Let the SONY lawsuits begin

[Thump553]

This was the subject of a fairly prominent article in the technology section of our local newspaper today. Most surprisingly, the original article came from the Christian Science Monitor.

It's pretty scary stuff that Sony has pulled on its unsuspecting customers. I hope the end result is extremely painful to Sony, both financially and in bad publicity. And Thomas Hesse should dust off his resume after making such an arrogant and dumb statement as quoted by Cerb immediately above.

 

[cumhail]

This just keeps getting better and better:

Now the Legalese Rootkit: Sony-BMG's EULA

November 09, 2005
If you thought XCP "rootkit" copy-protection on Sony-BMG CDs was bad, perhaps you'd better read the 3,000 word (!) end-user license agreement (aka "EULA") that comes with all these CDs.

First, a baseline. When you buy a regular CD, you own it. You do not "license" it. You own it outright. You're allowed to do anything with it you like, so long as you don't violate one of the exclusive rights reserved to the copyright owner. So you can play the CD at your next dinner party (copyright owners get no rights over private performances), you can loan it to a friend (thanks to the "first sale" doctrine), or make a copy for use on your iPod (thanks to "fair use"). Every use that falls outside the limited exclusive rights of the copyright owner belongs to you, the owner of the CD.

Now compare that baseline with the world according to the Sony-BMG EULA, which applies to any digital copies you make of the music on the CD:

1. 1. 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.

1. 2. 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..."

*rest snipped*

Read the rest of this article at http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004145.php

 

[cumhail]

Plus, as I found linked to at another forum:

Sony rootkit backdoor program

More on Backdoor.Win32.Breplibot.b

Yury November 10, 2005 | 15:00 MSK comment

We've been analysing the backdoor program which uses the Sony rootkit technology.
Trend Micro has told us that the backdoor was mass mailed using spamming technologies. The message sent was as follows:

Message subject:

Requesting Photo Approval

Attachment name:

article_december_3621.exe

Message body:

Hello,
Your photograph was forwarded to us as part of an article we are publishing for our December edition of Total Business Monthly. Can you check over the format and get back to us with your approval or any changes? If the picture is not to your liking then please send a preferred one. We have attached the photo with the article here.

Kind regards,
Jamie Andrews
Editor
www.TotalBusiness.co.uk
**********************************************
The Professional Development Institute
**********************************************

*rest snipped*

Read the rest at:
http://www.viruslist.com/en/weblog

cumhail

 

[DragonMasterAlex]

Originally posted by: Bowfinger

Originally posted by: HDTVMan
Sony takes DRM too far.
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html

Too much proof and not following a EULA its lawsuit time.

Another good reason to stop giving Sony one's money. Their ethics are obviously thin; their expensive products are overrated, just coasting on their long-past glory days; and they've been in the forefront of incompatible proprietary standards and anti-consumer DRM technologies. Vote with your pocketbook; I do.

You know, Bow, we haven't agreed on a *huge* number of things over the years, but I am SO right by you on this one.

Don't let Sony get away with this sh1t: Refuse to buy their mediocre products! There are PLENTY of alternatives available, and most of them will give you better quality for less money!

Jason

 

[DragonMasterAlex]

Originally posted by: zendari

Originally posted by: dahunan

Originally posted by: zendari

Sony, having committed what looks to be a similar act, could possibly be punished with a similar sentence.

Sony is a person now and are only subject to the same laws and regulations as individuals?

You probably didn't even read the article.. you just found an opportunity to attack Dave and ran with it.. oh well...

Well, according to you, Sony is an evil rich greedy Republican corporation and deserves to be punished. So much for equal protection under the laws.

Hope you aren't a fan of the Playstation.

I don't give a rat's ass what party Sony is or isn't a part of: You install spyware, malware, virii or a friggin' ROOTKIT on millions of PC's without the knowledge or consent of those PC's owners, that's a crime and you should be prosecuted, period.

