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Taking on rootkits with hardware
December 13, 2005 -
Sony's rootkit fiasco
November 21, 2005 -
Sony offers new CDs, MP3s for recalled discs
November 18, 2005 -
FAQ: Sony's 'rootkit' CDs
November 11, 2005
The record label has agreed to compensate buyers of CDs that contained the XCP and MediaMax DRM programs and to provide software utilities to allow consumers to uninstall both types of software from their computer.
The furor over Sony's DRM software began at the end of October when a U.S. programmer discovered that XCP software on a Sony music CD had installed copy-restriction software on his computer that was hidden using a rootkit. Antivirus companies later discovered Trojan horses that exploited this software to avoid detection and found that another type of Sony DRM, MediaMax, also posed a security risk.
During November a number of individuals filed cases against Sony at courts across America. These cases were granted class action status Dec. 1.
Sony BMG met lawyers from the firm handling the class action suit in early December and engaged in "virtual round-the-clock settlement negotiations", according to the settlement filing, which has been posted on the Sunbelt Software Web site.
In the settlement filing, Sony states that it will immediately recall all XCP CDs and replace them with non-content-protected CDs. It has also agreed to offer incentives to U.S. customers to "ensure that XCP CDs are promptly removed from the market." Sony first released details about its CD recall scheme in late November.
Customers who exchange their XCP CD can either download three albums from a list of over 200 titles, or claim a cash payment of $7.50 and a free download of one album. To claim this compensation, customers must return their XCP CDs to Sony or provide the company with a receipt showing they returned or exchanged the CD at a retailer after Nov. 14.
Sony is not recalling MediaMax CDs, but has agreed to compensate buyers of these albums by allowing them to download one free album, as well as offering them MP3 versions of the music on the MediaMax album.
The settlement filing is awaiting approval by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Ingrid Marson of ZDNet UK reported from London.
See more CNET content tagged:
class action, class action lawsuit, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, album, settlement
??????
So If I buy 1 album I can download another album and get mp3's of the same album
What if I buy the album and don't put it in my PC that way I could get two CD's (+ rootkit) for the price of one (techically 3, but 2 are the same music)
http://otherthingsnow.blogspot.com/
WELL now...it appears that there may be room to say, "crappy music is over-priced," afterall!
Sony, BAH!
action suits. But Sony will pay a severe price in the market due to
consumer fury. The government doesn't always have to do the
punishing.
Sony should be PUNISHED, not given a slap on the wrist!
I have bought my last Sony ANYTHING!
Sony should be PUNISHED, not given a slap on the wrist!
I have bought my last Sony ANYTHING!
I wonder what the penalty would be if I installed a rookit on one of their servers? $7.50 and visits to my website? Highly unlikely.
I say jail time for the "genius" that thought this crap up and a REAL fine to Sony.
then on top of that the other free three downloads or $7.50 +
one download. It is not great, but is not quite as bad. They are
also providing software so that end-users don't have to hire
someone to remove that crappy software. I think they should
have gotten more than they did, but it is still a reasonable
settlement.
Also , who can forget the fictitious public recall announcement, of all 'XCP' disks, where only AMAZON.COM, did the recall, and all other retaillers, just kept on selling the junk to the unsuspecting public!
Further all, other country divisions, of SONY BMG, point blank refuse to accept any responsibility whatsover, for any division that include this very illegal security nightmare software!, on it's audio cd's sold at retail level, in either home country and/or if exported as well(probably expains the 'No export, delete at the border part of the EULA! as exposed by EFF').
Oh well, at least we now know, you the customer, in any country in the world is always last, will only ever remain so to be treated as either criminals or sheep to be fleeced at every opportunity!
For me, I will totally avoid the purchase of any new technology created by and/or sold by all that is SONY, for who knows what hidden unwanted extra's and software that compromises computer security comes with these devices?
To me the motto of SONY in this century is "BUY CHEAP at wholesale from other makers mostly & SELL AT MAXIMUM PREMIUM PRICES TO FLEECE THE PUBLIC!"
Ah choices, don't you love them!
"Accept certain inalienable truths: prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too will get old"
Mr. Connick's management company is surprised and did not authorize any DRM program to be loaded onto his CD. The question remains, "How will this affect the artists such as Mr. Connick, Jr.?"
The executives and all parties that are responsible for deploying this scheme to the general public should be held to the same standard as Kevin Mitnick.
Steven Moshlak
www.computerlegalexperts.com
Commercial CDs are not burned, they are manufactured with a
stamping process. Roughly, the way it works, a replication
company gets a master file (could be on a disc, tape, or hard
drive) which is then imported into a computer. The computer
then laser etches (or burns) a master disc onto a nickel or glass
master. Once all the data has been etched onto the master, the
disc is then closed (usually by writing "dummy" info into the
space not used).That master is then used as a mold in a Clean
Room environment to _stamp_ (or "press") the commercial discs
that we buy in stores.
