Sony slowly going down the drain

Wednesday, November 2, 2005 · Last updated 8:23 p.m. PT

Sony unit to distribute software patch

By MATTHEW FORDAHL
AP TECHNOLOGY WRITER

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- After a chorus of criticism, Sony Corp.'s music
division said Wednesday it is distributing a free software patch to
reveal hidden files that automatically installed to hard drives when
some of its music CDs were played on personal computers.

The offending technology was designed to thwart music piracy.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment and its partner, UK-based First 4
Internet, said they decided to offer the patch as a precaution, not
because of any security vulnerability, which some critics had alleged.

"What we decided to do is take extra precautionary steps to allay any
fears," said Mathew Gilliat-Smith, First 4 Internet's CEO. "There
should be no concern here."

The controversy started Monday after Windows expert Mark Russinovich
posted a Web log report on how he found hidden files on his PC after
playing a Van Zant CD. He also said it disabled his CD drive after he
tried to manually remove it.

Russinovich made the discovery while running a program he had written
for uncovering file-cloaking "RootKits." In this case, the Sony
program hid the antipiracy software from view. Similar technology also
has been used by virus and worm writers to conceal their code.

advertising
A firestorm quickly erupted over what appeared to be an attempt by the
music company to retain control over its intellectual property by
secretly installing hidden software on the PCs of unsuspecting
customers.

Making matters worse, Sony did not disclose exactly what it was doing
in its license agreement, Russinovich said. It only mentions that
proprietary software to enable copy protection would be installed. The
software affects only PCs running the Windows operating system.

"The (license) makes no mention that it's going to install something
that's going to be hidden from view, that will constantly consume CPU
resources even if I'm not listening to music and it will have no
uninstall capability," he said.

Because the technology looks for a specific prefix in the filename, it
also could be used by malware authors to mask their programs,
Russinovich said. There's also the question of how a PC user is
supposed to maintain a system that runs hidden programs.

"If you've got software on your computer that you can't see, there's
no way for you to manage it from a security point of view," he said.
"You don't know if you need updates for it. You don't know if you
should uninstall it because you don't know it's even there."

Though there are no known problems with software, that could change
and leave millions of unsuspecting PC users at risk of having their
machines taken over by malware, said Ero Carrera, a researcher at
F-Secure, a computer security firm.

"The code of the application is not exactly well done," he said. "I
would tend to believe there are people already working on finding
exploits."

The copy protection technology, which limits how many times a CD can
be copied, was included on about 20 titles, including discs from The
Bad Plus and Vivian Green, among others.

Gilliat-Smith and Sony BMG spokesman John McKay said the technology
had been on the market for about eight months and there had been no
major complaints prior to Russinovich's blog post. Still, a newer,
similar technology was in the process of rolling out before the latest
controversy erupted.

The patches that reveal the hidden files are being made available to
antivirus companies as well as customers who visit the Sony BMG site.
They do not remove the copy protection software, however.

McKay said customers can request a program to safely uninstall
everything by visiting the Sony BMG Web site at http://cp.sonybmg.com.
That site, however, requires a form to be filled out and submitted.

In a test of the form late Wednesday, an e-mail confirming receipt was
quickly returned by Sony BMG customer service, but it included no
instructions on how to remove the software. The message promised
another reply "shortly."

The process is unlike the vast majority of Windows software, which can
be easily uninstalled - by the user, without permission - through the
"Add or Remove Programs" tool in the operating system's control panel.

The controversy highlights the need for rules as to what content
providers can and can't install on PCs to protect their property, said
Russinovich, who is co-founder and chief software architect at
Winternals Software, which specializes in advanced systems software
for Microsoft Windows.

"We need to get some formality about what's legal, what's ethical and
what's fair - and what level of disclosure there needs to be," he
said. "It's fine for Sony to say we're not going to do that now. What
kind of guarantee do we have they're not going to do it at a future
date or that other companies are not going to do this?"

Rich

On 11/5/2005 10:58:06 AM, Rich wrote:

> SAN JOSE, Calif. -- After a chorus of criticism, Sony Corp.'s music
> division said Wednesday it is distributing a free software patch to
> reveal hidden files that automatically installed to hard drives when
> some of its music CDs were played on personal computers.

If you turn AutoPlay off, this is not a problem.
--
"Reckon what you is wanting to know is what I'm a-doing in here."

Now playing: "Robert Plant and the Strange Sensation - Mighty Rearranger"

Tarkus

Sat, 05 Nov 2005 13:58:06 -0500 from Rich <>:
> Gilliat-Smith and Sony BMG spokesman John McKay said the technology
> had been on the market for about eight months and there had been no
> major complaints prior to Russinovich's blog post.

Translation: Nobody complained about these hidden files till they
discovered them.

