RSS
Rootkits All Around: Universal Music Has It Too
from the no-surprise-there dept
I doubt this is surprising to anyone. But, following all the talk about Sony's rootkit-style copy protection found on some music CDs, people are looking to see who else the copy protection company works with. Riley turned up a press release, showing that the company is also outfitting certain Universal Music Group CDs with their special brand of malware copy protection -- even highlighting in the announcement that it's the same as found on SonyBMG CDs. Of course, given Universal Music's CEO Edgar Bronfman's history of believing he must control everything, it's no surprise at all that they'd be using this too. Given the lawsuits against adware firms for sneaky installs (and, recognizing that this rootkit stuff is actually much more dangerous by opening up additional holes in your computer), doesn't it seem like these record companies have just opened themselves up to a serious legal liability? They installed something on computers without asking or alerting you. They make it very, very, very difficult to remove. They break certain features of your computer and they open up a major security vulnerability that others can exploit. And then they call all their customers criminals. Can't imagine why they're having trouble with their existing business model.
20 Comments | Leave a Comment..
- DailyDirt: Autonomous Vehicles
- How Publishers Repeated The Same Mistake As Record Labels: DRM Obsession Gave Amazon Dominant Position
- Park Ranger Tases Guy Walking Dogs Without A Leash
- Brazilian Government Ordering Web Hosting Firms To Kill Domain Names They Don't Like
- Syrian President's Email Hacked... His Password Was 12345
Reader Comments (rss)
(Flattened / Threaded)
Rootkits All Around
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Rootkits All Around
Welcome to Linux...
Welcome to OS X...
Farewell, Windows...
[smile]
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Rootkits All Around
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Rootkits All Around
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Rootkits All Around
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
No Subject Given
What does one do with a Mac?
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
You become a Quark snob.. :)
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
Well, that's about it. Computers aren't good for anything else but whining.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Rootkits All Around
But you're right to be tired. The simplest answer is to (upgrade to WinXP if you're still using 9x/ME and) learn how to work with limited user accounts.
OTOH, if Big Music's next step is to add privilege escalation exploits to the malware, then yes, it was a temporary solution :-O
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Illegal
Found a reply website to Sony:
http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/form2.html
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Illegal
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
RE: Universal Music using XCP
http://www.xcp-aurora.com/press_article.aspx?art=aug_05_art3
No longer exists.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Any other offenders?
I had a great deal of difficulty deleting their software after it installed and changed some of my settings without permission, particularly, loading itself into my startmenu without permission.
While the EasyShare software is sitting in the faststart tray, the system runs at sub-286 speeds. When EasyShare is closed, the system returns to it's previous zippy self. My skillz are lacking, but it appears to use a lot of resources.
KODAK EasyShare Picture CD software came with both a Kodak Picture CD received as a result of Kodak film processing, and a Kodak camera that we purchased recently, so there is the potential for it to be installed on a lot of systems.
Nikon also distributes software with their digital cameras, but I haven't tried to remove it yet.
Mike
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
How many rootkits are there?
2.SunnComm
3.??? "Specific Harm/Aware"
4.??? ??? ???
I got #3. It's rootkit installed AOL to get internet access. AOL or it's logo was not anywhere on the CD label. I have verified that the CD installs AOL and hides files but does not make $SYS$ files like XCP. It also wrecked the PC.
Viruses make great copy protection.
If you don't have one, you don't want a copy.
But they don't sell very well.
BIOHAZARD WARNING:
DON'T PLAY CD'S ON INDUSTRIAL MACHINES!
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Any other offenders?
It uses flash cards.
That way, you'll never see your picture by accidentally clicking on a perv site.
Every now and then some spyware has hit the firewall when I was looking at digital camera pictures.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
what to do with a mac?
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Rootkits All Around
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: Re: Rootkits All Around
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: No Subject Given
And garageband is as pro as dance ejay or fruityloops.
Most people who do things with Macs, are emulating windows to do it.
Sorry James, youve learned the hard way.
Dont get me wrong, Mac and OSX is sweet for the little you can do with it. The very very little.
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Re: How many rootkits are there?
On the AOL note.. I have seen a few things that come with "free AOL" bundled but not labelled.. Usually its just an install exe and a shortcut to, but I wasent digging about so might have been more.
In thit case its prob legal as its not actually installing, but placing an installer. Besides after the whole IE vs Netscape ordeal, isnt anybody allowed to stick what they want anywhere?
[ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]
Add Your Comment