Because the masters have been "closed" properly, it's usually
hard to tell without very close inspection where the useful data
ends and the dummy data begins. It's that professional looking
finish that distinguishes the manufactured CDs from what you
get on "burned" discs.
Economically speaking, if you're running more than 500 discs,
you should be getting them stamped, not burned. It's my guess
that Harry Connick's CDs are probably produced in larger runs
than 500. I couldn't even begin to tell you why Columbia's
Connick CD looked "abnormal," because if they were
manufactured correctly, you couldn't tell anything was wrong by
appearances alone.
Eric W.
A friend of mine got a nice new Sony CD for Christmas. I won't bore you with the horror story but let's just say it's costing him hundreds of dollars and lot's of time and lost data to recoup. He's really pissed off! He's also one example of a pissed off EX Sony product buyer.
I suggest you learn from his example and do the same.
In the case of Magicd if your going to blame somebody blame windows, for being retardedly vulnerable to attacks.
to send a message to all multinational giants that any
irregularities on their part towards its clientele will have
detrimental effects on all their business. It's the only recourse
that we, the consumer, have to curb the immense power these
companies have.
These companies have become so huge, we don't even know
what record companies are actually fronts for SONY/BMG (I
suspect that SONY themselves may not know that). There needs
to be balance in the marketplace, but with such gargantuan
companies who have immense lobying power, the only recourse
we have is to affect all related and non-related entities.
I am not happy about this kind of settlement. It a slap in the face
to anyone who has had to deal with fixing their PC.
A reasonable settlement should include the equivalent of a
couple of hours worth of technical support from a reputable PC
serviceman.
Be a red herring!
Man these, Karl Rove Clones are sure working overtime to convince the suckers, like the funny ha ha gotcha again non existent recall!
More Sony proprietary scams.
Keep in mind that the RIAA never proved any loss, just espoused the theory that loss was occurring. Shouldn't each consumer be granted the same assumption - that the highest loss possible actually did occurr and they need to be compensated for that loss to keep them economically viable?
The ROOT cause is Microsoft that knowingly ships an operating system that ALLOWS programs to be secretly installed without any warning to the user that a ROOT KIT is being installed. This wasn't even a "bug" or "exploit"--It is absolutely WRONG intended behavior.
What if your car computer accepted upgrades from a CD placed in your dashboard player? Then your car brake system fails due to 50% CPU use because of the root kit? Who's to blame then? -- Delco the CD player maker or GM the car maker..... GM would be blasted. MSFT is no different in this case and is 90% at fault and needs to be held accountable.
Therefore MSFT is next in line for damages, and I am betting will pay a heck of a lot more in the end than Sony did for destroyed computers.
Where's the compensation for any service fees people had to pay while getting their computers fixed?!
This just smells of a bunch of greedy lawyers and high level executives having a well-fed meeting. In this meeting, they use the dark corporate arts to conjure a forced patronage campaign disguised as a settlement.
When questioned about it, all they have to do is shrug their shoulders and say "What's wrong?"
They made a "settlement", but it doesn't have any of the makings of a settlement. Evil and greedy people are at play here.
People of the Earth! Do not buy Sony. Put down your brand loyalty to an image. It's a wolf in sheep's clothing designed to sap you dry.
Sony is not the perfect consumer product provider they claim to be. Their products are designed to fail - forcing you to buy new almost every year. Products that have software have crippling restrictions that are never mentioned as the products are advertised.
Ever since the mid-90s, Sony shifted their policies and marketing towards the "Best Buy" segment and have never looked back.
This pretty much sums up Sony:
Mediocre, fault-prone products with invasive software where applicable.
Read and pass this along
- EFF short changes consumers
- by pottymouth January 4, 2006 9:18 AM PST
- I don't know how many of you have actually read the proposed settlement agreement but given my experience in these matters(yes I am a lawyer) it is very apparent to me that this was a behind the doors/secretive settlement that will only benefit the class action lawyers and SonyBMG, why do you think it serttled so quickly? As someone else pointed out, the settlement does nothing for consumers whose computers were damaged or that will be damaged in the future and in fact the only way a consumer who has been damaged is to file an individual lawsuit which we all know will never happen. This stinks. And on top of that, the organization that was at the settlement table and that was supposed to be protecting our rights, the EFF, sold out too. The only way to fight this is for there to be enough people to "opt-out" of the settlement which might cause Sony to back out of the agreement. Right now that threshold is 1000, surely we can get over 1000 people together to derail this thing? One last thing, note how the attorneys fees to be paid has not yet been disclosed, again very sneaky here.
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