Sony DRM

Microsoft, Yahoo, others sued by Softvault over DRM

FYI...

- http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=28990
15 January 2006
"SEPARATE CASES were filed against Microsoft, Yahoo and a spate of other tech firms in the US last week, alleging patents covering digital rights management (DRM) were breached by the firms. The main action is against Microsoft, filed in the Eastern District Court of Texas, and relates to US patent 6,249,868, a method and system for embedded, automated, component level control of computer systems and other complex systems.
The patent covers security components for a PC which can enable or disable systems using a remote server. Softvault alleges that products with the feature include Windows Server 2003, Windows XP, Microsoft Office XP, Access 2002, Excel 2002, Vision 2002, Visual Studio Net, Office 2000 SR-1, Project 2000 SR-1, Powerpoint, and many other products including Word. Softvault also claims Microsoft infringes patent 6,594,765, with a long list of Volish software alleged to breach that patent. Softvault wants damages, injunctions, fees, costs, and the like. The other case against Yahoo, Microsoft, Napster, Creative Labs, Dell, Gateway, Iriver, Samsung, Toshiba, Digital Networks, Palm, Audiovox, Sandisk and Thomson also relates to the 868 patent and the 765 patent... Softvault alleges that Microsoft supplies Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) which breaches its patent, and Yahoo's Music Unlimited to Go uses this DRM and so infringes its patents. The other firms named in the suit also infringe Softvault's patents by using Microsoft DRM, it's alleged. Softvault wants the defendants to pay up after a jury trial. Softvault, according to its web page, here*, is a Washington based IP firm which explains that by using its tech a device breaching digital rights can be turned into a brick. And, as we all know, bricks make houses. And gold bricks make gold houses."
* http://www.softvault.com/pages/1/index.htm

Hmmm...
 
]Sony BMG "rootkit" still widespread

FYI...

- http://www.securityfocus.com/news/11369
2006-01-16
"...Building on previous research that suggested some 570,000 networks had computers affected by the software, infrastructure security expert Dan Kaminsky used a different address used by the copy protection software to estimate that, a month later, 350,000 networks--many belonging to the military and government--contain computers affected by the software. "It is unquestionable that Sony's code has gotten into military and government networks, and not necessarily just U.S. military and government networks," Kaminsky said in an interview after his presentation at ShmooCon. The researcher would not say how many networks belonged to government or military top-level domains... Kaminsky's research uses a feature of domain-name system (DNS) servers: The computers will tell whether an address has recently been looked up by the server. The security researcher worked from a list of 9 million domain-name servers, about 3 million of which are reachable by computers outside their networks. Kaminskly sent DNS requests to the 3 million systems, asking each to look up whether an address used by the XCP software--in this case, xcpimages.sonybmg.com--was in the systems' caches. During his first survey, carried out over three days in mid-November, he found 568,000 DNS servers had previously been asked to look up three different server addresses used by the XCP software. Another 350,000 servers had to be thrown out from the data set because they did not obey commands to only look in their cache, and instead asked for information from other servers on the Internet. The most recent survey, which lasted between December 15 and December 23, he found 350,000 servers had the unique address in their caches. While other factors may increase or decrease the number, Kaminsky continues to stress that the experiment is about finding out the magnitude of the impact of Sony BMG's software..."

:(
 
Yeah, I'm Late

Yeah, I'm late to all this, but I just wanted to confim this does not affect 9x/ME OSes, correct?

Also...so will Spybot add immunization or detection, if not removal? Just checking.

Thanks for such an awesome app. I've been using Spybot S&D for years now, and it's still my #1 choice for WinOS spyware issues. :)

DrCR
 
It is irresponsible not to add it.

BTW...using Slysoft's AnyDVD completely blocks Sony's DRM from installing, as well as many other audio and video DRM mechanisms.
 
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/04/11/heise_not_allowed_to_mention_slysoft/
'Aider and abettor' to CD ripping
By Jan Libbenga
Published Monday 11th April 2005 15:18 GMT
A Munich court has ruled that German news site Heise Online was wrong to publish a link to Slysoft.com, a company that advertises software that can play, copy and rip protected audio CDs. In January the German IT site received a writ from the German music industry preventing it from publishing links to the company.

A court last week ruled that, by providing a link to the company's homepage, Heise intentionally provided "assistance in the fulfillment of unlawful acts" and is therefore liable as "an aider and abettor", as described in Section 830 of the German Civil Code.
Click to expand...
 
Looks like I'm an 'Aider and abettor' to CD ripping too...I wholeheartedly support it in every way.

But more importantly, I support a PC user's right to guard their PC against tresspass by companies like Sony, etc. and Slysoft's AnyDVD steps up to protect the consumer against something that Spybot does not.

Germany...sounds like communist China to me.
 
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Is there an "official" reason that Spybot does not block or remove the Sony DRM rootkit?

Or shall we assume that Sony is providing an "incentive" not to?
 
When tashi referenced this thread in the Microsoft media player. protection. thread, it reminded me of something I read just the other day.

After being successfully sued for price fixing just three years ago to the tune of $143 Million, now some of the major companies in the music industry are paying fines for bribing DJs to play their music. See the following article:
Universal Music settles payola probe for $12 million

These companies have absolutely no scruples.
 
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