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
DVD FAQ: http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html
other FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/faqget.htm

Stan Brown

Stan Brown () wrote in alt.video.dvd:
> Sat, 05 Nov 2005 13:58:06 -0500 from Rich <>:
> > Gilliat-Smith and Sony BMG spokesman John McKay said the technology
> > had been on the market for about eight months and there had been no
> > major complaints prior to Russinovich's blog post.
>
> Translation: Nobody complained about these hidden files till they
> discovered them.

That's only partially true.

There were many reports of random crashes of Windows machines that got
analyzed by other people and pointed to these driver files. The problem
is that until somebody put two and two together, nobody knew the files
came from Sony CDs and that they weren't intentional malware.

--
Jeff Rife |
| http://www.nabs.net/Cartoons/OverThe...owInternet.jpg

Jeff Rife

On Sat, 5 Nov 2005 23:56:44 -0500, Stan Brown
<> wrote:

>Sat, 05 Nov 2005 13:58:06 -0500 from Rich <>:
>> Gilliat-Smith and Sony BMG spokesman John McKay said the technology
>> had been on the market for about eight months and there had been no
>> major complaints prior to Russinovich's blog post.
>
>Translation: Nobody complained about these hidden files till they
>discovered them.

Much like the hidden camera in the guy's bedroom. I'm sure he'll
mention it when he finds it.
-Rich

Rich

Sun, 6 Nov 2005 00:29:38 -0500 from Jeff Rife <>:
> Stan Brown () wrote in alt.video.dvd:
> > Sat, 05 Nov 2005 13:58:06 -0500 from Rich <>:
> > > Gilliat-Smith and Sony BMG spokesman John McKay said the technology
> > > had been on the market for about eight months and there had been no
> > > major complaints prior to Russinovich's blog post.
> >
> > Translation: Nobody complained about these hidden files till they
> > discovered them.
>
> That's only partially true.
>
> There were many reports of random crashes of Windows machines that got
> analyzed by other people and pointed to these driver files. The problem
> is that until somebody put two and two together, nobody knew the files
> came from Sony CDs and that they weren't intentional malware.

You're quite right. It's one of the big problems of Windows that it's
terribly unstable, with no practical way for most people to figure
out what caused any particular crash.

Please understand: I was agreeing with the people who say these
hidden files are an outrage, and satirizing the apologists who said
"nobody's complained about this before". Clearly my satire was not an
effective one.

<rant>
Hardly any response to a complaint is more infuriatingly stupid than
"nobody else has complained about it". Aside from the self-evident
fact that _someone_ has to be first, it's well known that the great
majority of people don't complain about any particular problem, but
either suffer in silence or stop using the product.
</rant>

--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com/
DVD FAQ: http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html
other FAQs: http://oakroadsystems.com/genl/faqget.htm

Stan Brown

Stan Brown () wrote in alt.video.dvd:
> Please understand: I was agreeing with the people who say these
> hidden files are an outrage, and satirizing the apologists who said
> "nobody's complained about this before". Clearly my satire was not an
> effective one.

I missed it, but that doesn't mean it wasn't effective to others.

> <rant>
> Hardly any response to a complaint is more infuriatingly stupid than
> "nobody else has complained about it". Aside from the self-evident
> fact that _someone_ has to be first, it's well known that the great
> majority of people don't complain about any particular problem, but
> either suffer in silence or stop using the product.
> </rant>

Yeah, I have two pieces of software like that where I seem to be the only
one with a problem, despite the fact I have the same problem on multiple
machines with different users and configs. What's really bad is that these
are showstoppers (one causes the program to crash every time you use a file
open/save dialog, and the other garbles data files because of a temp file
naming error), yet all I hear is "it must be something in your config".

--
Jeff Rife | "The old guy was leading a 'Simon Says' game
| when he collapsed. On the way down he yelled
| 'call an ambulance!', but no one moved."
| -- Wings