Jason

 

[DragonMasterAlex]

Originally posted by: Cerb
Did the CD, by any chance, sport the good old CDDA logo? If not, buying it is a risk. Red book FTW, DRM DIAF.

This is hacking, and Sony should not not get fined: they should have to pay a per-incedent fine to anyone who bought a copy of one of those discs.

I agree. Something to the order of $500,000 PER PERSON should do nicely.

Jason

 

[DragonMasterAlex]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: cumhail
More proof that Sony will do whatever it thinks it can get away with...
"Sony BMG executives have defended the company's actions.
Most people don't know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it," Thomas Hesse, president of Sony BMG's global digital business, said in an interview with National Public Radio on Friday."

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1883828,00.asp

He has got to be a Republican. Can someone confirm this?

It has NOTHING to do with Republican or Democrat, it has to do with CORRUPT standards. As a matter of *citizenry*, most people, D or R, are generally honest people. As a matter of POLITICIANS, most, whether D or R, are *Corrupt* or fast on their way to *becoming* corrupt.

Parties have NO BEARING on Sony's actions nor their stand on the issue.

Jason

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: Thump553
(...) as quoted by Cerb immediately above.

Just as clarification, that was Cumhail. I read it after his post was made (but before checking AT).

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: cumhail
This just keeps getting better and better:

Now the Legalese Rootkit: Sony-BMG's EULA

November 09, 2005
If you thought XCP "rootkit" copy-protection on Sony-BMG CDs was bad, perhaps you'd better read the 3,000 word (!) end-user license agreement (aka "EULA") that comes with all these CDs.

First, a baseline. When you buy a regular CD, you own it. You do not "license" it. You own it outright. You're allowed to do anything with it you like, so long as you don't violate one of the exclusive rights reserved to the copyright owner. So you can play the CD at your next dinner party (copyright owners get no rights over private performances), you can loan it to a friend (thanks to the "first sale" doctrine), or make a copy for use on your iPod (thanks to "fair use"). Every use that falls outside the limited exclusive rights of the copyright owner belongs to you, the owner of the CD.

Now compare that baseline with the world according to the Sony-BMG EULA, which applies to any digital copies you make of the music on the CD:

1. 1. 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.

1. 2. 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..."

*rest snipped*

Read the rest of this article at http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004145.php

Sweet!

EULAs need to get tested and torn down. Without actually signing a document, preferably with witnesses, there should be no way they should be able to legally enforce those claims. That you get a plain old sales receipt should be enough to say that you bought that copy, not licensed it.

 

[musicman87]

Hmmm....well since I don't buy cds(34 gb and counting) I just have to deal with MS shortcomings.

 

[Gibsons]

New virus uses Sony BMG software
Text

 

[chowderhead]

Originally posted by: dmcowen674

Originally posted by: cumhail
More proof that Sony will do whatever it thinks it can get away with...
"Sony BMG executives have defended the company's actions.
Most people don't know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it," Thomas Hesse, president of Sony BMG's global digital business, said in an interview with National Public Radio on Friday."

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1883828,00.asp

He has got to be a Republican. Can someone confirm this?

If he is, he wasn't one of GWB's Rangers

 

[dmcowen674]

Originally posted by: Gibsons

New virus uses Sony BMG software

Text

I am not surprised and I am pisssed.

Everyone should be pissed and do something about it.

Eurpeans are not going to stand for this but Dumbass Corporate Whoring America will most likely continue to back Sony and the RIAA bastages.

11-11-2005 European Group Battles Copy-Protected CDs

BRUSSELS, Belgium - The music industry should stop criminalizing customers and limiting their freedom in the battle against piracy, a European consumers' group said Thursday.

BEUC wants the European Commission to propose more EU laws on consumers' rights, saying that big corporations' licensing terms goes far beyond what is needed to protect their intellectual property rights.

"True piracy of intellectual property is a big problem generated by criminals," Murray said. "We strongly believe in protecting intellectual property but not by demonizing ordinary consumers."

