RIAA backs SONY DRM spyware
p2p news / p2pnet: RIAA president Cary Sherman doesn’t see a problem with Sony BMG’s rootkit DRM spyware.
Moreover, speaking on behalf of Vivendi Universal, Warner Music and EMI Group, the other three members of Organized Music, he suggests Sony BMG, not its customers, is the real victim.
Sony BMG commissioned Britain’s First4Internet to build a rootkit Digital Restrictions Management (DRM) package which it then added to 52 music CDs.
Rootkits are specifically designed to be used by hackers and others to hide content from anti-spyware or anti-virus applications.
The First4Internet code knowingly used by Sony BMG amounted to a computer virus. But Sony didn’t trouble to tell buyers this DRM spyware would be secretly planted in their computers when the disc was loaded.
On top of that, First4Internet hijacked L.A.M.E. and John Lech Johansen code for its Sony BMG spyware creation without acknowledging the sources, or asking their permission.
Sony BMG was caught red-handed in this flagrant abuse of consumer rights, so after intense public pressure, it tried to weasel out from under by commissioning a second piece of code which was almost instantly found to be as dodgy as the infection it was meant to cure.
The company has since been forced into launching a snail-mail CD replacement scheme, an effort the RIAA’s (Recording Industry Association of America) Sherman believes is commendable.
In a “conference” with college journalists, Sherman says, “The problem with the SonyBMG situation is that the technology they used contained a security vulnerability of which they were unaware.
“They have apologized for their mistake, ceased manufacture of CDs with that technology, and pulled CDs with that technology from store shelves. Seems very responsible to me. How many times that software applications created the same problem? Lots. I wonder whether they’ve taken as aggressive steps as SonyBMG has when those vulnerabilities were discovered, or did they just post a patch on the Internet?”
He also thought there was “one other thing to point out” that the, “music industry has been more permissive about copying of its copyrighted product than virtually any other industry. How many burns are you allowed of a movie? None. How many of a videogame? None. You get the idea. Even the CDs with content protection allow consumers to burn 3 copies or so for personal use. The idea is not to inhibit personal use, but to allow personal use but discourage (not prevent, you can never prevent) copying well beyond personal use.”
There’s been no comment from First4Internet.
The RIAA is owned by Organized Music.
Tired of being treated like a criminal? They depend on you, not the other way around. Don’t buy their ‘product’. Do bug your local political representatives. Use emails, snail-mail, phone calls, faxes, IM, stop them in the street, blog. And if you’re into organizing, organize petitions, organize demonstrations and then turn up on your local political rep’s doorstep, making sure you’ve contacted your local tv/radio station/newspaper in advance.
Also read:-
rootkit DRM spyware – The real p2p pirates and thieves, November 18, 2005
conference – Cary Sherman of the RIAA, November 18, 2005
November 21st, 2005 at 2:14 pm
Hope that Sony does not use DRM on the already illegal Sony records with our songs. Details here:
http://rafa_venegas.web.prdigital.com/venegas_v_sony_lawsuit.htm
Rafael Venegas
http://www.gvenegas.com
November 21st, 2005 at 3:14 pm
This is not a bad thing, it is a very good thing. The RIAA’s rampant disregard for the customer is now coming to light. I hope the other members of the cartel start campaigning on Sony’s behalf as well. People need to see these record labels for what they actually are: extortionists, blackmailers, thieves, liars, and organized criminals.
November 21st, 2005 at 4:28 pm
when the RIAA spins something, the lamescreaming journalists and editors take it as gospel. RIAA is not a gov’t. agency. it is a privately-owned criminal org.
November 21st, 2005 at 4:33 pm
“RIAA president Cary Sherman doesn’t see a problem with Sony BMG’s rootkit DRM spyware.”
Is anyone really suprised about this?
November 21st, 2005 at 4:47 pm
What an ignorant statement, software companies do not intentionally try to hurt their own customers. In fact, the record companies took a proven and reliable technology, the CD, and purposely corrupted it.
On another note, PC’s come pre-loaded with an operating system and are ready to be used. Did you ever purchase a music player that was pre-loaded with songs ?
November 21st, 2005 at 7:48 pm
If Mr. big shot the RIAA president does not think it is such a big deal all the ruckus the sony spyware and malware rootkit has wreaked on the cd buying public then it should be no big deal if people were not so uninformed and ignorant about these kinds of technical issues or they would not get suckered into buying worthless junk from the likes of sony – bmg.
If he makes big profound public statements that people don’t any right to their personal property then people should not buy things like cds or dvds.
there must be something really amiss about copyright and patent law in the united states that a person can buy a cd or dvd or any other piece of intellectual property and they don’t even legally have any right to do whatever they want with it.
Fair use arguements i am talking about.
Nothing else.
I back up all of my dvds and cds even if i have to resort to things like slysoft anydvd of dvdfab to copy css encoded dvds.
I can buy this stuff on the internet and all i need is a valid visa card.
