Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

http://www.xcp-aurora.com/press_related.aspx

Funny how it stops in Aug 2005! :erm:

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

Heh, well spotted!

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4441928.stm

Oh, they are recalling the discs now!

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

Full list of CD's that contain the XCP software can be found here:
http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/titles.html
in case you wanted to know.

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

Interesting that the list of only about 20 is now nearly 60!

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

The irony!

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

Anyone know if this rubbish gets installed with SonicStage? (the software Sony uses for its Network Walkmans (Walkmen?) :confused::confused:

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

:doh:

:rofl: This whole affair just gets funnier and funnier!

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

So that's MS and LAME looking for lawyers ! :bsmack:


Don't forget also the uninstaller leaves PCs open to malware. oops:

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

Incidentally, considering this rootkit was only found on 20 CD's that were sold in the US (according to Sony... who also claimed it doesn't call home :rolleyes: nor does it damage Windows :rolleyes: ), it's rather surprising to find that it has popped up so prevalently across the entire globe...

According to Dan Kiminsky, quoted in this Wired article, "The damage spans 165 countries, with the top five countries being Spain, the Netherlands, Great Britain, the United States and Japan, which, with more than 217,000 DNS servers reporting knowledge of Sony-related addresses, takes the top spot."

Wired also have another interesting article that discusses the lack or response from antivirus vendors (except F-Secure) until the public outcry was so large that their hands were forced. It makes some interesting points :)

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

Many buyers in the UK source their CDs from the US, or buy [IMPORT] CDs. These are (were) available on Amazon.co.uk as Imports.

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

Who are apparently offering refunds if you bought one.

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

Trouble is that the damage has been done... these users - which equals in excess of ½ million users - are the ones known to have listened to their CDs on their PCs and have unknowingly installed a rootkit as a result. Sony will reimburse these users for the financial cost of the CD, fine... I have no problem with that, but Sony need to also address the problem of the software that they've installed on these customers' PCs too.

Currently, the removal tool that Sony have made available leaves portions of the rootkit on the machines which can be exploited by virus writers. If you use one of the other available removal tools, you risk being left with a borked Windows install (and I bet Sony don't intend reimbursing users for getting their PCs fixed). Sony really need to address these issues immediately.

Personally, I'd like to see Sony be prosecuted under DMCA rules within the US, and the Computer Misuse Act within the UK. Individuals have been charged under these laws for doing less than Sony. It's not going to happen though :(

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

Re: [Merged] Sony Digital Rights Management probs
 

I found a useful snippet while trawling through the furore this affair has raised:

Paste the following string into Notepad and save as $sys$eicar.txt

X5O!P%@AP[4\PZX54(P^)7CC)7}$EICAR-STANDARD-ANTIVIRUS-TEST-FILE!$H+H

Your AV should detect this and warn you immediately; certainly McAfee VirusScan Online does - it correctly identifies this as the EICAR virus, a test virus. Interestingly, it says the file can't be cleaned. :) I tried fooling it by giving the file a different name, but VSO still detected it. At least I know my PC hasn't got that damn rootkit.

If your AV doesn't detect it, you may have a problem - have a look at Mark Russinovich's blog to find out what to do.