Category: Uncategorized
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SonyBMG DRM Customer Survival Kit
Here’s a handy bag of tricks for people whose computers are (or might be) infected by the SonyBMG/First4Internet rootkit DRM. The instructions here draw heavily from research by Alex Halderman and Mark Russinovich. This DRM system operates only on recent versions of Windows. If you’re using MacOS or Linux, you have nothing to worry about…
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SonyBMG "Protection" is Spyware
Mark Russinovich has yet another great post on the now-notorious SonyBMG/First4Internet CD “copy protection” software. His conclusion: “Without exaggeration I can say that I’ve analyzed virulent forms of spyware/adware that provide more straightforward means of uninstall.” Here’s how the uninstall process works: The user somehow finds the obscure web page from which he can request…
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RIAA Critics, and their Critics, Debate Lawsuits
Last week the EFF released a report criticizing the RIAA’s lawsuits against individuals accused of P2P infringement. Some commentators have criticized the EFF. Tim Lee at Tech Liberation Front summarizes their argument: I’m ordinarily sympathetic to the EFF’s arguments, but in this case, I agree with Adam [Thierer]: “OK Fred, then what exactly IS the…
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SonyBMG and First4Internet Release Mysterious Software Update
SonyBMG and First4Internet, the companies caught installing rootkit-like software on the computers of people who bought certain CDs, have taken their first baby steps toward addressing the problem. But they still have a long way to go; and they might even have made the situation worse. Yesterday, the companies released a software update that they…
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CD-DRM Rootkit: Repairing the Damage
SonyBMG and First4Internet are in the doghouse now, having been caught installing rootkit-like software on the computers of SonyBMG music customers, thereby exposing the customers to security risk. The question now is whether the companies will face up to their mistake and try to remedy it. First4Internet seems to be trying to dodge the issue.…
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CD DRM Makes Computers Less Secure
Yesterday, Sysinternals’s Mark Russinovich posted an excellent analysis of a CD copy protection system called XCP2. This scheme, created by British-based First4Internet, has been deployed on many Sony/BMG albums released in the last six months. Like the SunnComm MediaMax system that I wrote about in 2003, XCP2 uses an “active” software-based approach in an attempt…
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Net Neutrality and Competition
No sooner do I start writing about net neutrality than Ed Whitacre, the CEO of baby bell company SBC, energizes the debate with a juicy interview: Q: How concerned are you about Internet upstarts like Google, MSN, Vonage, and others? A: How do you think they’re going to get to customers? Through a broadband pipe.…
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Discrimination Against Network Hogs
Adam Thierer has an interesting post about network neutrality over at Tech Liberation Front. He is reacting to a recent Wall Street Journal story about how some home broadband service providers (BSPs) are starting to modify their networks to block or frustrate network applications they don’t like. Why would a BSP discriminate against an application’s…
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RFID, Present and Future
One of the advantages of teaching in a good university is the opportunity to hear smart students talk to each other about complicated topics. This semester I’m teaching a graduate seminar in technology and privacy, to a group of about ten computer science and electrical engineering students. On Monday the class discussed the future of…
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Do University Honor Codes Work?
Rick Garnett over at ProfsBlawg asked his readers about student honor codes and whether they work. His readers, who seem to be mostly lawyers and law students, chimed in with quite a few comments, most of them negative. I have dealt with honor codes at two institutions. My undergraduate institution, Caltech, has a simply stated…