Sony + XCP = neck deep in the shit.

Post by **bio** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 6:21 am

thanks!

Oh... and it's officially hit the fan.

California has filed a class-action lawsuit against Sony and a second one may be filed today in New York

First Trojan using Sony DRM spoted

Sony DRM aids in cheating on World of Warcraft

Things should get very interesting very quicky.

Post by **bio** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 10:08 am

Post by **bio** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 2:38 pm

And the beat goes on!

Post by **miftah** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 10:48 am

Now they've gone too far!!!

Sony BMG's controversial DRM code controversy may have now spread to Macs. According to long-running Mac user website MacInTouch, at least one CD distributed by the major label includes a Mac OS X application that purportedly installs a pair of extensions to the operating system's microkernel.

Post by **bio** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:04 am

This seriously has the makings of the biggest tech story of the year.

Class action lawsuits have been filed in the US and other nations are suggesting they may follow.

It's also sending a very strong message out there: Crap like this will not be tollerated.

Post by **miftah** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 11:43 am

Business is a shark. It has one nature and is not concerned with anything other than its own survival. We as a culture are required to hold it in check, lest it feed itself into our demise. Good to know that this will, in all likelihood, end with a contrite and adequately educated Sony.

Post by **miftah** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 1:00 pm

Wow, it only took them a week and a half to realize they had gotten their tits caught in the wringer.

Post by **bio** » Fri Nov 11, 2005 4:23 pm

I doubt anything they do short of convincing the world that they are extremely remorseful is going to help them at the moment.

They started pumping this crap out 8 months ago and are stopping it now only because someone finally found it (it was a very clever process of hiding itself).

Now, with lawsuits pending in the US and other countries, they're attempting to backpedal.... without admitting to any wrong doing.

Personally... I'm hoping they get kicked in the financial teeth.

Post by **miftah** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 8:17 am

How does one dig one's self out of a hole?

Post by **eddiecanuck** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:58 am

See ya later frying pan, I'm heading straight into the fire.

Nice, glad I'm not a victim of all this.

Post by **bio** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 10:29 am

Post by **bio** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 2:20 pm

568,000 is a big damn number

More than 200,000 copies of the program are installed on computers in Japan, with around 130,000 running on computers in the United States. The United Kingdom has about 44,000 copies of the program installed, Kaminsky's research shows.

Lets put that in perspective.

The current "bad boy" virus out there currently W32/Netsky-P, accounting for over 17% of all reported infections (at this time).

You can see the current reported infections numbers by clicking this link.

Hopefully that will put the numbers into a better perspective.

On a side note: I went to our IT department to suggest that they send an email out, warning to A) not put any Sony/BMG CD's into your computer and B) if you've done that... DO NOT run the un-installer.

This is the first that any of them had heard of the problem, and I'm pretty sure I was blown off.

*sigh*

Rocketdork · Post by **Rocketdork** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 2:35 pm

Didn't Sony say that this was only distributed in the US???? How the hell did most of the copies intended for the US end up in Japan?

Seems that Sony can't be trusted any more than President Chucklebutt.

Post by **miftah** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:10 pm

Do you know how many CDs I have that were originally released in Japan? At least 20.

Post by **bio** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 3:21 pm

Yet more from the land of the EFF

They've gone through the 3,000 word EULA (end users license agreement) you have to agree to when you put one of Sony/BMG's music disks in your CD-ROM and have compiled a list of the funny bits:

If your house gets burgled, you have to delete all your music from your laptop when you get home. That's because the EULA says that your rights to any copies terminate as soon as you no longer possess the original CD.
You can't keep your music on any computers at work. The EULA only gives you the right to put copies on a "personal home computer system owned by you."
If you move out of the country, you have to delete all your music. The EULA specifically forbids "export" outside the country where you reside.
You must install any and all updates, or else lose the music on your computer. The EULA immediately terminates if you fail to install any update. No more holding out on those hobble-ware downgrades masquerading as updates.
Sony-BMG can install and use backdoors in the copy protection software or media player to "enforce their rights" against you, at any time, without notice. And Sony-BMG disclaims any liability if this "self help" crashes your computer, exposes you to security risks, or any other harm.
The EULA says Sony-BMG will never be liable to you for more than $5.00. That's right, no matter what happens, you can't even get back what you paid for the CD.
If you file for bankruptcy, you have to delete all the music on your computer. Seriously.
You have no right to transfer the music on your computer, even along with the original CD.
Forget about using the music as a soundtrack for your latest family photo slideshow, or mash-ups, or sampling. The EULA forbids changing, altering, or make derivative works from the music on your computer.

If you're really bored... you can read the EULA in all it's glory here.