The
Sony BMG CD copy protection scandal concerns the
copy protection-Information technology:*Digital rights management, technologies which provide access control for digital media*Data Reference Model, US federal guidelines for computer data standards*Data Resource Management...
measures included by Sony BMG on
compact discA Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store sound recordings exclusively, but later it also allowed the preservation of other types of data. Audio CDs have been commercially available since October 1982...
s in 2005. Sony BMG included the
Extended Copy ProtectionExtended Copy Protection is a software package developed by the British company First 4 Internet, , and sold as a copy protection or digital rights management scheme for compact discs...
(XCP) and
MediaMax CD-3MediaMax CD-3 is a software package created by SunnComm and sold as a form of copy protection for compact discs. It is used by the record label RCA Records/BMG, and targets both Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. Some users regard the software as a form of malware since its purpose is to intercept...
software on music CDs. XCP was put on 52 titles and MediaMax was put on 50 titles. This software was automatically installed on Windows desktop computers when customers tried to play the CDs. The software interferes with the normal way in which the
Microsoft WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces...
operating systemAn operating system is an interface between hardware and user which is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the resources of the computer that acts as a host for computing applications run on the machine. As a host, one of the purposes of an operating...
plays CDs by installing a
rootkitA rootkit is a software system that consists of one or more programs designed to obscure the fact that a system has been compromised. Contrary to what its name may imply, a rootkit does not grant a user administrator privileges, as it requires prior access to execute and tamper with system files...
which creates vulnerabilities for other
malwareMalware, short for malicious software, is software designed to infiltrate a computer without the owner's informed consent. The expression is a general term used by computer professionals to mean a variety of forms of hostile, intrusive, or annoying software or program code...
to exploit. This was discovered and publicly revealed by
Mark RussinovichMark E. Russinovich is a software engineer and author who works for Microsoft as a Technical fellow. He is a regular contributor to TechNet Magazine and Windows IT Pro magazine on the subject of the Architecture of Windows 2000 and was co-author of Inside Windows 2000...
on the
SysinternalsWindows Sysinternals is a part of Microsoft Technet web site which offers technical resources and utilities to manage, diagnose, troubleshoot and monitor a Microsoft Windows environment. Originally, the Sysinternals website was created in 1996 and was operated by the company Winternals Software...
blog.
As a result, a number of parties have filed lawsuits against Sony BMG; the company ended up
recallingA product recall is a request to return to the maker a batch or an entire production run of a product, usually due to the discovery of safety issues. The recall is an effort to limit liability for corporate negligence and to improve or avoid damage to publicity...
all the affected CDs; and greater public attention was drawn to the issue of commercially-backed
spywareSpyware is a type of malware that is installed on computers and that collects information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's personal computer...
and
rootkitA rootkit is a software system that consists of one or more programs designed to obscure the fact that a system has been compromised. Contrary to what its name may imply, a rootkit does not grant a user administrator privileges, as it requires prior access to execute and tamper with system files...
s. Additionally, further investigation revealed that Sony had created its copyright protection software, in part, using
LAMELAME is a free software application used to encode audio into the MP3 file format. The name LAME is a recursive acronym for LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder, reflecting LAME's early history when it was not actually an encoder, but merely a set of patches against the freely available ISO demonstration...
code written by
Jon Lech JohansenJon Lech Johansen , also known as DVD Jon, is a Norwegian programmer famous for his work on reverse engineering data formats. He is most famous for his involvement in the release of the DeCSS software, which decodes the content-scrambling system used for DVD licensing enforcement...
, violating its
GPLThe GNU General Public License is a widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU project....
license.
Background
In August 2000, statements by
Sony Pictures EntertainmentSony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. is the television and film production/distribution unit of Japanese multinational technology and media conglomerate Sony. Its group sales in 2007 has been reported to be of $8.58 billion.-History:...
US senior VP Steve Heckler foreshadowed the events of late 2005. Heckler told attendees at the Americas Conference on Information Systems "The industry will take whatever steps it needs to protect itself and protect its revenue streams... It will not lose that revenue stream, no matter what... Sony is going to take aggressive steps to stop this. We will develop technology that transcends the individual user. We will firewall
NapsterNapster was an online music file sharing service created by Shawn Fanning while he was attending Northeastern University in Boston. The service operated between June 1999 and July 2001...
at source - we will block it at your cable company. We will block it at your phone company. We will block it at your
ISPAn Internet service provider is a company that offers its customers access to the Internet...
