New Sony Malware Software on Discs.

[JJkizak]

Also read on the Sony forum that they have locked up their games so that once you play it on your machine you cannot play it on another machine. This prevents kids from trading games with each other to p[lay on consoles.

JJK

[DrWho]

Also read on the Sony forum that they have locked up their games so that once you play it on your machine you cannot play it on another machine. This prevents kids from trading games with each other to p[lay on consoles.

So how do you play the same game when you get a new console or you try to play the original copy on your friend's system? Btw, what do you mean by "console"...you talking about the play station 3? or a personal computer?

[Parrot]

My understanding is that Sony WOULD LIKE TO make it so that if you

bought a PlayStation game it would play only on the machine you first

played it on. That way you couldn't loan the discs to friends. There

are rumors that they'll do this with Playstation3. BUT IN ACTUALITY

Sony won't do this because it would mean the end of game rentals. Plus

of course they would be risking a huge backlash and a shift of the

customer base to Microsoft or Nintendo.

Sony has just released a statement that they are abandoning this kind of copy protection for CD for now.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyID=2005-11-11T183106Z_01_MOL166114_RTRIDST_0_TECH-SONY-COPYPROTECTION-DC.XML&archived=False

[JJkizak]

DrWho:

It is obvious I know nothing about play station games since I have never ever

played one. I remember playing hearts on the computer about 1995 or 1996. There is a discussion about this on the Sony Media Forum from people who know what they are talking about. I did leave out a few key details. Sorry about that.

JJK

[jdm56]

a related question:

Can anti-spyware or virus-detection programs be used to scan recent Sony CD's to find out if they have the "malware" on them? Otherwise, I ain't putting ANY Sony CD's in my computer's CD drive.

[DrWho]

a related question:

Can anti-spyware or virus-detection programs be used to scan recent Sony CD's to find out if they have the "malware" on them? Otherwise, I ain't putting ANY Sony CD's in my computer's CD drive.

Go ahead and put your Sony CDs in your drive....the malicious spyware won't get installed unless you click yes in an install window. So if it requires you to install a program to play the disc, then simply cancel the installing and not play that particular CD.

[jdm56]

OK.

Thanks!

[JSharp]

a related question:

Can anti-spyware

or virus-detection programs be used to scan recent Sony CD's

to find out if they have the "malware" on them? Otherwise, I ain't

putting ANY Sony CD's in my computer's CD drive.

Go

ahead and put your Sony CDs in your drive....the malicious spyware

won't get installed unless you click yes in an install window. So if it

requires you to install a program to play the disc, then simply

cancel the installing and not play that particular CD.

It seems the Sony rootkit is now about as dead as it can be. Even MS

anti-spyware is treating it as it should be treated and will remove

it.

http://list.windowsitpro.com/t?ctl=1944F:25787

"For example, Microsoft initially responded cautiously

when questioned about its position on Sonys use of rootkits, but Jason

Garms, a member of the Microsoft Windows Defender team (formerly

Microsoft Antispyware), announced in the Windows Defender blog this weekend that Microsoft is also releasing signatures and a cleaner for the rootkit."

[Parrot]

Here is the list of bad titles:

http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/titles.html

[Parrot]

November 16, 2005

CD's Recalled for Posing Risk to PC's

By TOM ZELLER Jr.

The global music giant Sony BMG yesterday announced plans to recall millions

of CD's by at least 20 artists - from the crooners Celine Dion and Neil Diamond

to the country-rock act Van Zant - because they contain copy restriction

software that poses risks to the computers of consumers.

The move, more commonly associated with collapsing baby strollers, exploding

batteries, or cars with faulty brakes, is expected to cost the company tens of

millions of dollars. Sony BMG said that all CD's containing the software would

be removed from retail outlets and that exchanges would be offered to consumers

who had bought any of them.

A toll-free number and e-mail message inquiry system will also be set up on

the Sony BMG Web site, sonybmg.com.

"We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause our customers," the

company said in a letter that it said it would post on its Web site, "and are

committed to making this situation right." Neither representatives of Sony BMG

nor the British company First 4 Internet, which developed the copy protection

software, would comment further.

Sony BMG estimated last week that about five million discs - some 49

different titles - had been shipped with the problematic software, and about two

million had been sold.