He said it was time to guarantee consumers certain basic rights in the digital world and to tell them what they could do with their digital hardware and content.

 

[ai42]

I'd like to see a congressional investigation on Sony and the music industry (cough RIAA) in general. All of this BS stepping on consumer's rights is complete BS. Not that anyone would goto jail or be fined but at least bring it to the attention of the average American that there are real issues here. Heck they had a congressional investigation on steriods in Baseball, Gas price increase after the hurricanes, and violence/sex in video games.

 

[Jediab]

Originally posted by: Cerb

Originally posted by: cumhail
This just keeps getting better and better:

Now the Legalese Rootkit: Sony-BMG's EULA

November 09, 2005
If you thought XCP "rootkit" copy-protection on Sony-BMG CDs was bad, perhaps you'd better read the 3,000 word (!) end-user license agreement (aka "EULA") that comes with all these CDs.

First, a baseline. When you buy a regular CD, you own it. You do not "license" it. You own it outright. You're allowed to do anything with it you like, so long as you don't violate one of the exclusive rights reserved to the copyright owner. So you can play the CD at your next dinner party (copyright owners get no rights over private performances), you can loan it to a friend (thanks to the "first sale" doctrine), or make a copy for use on your iPod (thanks to "fair use"). Every use that falls outside the limited exclusive rights of the copyright owner belongs to you, the owner of the CD.

Now compare that baseline with the world according to the Sony-BMG EULA, which applies to any digital copies you make of the music on the CD:

1. 1. 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.

1. 2. 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..."

*rest snipped*

Read the rest of this article at http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004145.php

Sweet!

EULAs need to get tested and torn down. Without actually signing a document, preferably with witnesses, there should be no way they should be able to legally enforce those claims. That you get a plain old sales receipt should be enough to say that you bought that copy, not licensed it.

Or at the very least, the EULA printed on the outside part of the package, or easily accessable at the store to view BEFORE the thing is even purchased

 

[Technologyst]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051111/tc_nm/sony_copyprotection_dc

Sony BMG pulls CD software Fri Nov 11, 1:31 PM ET

Music publisher Sony BMG said on Friday it would stop making CDs that use a controversial technology to protect its music against illegal copying.

"As a precautionary measure, Sony BMG is temporarily suspending the manufacture of CDs containing XCP technology," it said in a statement.

The decision follows the discovery on Thursday of the first virus that uses Sony BMG's CD copy-protection software to hide on PCs and wreak havoc.

A hacker had mass-mailed e-mail with an attachment, which when clicked on installs malware. The malware hides by using Sony BMG software that is also hidden -- the software would have already been installed on a computer when consumers played Sony's copy-protected music CDs.

The malware, a trojan program which appears desirable but actually contains something harmful, tears down a computer's firewall and gives hackers access to a PC.

Sony BMG provided a patch to protect computers against the virus, which is available on its Web site.

"We also intend to re-examine all aspects of our content protection initiative to be sure that it continues to meet our goals of security and ease of consumer use," Sony BMG added.

The firm provided software to remove the "cloaking element," which enables the virus to hide inside the computer, but the patch does not disable the copy protection itself.

The music publishing venture of Japanese electronics conglomerate Sony and Germany's Bertelsmann AG is distributing the copy-protection software on a range of recent music compact disks (CDs) from artists such as Celine Dion and Sarah McLachlan, according to user groups on the Web.

Sony BMG did not say which CDs or how many CDs were equipped with its software. "The XCP software is included on a limited number of Sony BMG content-protected titles," it said.

The Sony copy-protection software does not install itself on Macintosh computers or ordinary CD and DVD players.

When the CD is played on a Windows personal computer, the software first installs itself and then limits the usage rights of a consumer. It only allows playback with Sony software.

The software last week sparked a class action lawsuit in California against Sony, which claimed that Sony had not informed consumers that it installs software directly into the "root" of their computer systems with rootkit software, which cloaks all associated files and is dangerous to remove.

