Sony CDs could wreck your computer.
"Mark Russinovich couldn’t understand how the rootkit had sneaked onto his system. An expert on the internals of the Windows operating system, he was careful when it came to computer security and generally had a pretty good idea of what was running on his PC at any given time. And yet the security tool he was using to check his PC was pretty clear: it had found the “rootkit” cloaking software typically used by virus and spyware writers.
After a bit of detective work, Russinovich eventually tracked down the source: a Sony BMG Music Entertainment CD, entitled Get Right with the Man, performed by country music duo Donnie and Johnny Van Zant.
It turns out that Sony is using techniques normally only seen in spyware and computer viruses in order to restrict the unauthorised copying of some of its music CDs. Sony’s software, licensed by Sony from a UK company called First 4 Internet, has become the basis of a dispute that once again pits computer advocates against an entertainment company experimenting with new ways to prevent unauthorised copying of its products." Link: Computerworld. More at NBR.
So, the $64,000 question is, will the new Bic Runga album be destroying computers up and down the land?
1 comment:
Sony had shipped nearly two million CDs using the code, but only on discs released in the US and only for "a limited number of artists" -- although the company said it was working on releases aimed at other countries.
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