, I would jump ship to the Xbox if Sony put that garbage onto the PS3. I think they've learned their lesson with the audio CDs, though. In something as massive and expensive as the design and launch of a new console, I don't think they want to take their chances.
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Old 11-20-2005, 04:13 PM   #4
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Thing is that they're thinking of taking that chance. That they had already made the announcement of the anti-piracy system for PS3 confirms this. But at this point they're realizing how retarded they'd be if they chose to follow up on it, especially with their screwing people over with the audio cd deal.

Combine that with other factors - lack of quality online features, difficulty by devs to program for PS3, postponing PS3's release til end of next year, MS encroaching on the Japanese market and snagging top Japanese devs there, that multimillion dollar lawsuit over the force feedback controller patent breach, etc.
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Old 11-20-2005, 05:09 PM   #5
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I refuse to buy a PS3 because I hate all of those retarded Japanese games that come out for it.
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Old 11-21-2005, 03:59 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by temporaryscars
I refuse to buy a PS3 because I hate all of those retarded Japanese games that come out for it.
I love those retarded Japanese games
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Old 11-21-2005, 04:59 AM   #7
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Your console sending infomation back to HQ? I think it's already been done by Microsoft. I believe Halo 2 had a hidden surprise in it.

This story doesn't really have anything to do with the Playstation 3, rootkit technology doesn't really apply to consoles. DRM technology has been sending infomation back for years, Photoshop 7 (I think it was 7) did it.

The story is news because a) it's a rootkit, used to be invisible to conventional scanners, b) they didn't ask if they could install it (no where in the EULA does it say that you're going to install software, and the install is invisible, c) it has been exploited by hackers developing trojans because it was badly written, d) there are some bugs that make it impossible uninstall and has caused Windows to not detect a CD Drive.
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Old 11-22-2005, 12:47 AM   #8
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I still can't understand any copy protected cds. Not only does it make enjoying music you have LEGALLY aquired inconvenient. It does nothing to stop pirates from downloading the cds.

I like to have the mp3s on my hard drive anyway because i'd prefer to keep the cds safe.
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Old 11-22-2005, 09:13 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by temporaryscars
I refuse to buy a PS3 because I hate all of those retarded Japanese games that come out for it.
Like ICO or Shadow of the Colossus? Or maybe Okami
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Old 11-22-2005, 10:53 AM   #10
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Did someone say ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, and Okami?!!
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Old 11-22-2005, 10:56 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Intrepid Homoludens
Did someone say ICO, Shadow of the Colossus, and Okami?!!
That would be me sir
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Old 11-22-2005, 02:32 PM   #12
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Sony BMG Sued Over CD's With Anti-Piracy Software | The New York Times, November 22, 2005

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In separate legal actions yesterday, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an influential digital rights advocacy group in California, and the Texas attorney general filed lawsuits against the music publisher Sony BMG, contending that the company violated consumers' rights and traded in malicious software.

They are the latest in a series of blows to the company after technology bloggers disclosed this month that in its efforts to curb music piracy, Sony BMG had embedded millions of its music CD's with software designed to take aggressive steps to limit copying, but which also exposed users' computers to potential security risks.

The copy-protection software, called XCP, was bought by Sony BMG from a British company, First 4 Internet, and was installed on 52 recordings, totaling nearly five million discs, according to the music publisher, which is jointly owned by Sony and Bertelsmann.

In response to the concerns, the company posted a public apology on its Web site last week, began recalling the affected CD's from retail and warehouse shelves and offered restriction-free versions of the CD's - as well as MP3 files - to consumers in exchange for purchased CD's carrying the XCP software.

In a telephone call yesterday, Daniel M. Mandil, general counsel with Sony BMG, said that the company was "very keen to open up a dialogue with the Texas attorney general's office." And Thomas Hesse, Sony BMG's president for global digital business, added that "as a company, we are deeply committed to fixing this problem, and we are doing everything we can to get this right."

Cory Shields, a Sony BMG spokesman, also said that in mounting the recall and exchange program, the company had already responded substantially to concerns raised by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

The class-action suit filed by the foundation in State Superior Court in Los Angeles County yesterday, however, takes aim at a much broader range of Sony BMG titles than those identified in the recall - including 20 million CD's that used copy-protection software from another company, SunnComm International of Phoenix.

Sony BMG contends the SunnComm software has been installed on only 12 million CD's. In a letter to the foundation on Friday the company stated that while it would be "reviewing its use of copy protection on all of its compact discs," it did not believe that the SunnComm discs needed to be removed from the market.

Cindy Cohn, the legal director for the foundation, however, said that both the First 4 Internet and SunnComm copy-protection systems, at the very least, violated consumers' rights by failing to disclose properly what sort of software would be installed when they listened to the CD's on their computers, and what exactly that software would do.

Users do have to accept "license agreements" that appear on their computer screens before playing CD's protected by the First 4 Internet and SunnComm software, but the foundation called the terms of those agreements "outrageous" and "anti-consumer."

Only consumers playing the discs on Windows-based PC's are known to be affected by the copy-protection programs. Studies have shown that about 36 percent of CD buyers listen to the discs on a computer.

At least six other class actions have been filed against the company.

Meanwhile, the Texas suit against Sony BMG, which refers only to the copy-protection software developed by First 4 Internet, seeks $100,000 per violation of the state's Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act, which was passed by the Texas Legislature last spring and went into effect on Sept. 1.

It is the first such state action against Sony BMG.

"What's wrong about all this is that in an effort to protect against illegal copying, it was Sony BMG that engaged in illegal conduct," said the Texas attorney general, Greg Abbott. He added that Sony's desire to protect its intellectual property, however well intentioned, did not entitle it to violate Texas anti-spyware statutes.
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