. We will firewall it at your PC... These strategies are being aggressively pursued because there is simply too much at stake." BMG in Europe experienced a similar scandal in 2001 when
Natalie ImbrugliaNatalie Jane Imbruglia is an Australian singer-songwriter, model and actress.In the early 1990s, Imbruglia was known to audiences as Beth Brennan Willis in the popular Australian soap Neighbours. Three years after leaving the program, Imbruglia launched a singing career with the international...
's second album -
White Lilies IslandWhite Lilies Island is the second album by Natalie Imbruglia. It was released in Europe and Australia in late 2001 and in the United States on March 5, 2002...
- was sold with copy protection measures, but without any warning labels. They were eventually replaced by BMG, but the company made clear intentions to continue copy-protection methods. In the United States and Germany, Sony used copy protection on N' Sync's 2001 album
CelebrityCelebrity is the fifth and final studio album by the pop boy band 'N Sync. It was originally released in 2001 by Jive Records. The album achieved five times platinum status in the U.S. and became the group's third album to sell over 10 million copies worldwide...
. The British version of the album was unprotected.. European promotional copies of
Michael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson , known as the "King of Pop", was an American musician and one of the most commercially successful and influential entertainers of all time...
's 2001 single
You Rock My World"You Rock My World" is a song by American singer-songwriter Michael Jackson and lead single from his 2001 album Invincible. The song peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Jackson's last top ten hit in the United States. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal...
was also released with copy-protection.
Sony BMG software issues
On October 31 2005,
Mark RussinovichMark E. Russinovich is a software engineer and author who works for Microsoft as a Technical fellow. He is a regular contributor to TechNet Magazine and Windows IT Pro magazine on the subject of the Architecture of Windows 2000 and was co-author of Inside Windows 2000...
posted to his
blogA blog is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order...
a detailed description and technical analysis of the characteristics of the software contained on Sony BMG music CDs. Called "Sony, Rootkits and Digital Rights Management Gone Too Far", the article asserts vocally that the software is illegitimate and that
digital rights managementDigital rights management is a generic term for access control technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to try to impose limitations on the usage of digital content and devices...
had "gone too far."
Security holes
Russinovich stated that the software creates security holes that can be exploited by malicious software such as
wormsA computer worm is a self-replicating computer program. It uses a network to send copies of itself to other nodes and it may do so without any user intervention. Unlike a virus, it does not need to attach itself to an existing program...
or
virusesA computer virus is a computer program that can copy itself and infect a computer. The term "virus" is also commonly but erroneously used to refer to other types of malware, adware, and spyware programs that do not have the reproductive ability...
. He also mentioned that the XCP software installed silently before the EULA appeared, that the EULA does not mention the XCP software, and that there was no uninstaller, all of which are illegal in various ways in various jurisdictions.
Ed FeltenEdward William Felten is a professor of computer science and public affairs at Princeton University.Felten has done a variety of computer security research, including groundbreaking work on proof-carrying authentication and work on security related to the Java programming language, but he is...
's
Freedom to tinker blog featured an article by J. Alex Halderman discussing the SunnComm DRM also found on some Sony BMG CDs, which is very similar to the F4I software in that it installs without authorization or notification, and does not have an uninstaller.
Resource drain
The article also asserts that the software runs in the background and consumes system resources, slowing down the user's computer, regardless of whether there is a protected CD playing.
Poor design
Russinovich presented evidence that the software employs unsafe procedures to start/stop the
rootkitA rootkit is a software system that consists of one or more programs designed to obscure the fact that a system has been compromised. Contrary to what its name may imply, a rootkit does not grant a user administrator privileges, as it requires prior access to execute and tamper with system files...
, which could lead to system crashes (
Blue Screen of DeathThe Blue Screen of Death is a colloquialism used for the error screen displayed by some operating systems, most notably Microsoft Windows, after encountering a critical system error which can cause the system to shut down to prevent irreversable damage...
