Is Windows 7 DRM infested?
p2pnet news view | DRM:- Windows 7 was online for quite a while, unofficially. Then it went official. Then it didn’t. And then it did, again, and now it’s here for sure, it’s loaded with DRM (Digital Restrictions Management) consumer control, says TechForensics on Slashdot.
A few days’ testing disclosed heavy duty DRM, “some of it unrelated to media files,” he says , going on »»»
A legitimate copy of Photoshop CS4 stopped functioning after we clobbered a nagging registration screen by replacing a DLL with a hacked version. With regard to media files, the days of capturing an audio program on your PC seem to be over (if the program originated on that PC). The inputs of your sound card are severely degraded in software if the card is also playing an audio program (tested here with Grooveshark).
And that’s not all, says TechForensics. It may only be “the tip of the iceberg”.
“Being in bed with the RIAA is bad enough, but locking your own files away from you is a tactic so outrageous it may kill the OS for many persons,” says the post. “Many users will not want to experiment with a second sound card or computer just to record from online sources, or boot up under a Linux that supports ntfs-3g just to control their files.”
But over at CNet News, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes isn’t impressed.
In fact, the item is, “utter nonesense [sic],” he says.
How so?
“Someone messes about with Photoshop in order to crack it, the program then breaks, and that’s somehow the fault of Windows?!?!!” – he says incredulously, going on »»»
- Why would Photoshop CS4 contains [sic] some super-secret anti-tamper system that`s incorporated into Windows 7?
- What DLL was changed? Cracks are very variable and many just don`t work.
- As to the inability to record, this is also an issue under Vista, and is highly dependent on the sound card and sound card driver used. An example of this is Realtek drivers – OEM supplied drivers usually have recording crippled and to get access to full features you have to download the full driver.
And TechForensics, “goes on to howl at the moon about Windows firewall (describing behavior already exhibited by Windows firewall in Vista),” adds Kingsley-Hughes.
DRM? Or not DRM?
Stay tuned.
Slashdot – Draconian DRM revealed in Windows 7, February 16, 2009
CNet News – Worst. Windows 7. Piece. EVER!, February 17, 2009
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February 17th, 2009 at 11:47 am
“A legitimate copy of Photoshop CS4 stopped functioning after we clobbered a nagging registration screen by replacing a DLL with a hacked version.”
Yes, because it’s entirely windows’ fault that you broke CS4. Did these guys not consider that perhaps the hacked DLL might have been detected by CS4 or even been a corrupt DLL anyways? How would W7 know the difference between a hacked DLL and a legitimate hotfix/update/whatever?
“The inputs of your sound card are severely degraded in software if the card is also playing an audio program (tested here with Grooveshark).”
I get this in Vista (heck, I can’t even play back the microphone.) I’m still pretty sure that’s a driver issue, not a windows one.
February 17th, 2009 at 12:31 pm
If it’s caused by W7, we’ll hear more about this as others do their own “dry runs” with W7 and cracked software. If you think about it, though, the guys at TechForensics would more than likely be using a CS4 they’ve already successfully run on other Windows. Why would they be trying it with an unproven crack? That wouldn’t make any sense.
The bottom line is, Windows shouldn’t care about modifying a non-Windows application DLL, unless it’s designed to shutdown (what it perceives to be) an illegitimate copy of that application. In a case like that, the only part of the software that would be reverse-engineered would be where the registration/activation/etc interacts with the software itself. If the crack successfully bridges the activation process (and many do this quite well), the software should continue to run.
I’ve seen very few popular cracks that actually “break” the application, as some at CNet are trying to say. Not that it can’t happen (it sure can), but it would seem to be the least likely possibility of the two.
February 17th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
This scoop as first brought to you on p2pnet by yours truly, right here:
www p2pnet net/story/18506#comment-967614
(sorry, have to strip out the dots or WordPress won’t let the post through.)
February 17th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
^^ Actually, DRM, the first mention came in email from Jazz over in the UK yesterday.
Cheers!
February 17th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
Ok Jon. I guess I’ll have to try harder next time. lol
February 17th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
^^ I had several emails and I also saw the /. post myself. I usually try to credit people when they send in links, but when there’s more than just a couple …
Cheers!
February 17th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
Thankyou Jon, much appreciated.
Oh FFS, I can’t get this tin foil hat off. Someone give me a hand here!!
But on topic, I seriously can’t believe Microsoft would try this on. The draco DRM was one of the big reasons that Vista was so disliked and they’ve been really burned by it with low sales, so what the hell are they playing at?
Yeah, drink the koolaid…
February 17th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
Um, Koolaid, I don’t think that is meant to be somerthing you should be thanking Jon for
February 17th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
Hmmm, maybe I missed something then. Whatever.
February 18th, 2009 at 12:35 am
Yeah, a lot of /.’ers seemed to believe this as well, until someone pointed out
it was just more FUD from one of their members.
February 18th, 2009 at 1:32 am
Many windoze fanboys are swooning over the BETA (yes I purposely capitalised it for emphasis) version., completely oblivious to the fact that it’s vista with a new coat of paint. I guess ignorance is bliss for some eh? Lets wait for the official release before making a conclusion shall we? And until then i’ll stick with xp for games and ubuntu for real work.
February 18th, 2009 at 4:35 am
“Many windoze fanboys are swooning over the BETA (yes I purposely capitalised it for emphasis) version., completely oblivious to the fact that itâs vista with a new coat of paint.”
Or a pig with lipstick? lol
June 17th, 2009 at 6:43 pm
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August 7th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
I’m a windows fanboy and will be until there is support for games on linux. I don’t mean FOSS, I mean real market games. I don’t think that will happen with over 1000 distros of linux. I consider linux the defacto OS for server or anything serious and the perfect appliance OS. I know of the hacks to get games to work but they are just that, hacks. I am running windows XP and will continue to do so long after it is ever supported. I have 3 copies of the same CD and the service packs so if Microsoft were to go away tomorrow I would still run XP (might have to get an activation crack though). Which brings me to my point. It seems like Microsoft isn’t happy with an OS that is both stable and doesn’t treat their paying customers like criminals (with DRM activation, etc). I will not purchase another OS including windows 7 until this is remedied in an acceptable manner. I am fine with keys or the like, but having to call or activate something over Internet (and with Vista periodically) is maddening. I spent 289 dollars on XP Professional full install 5 years ago. I have sent over 60 hours in that on the phone with Microsoft fighting to fix activation related issues (I change hardware a LOT). If you count the cost in time (lets assume 10 bucks an hour here for me and their reps just for a mental exorcise) that is over 1,200 dollars in wasted time screwing with their activation system and talking to Bob Freds and Joe’s over in India (Yes they give false American names because most Americans can’t deal with names like Gabagunabarachanuka Paraislkalkavar) Micr$oft has the possibility of a good product, but until they start listening to their customers and stop listening to the likes of the MPAA and RIAA I forcast Windows 7, and on will sell at a significantly reduced rate. (This is not intended to be flame bait, and is all my opinion,)