Warning via MeFi:
Do you play Sony DRM-prot... computer? If so, you might be wide open in terms of security. It seems that Sony is installing an almost-impossible to find rootkit on the computers of purchasers of their music. Their EULA doesn't mention the fact that their "small, proprietary" program goes much too far, managing to bypass security software, firewalls, etc.

Sony Secretly Installs ... Computers

Mark Russinovich discovered a rootkit on his system. After much analysis, he discovered that the rootkit was installed as a part of the DRM software linked with a CD he bought. The package cannot be uninstalled. Even worse, the package actively cloaks itself from process listings and the file system.

"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 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."


Removing the rootkit kills Windows.

Could Sony have violated the the Computer Misuse Act in the UK? If this isn't clearly in the EULA, they have exceeded their privilege on the customer's system by installing a rootkit to hide their software.

SONY'S FUCKED! There are 181 stories about this on Google news at the moment -- which means at least 181 class action lawsuits WORLDWIDE and a significant DROP in copy-protected CD sales. Just a random sampling...

Study of Sony Anti-Piracy Software Triggers Uproar
Washington Post, United States - 18 hours ago
By Brian Krebs. Irate music fans who posted to dozens of online blogs vowing to never again buy Sony CDs as long as the company keeps ...

The Cover-Up Is the Crime
Wired News - 18 hours ago
Sony BMG is facing a cacophony of criticism this week following the revelation that some of its CDs are packed with special copy-protection software that ...

Sony plants secret controls on PCs
National Business Review, New Zealand - 18 hours ago
After being caught out by a researcher, Sony has admitted to planting a secret, invisible digital rights management tool on PCs when they play Sony CDs, a bit ...

Is Sony Trying to Kill the CD Format for Music?
PC World - 21 hours ago
By now, you've probably heard the news that Sony, the media giant, has been quietly installing hidden software on PCs, when people buy music albums published ...

Sony attacked over anti-piracy CD
BBC News, UK - 7 hours ago
By Mark Ward. Sony's music arm has been accused of using the tactics of virus writers to stop its CDs being illegally copied. One ...

Sony Facing the Music over Rootkits
Techtree.com, India - 9 hours ago
According to reports, Sony has been stealthily installing hidden software on PCs, when people try to play Sony BMG music albums on their computers. ...

Sony anti-piracy software under fire
Xinhua, China - 12 hours ago
BEIJING, Nov. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- After a chorus of criticism, Sony Corp.'s music division said Wednesday it is planting a secret, invisible ...

Sony rapped over rootkit on music CD
VNUNet.com, Netherlands - 14 hours ago
Sony has released a patch for a music CD anti piracy technology after security experts warned that it forms a potential security risk. ...

NICE GOING, FUCKHOLES!

How cumbersome and fuckin' ridiculous:

Sony Raids Hacker Playbook


Hypponen said the only way to uninstall the program in the conventional sense (without running the risk of hosing your system or CD-ROM drive) is to contact Sony BMG directly via a Web form and request removal.

At that point, a real, live person will call you back and ask for all kinds of information about your system, and your reason for wanting to remove the software. You're then directed to a Web page that downloads an ActiveX program (yes, you must be using Microsoft's Internet Explorer to do this), which determines what version is installed and reports that back to First4Internet. Then you get an e-mail containing a link to another site that downloads something that finally uninstalls the Sony program.

I hope this is the week that everyone in the world finds out what a root kit is. And I hope it's a week we look back on in amazement, as we consider just how far Sony was willing to go to criminalize consumers in its efforts to preserve control over its product. Because I believe this is the week that Sony effectively declared war on the consumer, - I knew I should've trademarked War On Consumers®, oh well - announcing what most of us had already suspected: fair use is a joke in the movie and record industry, and the companies who control mass-market content will truly stop at nothing to protect their profits.