Jeff Rife

Rich wrote:
> Wednesday, November 2, 2005 · Last updated 8:23 p.m. PT
>
> Sony unit to distribute software patch
>
> By MATTHEW FORDAHL
> AP TECHNOLOGY WRITER
>
> SAN JOSE, Calif. -- After a chorus of criticism, Sony Corp.'s music
> division said Wednesday it is distributing a free software patch to
> reveal hidden files that automatically installed to hard drives when
> some of its music CDs were played on personal computers.
>
> The offending technology was designed to thwart music piracy.
>
> Sony BMG Music Entertainment and its partner, UK-based First 4
> Internet, said they decided to offer the patch as a precaution, not
> because of any security vulnerability, which some critics had alleged.
>
> "What we decided to do is take extra precautionary steps to allay any
> fears," said Mathew Gilliat-Smith, First 4 Internet's CEO. "There
> should be no concern here."
>
> The controversy started Monday after Windows expert Mark Russinovich
> posted a Web log report on how he found hidden files on his PC after
> playing a Van Zant CD. He also said it disabled his CD drive after he
> tried to manually remove it.
>
> Russinovich made the discovery while running a program he had written
> for uncovering file-cloaking "RootKits." In this case, the Sony
> program hid the antipiracy software from view. Similar technology also
> has been used by virus and worm writers to conceal their code.
>
> advertising
> A firestorm quickly erupted over what appeared to be an attempt by the
> music company to retain control over its intellectual property by
> secretly installing hidden software on the PCs of unsuspecting
> customers.
>
> Making matters worse, Sony did not disclose exactly what it was doing
> in its license agreement, Russinovich said. It only mentions that
> proprietary software to enable copy protection would be installed. The
> software affects only PCs running the Windows operating system.
>
> "The (license) makes no mention that it's going to install something
> that's going to be hidden from view, that will constantly consume CPU
> resources even if I'm not listening to music and it will have no
> uninstall capability," he said.
>
> Because the technology looks for a specific prefix in the filename, it
> also could be used by malware authors to mask their programs,
> Russinovich said. There's also the question of how a PC user is
> supposed to maintain a system that runs hidden programs.
>
> "If you've got software on your computer that you can't see, there's
> no way for you to manage it from a security point of view," he said.
> "You don't know if you need updates for it. You don't know if you
> should uninstall it because you don't know it's even there."
>
> Though there are no known problems with software, that could change
> and leave millions of unsuspecting PC users at risk of having their
> machines taken over by malware, said Ero Carrera, a researcher at
> F-Secure, a computer security firm.
>
> "The code of the application is not exactly well done," he said. "I
> would tend to believe there are people already working on finding
> exploits."
>
> The copy protection technology, which limits how many times a CD can
> be copied, was included on about 20 titles, including discs from The
> Bad Plus and Vivian Green, among others.
>
> Gilliat-Smith and Sony BMG spokesman John McKay said the technology
> had been on the market for about eight months and there had been no
> major complaints prior to Russinovich's blog post. Still, a newer,
> similar technology was in the process of rolling out before the latest
> controversy erupted.
>
> The patches that reveal the hidden files are being made available to
> antivirus companies as well as customers who visit the Sony BMG site.
> They do not remove the copy protection software, however.
>
> McKay said customers can request a program to safely uninstall
> everything by visiting the Sony BMG Web site at http://cp.sonybmg.com.
> That site, however, requires a form to be filled out and submitted.
>
> In a test of the form late Wednesday, an e-mail confirming receipt was
> quickly returned by Sony BMG customer service, but it included no
> instructions on how to remove the software. The message promised
> another reply "shortly."
>
> The process is unlike the vast majority of Windows software, which can
> be easily uninstalled - by the user, without permission - through the
> "Add or Remove Programs" tool in the operating system's control panel.
>
> The controversy highlights the need for rules as to what content
> providers can and can't install on PCs to protect their property, said
> Russinovich, who is co-founder and chief software architect at
> Winternals Software, which specializes in advanced systems software
> for Microsoft Windows.
>
> "We need to get some formality about what's legal, what's ethical and
> what's fair - and what level of disclosure there needs to be," he
> said. "It's fine for Sony to say we're not going to do that now. What
> kind of guarantee do we have they're not going to do it at a future
> date or that other companies are not going to do this?"

Sony Music = Dead Company Walking

Boycott these bastards!

Steve K.

On Mon, 14 Nov 2005 07:46:45 GMT, "Steve K." <>
wrote:

>Sony Music = Dead Company Walking

>Boycott these bastards!

Damn Straight!


--

BOYCOTT SONY!

SONY IS TRYING TO TAKE OVER YOUR COMPUTER!

HOMELAND SECURITY TOLD SONY TO CEASE AND DESIST!

YOU DO THE SAME - BOYCOTT SONY!

Bob

In article <FhXdf.1532$ et>,
Steve K. <> wrote:
>Rich wrote:
>> Wednesday, November 2, 2005 · Last updated 8:23 p.m. PT
>>
>> Sony unit to distribute software patch
>>
>> By MATTHEW FORDAHL
>> AP TECHNOLOGY WRITER
>>
>> SAN JOSE, Calif. -- After a chorus of criticism, Sony Corp.'s music
>> division said Wednesday it is distributing a free software patch to
>> reveal hidden files that automatically installed to hard drives when
>> some of its music CDs were played on personal computers.

[rest deleted - wjv]

And two interesting developments. MS is adding the Sony 'rootkit'
to their virus scanners.

And late Friday Sony announced it is 'temporarily' stopping
manufacture of new CDs with that technology.

So what excactly definex 'new'. Is that brand new releases, or new
pressings of current, of something else entirely.

And 'temporarily' doesn't sound to good but enough people have
complained that they have noticed.

Lets see how they handled this further.

Bill
--
Bill Vermillion - bv @ wjv . com

Bill Vermillion