WHETHER THE CARTELS KNOW IT OR NOT I LOVE GIVING THEM THE FINGER AND CRIMINIAL PENALTIES FOR SO CALLED MOVIE PIRATING IS JUST INSANE AND ABSURD.
I read mr sherman’s kooky explanation why the recording industry gives everybody a break allowing people to make a limited amount of cd copies while he says the movie industry and the gaming industry won’ t let people do that.
Actually if the us congress did not take wholesale kickbacks and bribes from the entertainment cartels and pass retarded things like the DMCA and allowed for fairuse backing games and dvds the entertainment cartels would solve their own piracy problems.
THEY ALL ARE JUST A BUNCH OF SHAMELESS AND SPINELESS WIMPS WHO WILL TAKE KICK AND BRIBES FROM THE CARTELS BECAUSE IT IS SO EXPENSIVE RUNNING ELECTION CAMPAIGNS NOWDAYS.
THEY ARE LIKE A BUNCH OF MONKIES WITH SPARE CHANGE CUPS FOLLOWING A HURDY KURDY.
THAT IS THE THE WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLED.
IF THE ENTERTAINMENT CARTELS WERE NOT SUCH BIG PRICKS WITH THEIR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THEY ARE VICTIMS OF THEIR OWN ARROGANCE AND GREED AND I REALLY DON’T FEEL SORRY FOR THEM EVERY TIME THEY SQUEAL LIKE A BUNCH OF PIGS WHEN THEY CLAIM THEY TAKE IT THE SHORTS AND LOSE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO PIRACY.
November 21st, 2005 at 7:49 pm
If Mr. big shot the RIAA president does not think it is such a big deal all the ruckus the sony spyware and malware rootkit has wreaked on the cd buying public then it should be no big deal if people were not so uninformed and ignorant about these kinds of technical issues or they would not get suckered into buying worthless junk from the likes of sony – bmg.
If he makes big profound public statements that people don’t any right to their personal property then people should not buy things like cds or dvds.
there must be something really amiss about copyright and patent law in the united states that a person can buy a cd or dvd or any other piece of intellectual property and they don’t even legally have any right to do whatever they want with it.
Fair use arguements i am talking about.
Nothing else.
I back up all of my dvds and cds even if i have to resort to things like slysoft anydvd of dvdfab to copy css encoded dvds.
I can buy this stuff on the internet and all i need is a valid visa card.
WHETHER THE CARTELS KNOW IT OR NOT I LOVE GIVING THEM THE FINGER AND CRIMINIAL PENALTIES FOR SO CALLED MOVIE PIRATING IS JUST INSANE AND ABSURD.
I read mr sherman’s kooky explanation why the recording industry gives everybody a break allowing people to make a limited amount of cd copies while he says the movie industry and the gaming industry won’ t let people do that.
Actually if the us congress did not take wholesale kickbacks and bribes from the entertainment cartels and pass retarded things like the DMCA and allowed for fairuse backing games and dvds the entertainment cartels would solve their own piracy problems.
THEY ALL ARE JUST A BUNCH OF SHAMELESS AND SPINELESS WIMPS WHO WILL TAKE KICK AND BRIBES FROM THE CARTELS BECAUSE IT IS SO EXPENSIVE RUNNING ELECTION CAMPAIGNS NOWDAYS.
THEY ARE LIKE A BUNCH OF MONKIES WITH SPARE CHANGE CUPS FOLLOWING A HURDY KURDY.
THAT IS THE THE WAY THE COOKIE CRUMBLED.
IF THE ENTERTAINMENT CARTELS WERE NOT SUCH BIG PRICKS WITH THEIR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND THEY ARE VICTIMS OF THEIR OWN ARROGANCE AND GREED AND I REALLY DON’T FEEL SORRY FOR THEM EVERY TIME THEY SQUEAL LIKE A BUNCH OF PIGS WHEN THEY CLAIM THEY TAKE IT THE SHORTS AND LOSE BILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO PIRACY.
November 22nd, 2005 at 6:15 am
“The idea is not to inhibit personal use, but to allow personal use but discourage (not prevent, you can never prevent) copying well beyond personal use.”
Oh really? So when does the “sue em all” campaign finish now that you’ve admitted it’s a waste of time?
November 22nd, 2005 at 6:26 am
“The problem with the SonyBMG situation is that the technology they used contained a security vulnerability of which they were unaware.”
HAHA, i haven’t laughed that hard in a while. Security vulnerability, my ass, it’s malware(aka a trojan) plain and simple. It’s specific function was to sliently install/hide itself on a system and report back statistics to whomever.
Mainstream software companies don’t install rootkits on users systems when a cd is inserted, and if they did, you can bet they wouldn’t be in business for long.
The tone at which this guy approaches the issue is so fleeting it’s scary. It’s clear he and his associates have no interest in consumer rights/privacy. This really has proved what we thought all along.