wicker_man Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Why is it acceptable for companies to do this... ?http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/11/01/sony_hidden_malware/ 586753863[/snapback] I have posted this here already. With a link to SysInternals guys, who probably have discovered that. They give the full explanation + screenshots, so for more info head on their web site (link in the thread). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1WayJonny Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Why is it acceptable for companies to do this... ? An enterprising tech writer has discovered a bundle of info about the DRM that Sony installs on your PC with the new Van Zant CD.The information is disassembled, literally, here. The nutshell is this: Sony releases the new Van Zant CD. On the computer, it only plays within its own executable, not via Windows Media Player or any other software. You are allowed to burn three copies of the CD, and then it's done with. Well, it appears that, to enforce this DRM, Sony are installing device drivers, DLLs and registry hacks, then running a Rootkit process to mask their installation. If you attempt to uninstall the playing software, the device drivers are left installed, and are left active. Trying to delete the drivers manually - providing you can even find them - can leave your PC crippled. The code is programmed so badly, you can be losing 1-2% of your CPU time even when the CD isn't in the drive, as the DRM software is searching your machine to check nothing is going on that it should know about. This technique of masking files and folders to prevent detection is commonly used by malware and spyware to prevent uninstallation. Only by using a RKT detector can you see the processes running and from there, it's an incredibly complicated process to break down the inbuilt protections in the software. The author of the article linked spends a lot of time disassembling hex entries and C code to try and get to the bottom of what on earth the Sony code is doing. It's an enlightening read in to how this stuff gets cracked. Here's a quick quote: "I deleted the entry, but got an access-denied error. Those keys have security permissions that only allow the Local System account to modify them, so I relaunched Regedit in the Local System account using PsExec: psexec ?s ?i ?d regedit.exe. I retried the delete, succeeded, and searched for $sys$ again. Next I found an entry configuring another one of the drivers, Cor.sys (internally named Corvus), as an upper filter for the IDE channel device and also deleted it. I rebooted and my CD was back." All in all, if you care about digital rights mis-management, this article is a great read. Go take a look, then tell us what you think about the whole shenanigans in this thread in the News Forum. http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2005/11/01/sony_hidden_malware/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1WayJonny Posted November 1, 2005 Author Share Posted November 1, 2005 I have posted this here already. With a link to SysInternals guys, who probably have discovered that. They give the full explanation + screenshots, so for more info head on their web site (link in the thread). 586753876[/snapback] Will check thanks Stuff like this needs to stop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berto Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 Wow. This is insane. When is enforcing DRM such as above just too much? This is like a step away from locking our systems and should be stopped. How am I to keep buying actual CDs when I have to worry about having my system get flooded with stuff like this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rootwiler Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 wow, that is taking it WAY WAY WAY WAY to far.. someone should take SONY to cort. http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/s...tal-rights.html <---direct link for the story. and now if CD's are doing that to a computer... that will make me never buy a CD ever again.. I would rathter download and that I know that they are safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quick Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 If only we could do away with these music companies and some how just pay directly to the artist for thier music. Unfortunately its not gonna happen anytime soon though, artists can't afford to produce thier own music and advertise at least right now anyway I feel like when i buy a CD 1% of it going to the artist and these mofo music companies take the rest ripping off the artist. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted November 1, 2005 Share Posted November 1, 2005 :laugh: Yes, and so many of you guys are all hot to get Windows Vista -- loaded with even more evil Digital Rights Management. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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