Sony offers new CDs, MP3s for recalled discs

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Offence List: What has Sony BMG done wrong? As far as I can ascertain:

* Although the EULA informs the user that software will be installed, it does not inform the user that any stealth technology is used, nor that the software cannot be (completely) removed.

* The rootkit provides a means for other malware to hide itself without the need for administrator privileges. This opens up a new and serious security vulnerability.

* The rootkit steals significant processor time (to do its checking), and it steals significant disk time, in some cases running the hard disk continuously (which some experts reckon to be potentially destructive to the disk mechanism).

* The original rootkit's built-in uninstall function has a bug in it which causes the computer to crash (and fails to remove the rootkit).

* As with most DRM software, XCP effectively subverts the intention of copyright law (as it is to be found in most jurisdictions), in that it takes away legal uses of the copyright material from the purchaser (the so-called 'fair uses', which include copying for personal uses).

* The original uninstallation facility that Sony BMG provided - a web page - installed an ActiveX control that opened up a further serious security vulnerability, and this control was not automatically removed at the end of the process. This web page has since been withdrawn. A new method of uninstallation has still not been provided (as of 20 Nov).

* When confronted with the evidence (of the rootkit in XCP), Sony BMG originally sought to deny any wrongdoing. Only after a great deal of bad publicity did they change their tune(s).

* It appears that the software in XCP contains copyright code which is used without permission and without obeying the terms of the licence (the LGPL) that the code was published under. In other words, Sony's copyright protection software appears to breach someone else's copyright!

No doubt the list will lengthen, until and unless the whole of the top management of Sony BMG are replaced.; Posted by: debater Posted on: 11/20/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use