[snip]

So, let's make this a bit more explicit. You buy a CD. You put the CD into your PC in order to enjoy your music. Sony grabs this opportunity to sneak into your house like a virus and set up camp, and it leaves the backdoor open so that Sony or any other enterprising intruder can follow and have the run of the place. If you try to kick Sony out, it trashes the place.

[snip]

By Wednesday, November 2, Sony had announced that it would, in conjunction with the company that developed this bad black hat idea in the first place (First4Internet) release a patch to antivirus companies so that hackers wouldn't, hopefully, be able to take advantage of the backdoor they just opened on your property. So, that solved the most immediate concern, but the only thing the patch does is reveal the antipiracy software. Presumably, you'd suffer the same PC-crippling effects if you tried to remove it, and Sony continues to insist, despite plenty of evidence to the contrary, that its components weren't harmful in the first place. As for the insanely draconian copy protection--it's still cheerily intact.

This is an unacceptable development in digital rights enforcement. I don't know how to put this any more clearly. Don't get me wrong--we've long since crossed the line. It's utterly absurd that we accept paying for music that will play on only one or two digital audio players, at best. It's absolutely insane that anyone ever tried to put out a CD that couldn't be ripped to a PC at all. It's a complete joke that we're sitting around anticipating the day when TiVo comes along to tell us when we have to watch a recorded show, and that it will choose when a recorded show might be deleted. I can't even believe cell phone carriers think it's OK to cripple cell phone features in order to protect their own moneymaking propositions. And Hollywood's proposed new Analog Hole legislation, which would criminalize nearly every digital video activity you can think of, is another column unto itself, and it's going to be a long one.

But this--using the tactics of criminals to invade our PCs without our knowledge and to expose us to further attack, just so you can keep us from, say, burning a mix CD and giving it to our friends--this is beyond the pale. And as many news sources are beginning to point out, there's some reason to think it might also be illegal, under the U.S. Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.

Companies: You will never get the increasingly technology-aware, mass media-consuming populace to support your right to copy protection or digital rights management unless they are on your side. And because we are increasingly technology aware, your ever-increasing assault on not only our fair use but also our common sense will virtually guarantee that we use our God-given ingenuity to find a way around whatever bizarre restrictions you see fit to impose. Why? Not because we're dying to break the law, but because you have sold us a crappy product, and, fundamentally, because it is not our responsibility to protect your profits.

What's the solution? In the near term, for us, it's not to buy any Sony CDs, and maybe not any Sony anything. In the longer term, it's to start agitating for a rewrite of copyright law in the manner so eloquently suggested recently by Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal. He suggests copyright law with actual teeth that can chomp on massive-scale piracy, but with broad exemptions for personal use, because excessive DRM is hampering innovation and alienating consumers. I couldn't put it any better. And companies? Sony? Are you really going to tell us that overhauling these outmoded rules is harder and more destructive than suing retirees over honest mistakes made by their 12-year-old grandsons? This is the path you're going to choose?

I'm truly sorry that there are, out there in the world, mass-production piracy operations that are digging into your bottom line, but you know what? I'm not one of them. Neither are most of the people who will be laboring under the nasty little flags, Trojan horses, and FairPlay/Plays For Sure doublespeak that you see fit to slap on the stuff we legitimately purchased.

And you know who's not going to labor under those restrictions? You know who's not even going to notice? The mass-production piracy operations, that's who. You know it, and I know it. So why are you engaged in this nickel-and-dime, small-time thrust-and-parry with me and my friends? Trust me, you're not going to make back the money by dropping viruses onto my PC, because my almighty dollar and I are going elsewhere--and you're probably not going to like where I end up.

Technology will march on. Technology is the reason we're in this fix in the first place, and technology will keep on giving us solutions to whatever irritating, invasive, and potentially illegal roadblocks you keep throwing in our path. And damned if we and our almighty dollars, no matter how long it takes, don't eventually win these little wars.

can you give me the cliff notes version of the story