British anti-virus company Sophos on Thursday offered a tool to disable the copy protection software. ZoneAlarm, a product of Check Point, also protects against the software.

Sony BMG said it stands by content protection technology "as an important tool to protect our intellectual property rights and those of our artists."

 

[deepred98]

fvck sony

 

[Banzai042]

Here's a fun quote about the sony EULA thing

http://www.bash.org/?577451

 

[BBond]

BTW, Sony, while fvcking up your computer and your rights in the name of their copyright, seems to have breached a copyright themselves.

What a bunch of absolute scum. I'll NEVER buy another Sony product or see another Sony Pictures release.

Spyware Sony seems to breach copyright

The spyware that Sony installs on the computers of music fans does not even seem to be correct in terms of copyright law.

It turns out that the rootkit contains pieces of code that are identical to LAME, an open source mp3-encoder, and thereby breach the license.
This software is licensed under the so called Lesser Gnu Public License (LGPL). According to this license Sony must comply with a couple of demands. Amongst others, they have to indicate in a copyright notice that they make use of the software. The company must also deliver the source code to the open-source libraries or otherwise make these available. And finally, they must deliver or otherwise make available the in between form between source code and executable code, the so called objectfiles, with which others can make comparable software.

Sony complied with non of these demands, but delivered just an executable program. A computerexpert, whose name is known by the redaction, discovered that the cd "Get Right With The Man" by "Van Zant" contains strings from the library version.c of Lame. This can be conluded from the string: "http://www.mp3dev.org/", "0.90", "LAME3.95", "3.95", "3.95 ".

But the expert has more proof. For example, the executable program go.exe contains a so called array largetbl. This is a part used in the module tables.c of libmp3lame.

This discovery can have far-stretching consequences for the music giant, who claims only to protect copyrights. Previously, judges in Germany already forced various companies to release source code to the public and to deliver the goods necessary for compiling. It is also possible to demand financial compensation for damages.

Meanwhile, Other details are also becoming clear. The Electronic Frontier Foundation complains that the spyware makes the legal listening to the music on iPods impossble. The organisation is busy making a list of cds containing the hidden software and publishes this on her website.

Various calls to SonyBMG remained unanswered despite promises to call back.

 

[Thump553]

It would be poetic justice if (among other things) Sony has to pay a whooping big judgment to the developers of LAME for their copyright violation.

 

[muffin]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4434852.stm

Sony's controversial anti-piracy CD software has been labelled as spyware by Microsoft.

The software giant said the XCP copy protection system counted as malicious software under the rules it uses to define what Windows should be protected against.

It is planning to include detection and removal tools for XCP in its weekly update to its anti-spyware software.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Out of the frying pan... and into the fire.

Sony issued a patch to remove the spyware that the CD's installed. The patch leaves you vulnerable to pretty much anything.

"The consequences of the flaw are severe," Felten and Halderman wrote in a blog posting Tuesday after being tipped by a Finnish researcher, Matti Nikki. "It allows any Web page you visit to download, install, and run any code it likes on your computer. Any Web page can seize control of your computer; then it can do anything it likes. That's about as serious as a security flaw can get."

On Tuesday evening, Sony BMG was preparing to release a safe new method for removing XCP. It was unclear when it might be available.

I'm no computer geek... but that sounds bad to me.

 

[cumhail]

If nothing else, at least they've helped me decide between getting an XBOX 360 or a PS3. If it has anything to do with Sony, I'm not buying it.

cumhail

 

[BBond]

Sony should face a heavy fine as well as prison terms for their top executives who allowed this criminal spyware to be surreptiously installed on users' computers.

Their products, including music CDs and movies, not just hardware, should be BANNED for sale in America and worldwide.

 

[Whoozyerdaddy]

Ehhh... That's a little extreme in my book. But I agree that they need to be spanked for this.