Market research from 2004 has shown that about 30 percent of consumers report

obtaining music through the copying and sharing of tracks among friends from

legitimately purchased CD's. But the fallout from the aggressive copy protection

effort has raised serious questions about how far companies should be permitted

to go in seeking to prevent digital piracy.

The recall and exchange program, which was first reported by USA Today, comes

two weeks after news began to spread on the Internet that certain Sony BMG CD's

contained software designed to limit users to making only three copies. The

software also, however, altered the deepest levels of a computer's systems and

created vulnerabilities that Internet virus writers could exploit.

Since then, computer researchers have identified other problems with the

software, as well as with the software patch and uninstaller programs that the

company issued to address the vulnerabilities.

Several security and antivirus companies, including Computer Associates,

F-Secure and Symantec, quickly classified the software on the CD's, as malicious

because, among other things, it tried to hide itself and communicated remotely

with Sony servers once installed. The problems were known to affect only users

of the Windows operating system.

On Saturday, a Microsoft engineering team indicated that it would be

updating the company's security tools to detect and remove parts of the Sony BMG

copy-protection software to help protect customers.

Researchers at Princeton University disclosed yesterday that early versions

of the "uninstall" process published by Sony BMG on its Web site, which was

designed to help users remove the copy protection software from their machines,

created a vulnerability that could expose users of the Internet Explorer Web

browser to malicious code embedded on Web sites.

Security analysts at Internet Security Systems, based in Atlanta, also

issued an alert yesterday indicating that the copy-protection software itself,

which was installed on certain CD's beginning last spring, could be used by

virus writers to gain administrator privileges on multi-user computers.

David Maynor, a researcher with the X-force division of Internet Security

Systems, which analyzes potential network vulnerabilities, said the

copy-protection feature was particularly pernicious because it was nearly

impossible for typical computer users to remove on their own.

"At what point do you think it is a good thing to surreptitiously put Trojans

on people's machines?" Mr. Maynor said. "The only thing you're guaranteeing is

that they won't be customers anymore."

Some early estimates indicate that the problem could affect half a million or

more computers around the globe.

Data collected in September by the market research firm NPD Group indicated

that roughly 36 percent of consumers report that they listen to music CD's on a

computer. If that percentage held true for people who bought the Sony BMG CD's,

that would amount to about 720,000 computers - although only those running

Windows would be affected. (Consumers who listen to CD's on stereo systems and

other noncomputer players, as well as users of Apple computers, would not be at risk.)

Dan Kaminsky, a prominent independent computer security researcher, conducted

a more precise analysis of the number of PC's affected by scanning the Internet

traffic generated by the Sony BMG copy-protection software, which, once

installed, quietly tries to connect to one of two Sony servers if an Internet

connection is present.

Mr. Kaminsky estimated that about 568,000 unique Domain Name System - or

D.N.S. - servers, which help direct Internet traffic, had been contacted by at

least one computer seeking to reach those Sony servers. Given that many D.N.S.

servers field queries from more than one computer, the number of actual machines

affected is almost certainly higher, Mr. Kaminsky said.

Although antivirus companies have indicated since late last week that virus

writers were trying to take advantage of the vulnerabilities, it is not known if

any of these viruses have actually found their way onto PC's embedded with the

Sony BMG copy protection software.

Mr. Kaminsky and other security and digital rights advocates say that does

not matter. "There may be millions of hosts that are now vulnerable to something

that they weren't vulnerable to before," Mr. Kaminsky said.

For some critics, the recall will not be enough.

"This is only one of the many things Sony must do to be accountable for the

damage it's inflicted on its customers," said Jason Schultz, a lawyer with the

Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group in California.

On Monday, the foundation issued an open letter to Sony BMG executives

demanding, among other things, refunds for customers who bought the CD's and did

not wish to make an exchange, and compensation for time spent removing the

software and any potential damage to computers.

The group, which has been involved in lawsuits over the protection of digital

rights, gave the company, which is jointly owned by the Sony Corporation and

Bertelsmann, a deadline of Friday morning to respond with some indication that

it was "in the process of implementing these measures."

Mr. Schultz said: "People paid Sony for music, not an invasion of their

computers. Sony must right the wrong it has committed. Recalling the CD's is a

beginning step in the process, but there is a whole lot more mess to clean up."

[Nklipsch]

The majority of people would probably click 'yes' to the installation of 'music playing software',just look at the proliferation of malware elsewhere.

The funny thing is,it encourages people to rip it,and then burn their own copy without protection.