) and that inexpert attempts to uninstall the software can lead to the
WindowsMicrosoft Windows is a series of software operating systems and graphical user interfaces produced by Microsoft. Microsoft first introduced an operating environment named Windows in November 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces...
operating system failing to recognize existing drive(s). The Sony rootkit is designed to hide any files, registry keys and processes whose name starts with the string $sys$, making it very easy for writers of worms and other malware to also hide their files by simply using the same name. Within weeks there were several trojans and worms taking advantage of this functionality in machines already compromised by the Sony rootkit.
Anti-virus firm
F-SecureF-Secure Corporation is an anti-virus and computer security software company based in Helsinki, Finland. The company has branch offices in the USA and Japan, where antivirus analysis and software development work is ongoing. F-Secure Corp...
asserted, "Although the software isn't directly malicious, the used rootkit hiding techniques are exactly the same used by malicious software to hide themselves. The DRM software will cause many similar false alarms with all AV software that detect rootkits. ... Thus it is very inappropriate for commercial software to use these techniques." After public pressure,
SymantecSymantec Corporation was founded in 1982 by Gary Hendrix with a National Science Foundation grant. Symantec was originally focused on artificial intelligence-related projects, including a database program. Hendrix hired several Stanford University natural language processing researchers as the...
and other anti-virus vendors included detection for the rootkit in their products as well, and Microsoft announced it would include detection and removal capabilities in their security patches.
Rootkit removal program
Sony BMG
released a software utility to remove the rootkit component of XCP from affected Microsoft Windows computers, but this removal utility was soon analyzed by Russinovich again in his blog and revealed as only exacerbating the privacy and security concerns.
In fact, the Sony BMG removal program merely unmasked the hidden files installed by the rootkit, but did not actually remove the rootkit. In addition, this program was reported to install additional software that cannot be uninstalled. In order to download the uninstaller, it is necessary to provide an e-mail address (which the Sony BMG Privacy Policy implies to be added to various bulk e-mail lists), and to install an
ActiveX controlActiveX is a framework for defining reusable software components that perform a particular function or a set of functions in Microsoft Windows in a way that is independent of the programming language used to implement them...
containing backdoor methods (marked as "safe for scripting", and thus prone to exploits).
On November 18 2005, Sony BMG provided a "new and improved" removal tool to remove the rootkit component of XCP from affected Microsoft Windows computers.
Opponents of Sony BMG's actions, including Slashdot and
DiggDigg is a social news website made for people to discover and share content from anywhere on the Internet, by submitting links and stories, and voting and commenting on submitted links and stories. Voting stories up and down is the site's cornerstone function, respectively called digging and burying...
contributors, later accused Sony BMG of violating the privacy of its customers to create a backdoor onto their machine using code that itself violates an
open-source licenseAn open source license is a copyright license for computer software that makes the source code available under terms that allow for modification and redistribution without having to pay the original author. Such licenses may have additional restrictions such as a requirement to preserve the name of...
. They claimed that this DRM program, designed to give Sony BMG control over the customer's machine in the name of copyright protection, is itself infringing copyright by including code from the
LAMELAME is a free software application used to encode audio into the MP3 file format. The name LAME is a recursive acronym for LAME Ain't an MP3 Encoder, reflecting LAME's early history when it was not actually an encoder, but merely a set of patches against the freely available ISO demonstration...
MP3 library..
Product recall
On November 15, 2005 vnunet.com announced that Sony BMG was backing out of its copy-protection software, recalling unsold CDs from all stores, and offering consumers to exchange their CDs with versions lacking the software. The
Electronic Frontier FoundationThe Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit advocacy and legal organization based in the United States with the stated purpose of being dedicated to preserving the right to freedom of speech, such as protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, in the...
compiled
a partial list of CDs with XCP. Sony BMG was quoted as maintaining that "there were no security risks associated with the anti-piracy technology", despite numerous virus and malware reports. On November 16, 2005, US-CERT, part of the
United States Department of Homeland SecurityThe United States Department of Homeland Security is a Cabinet department of the United States federal government with the primary responsibilities of protecting the territory of the U.S...
, issued an advisory on XCP DRM. They said that XCP uses rootkit technology to hide certain files from the computer user, and that this technique is a security threat to computer users. They also said one of the uninstallation options provided by Sony BMG introduces further vulnerabilities to a system. US-CERT advised, "Do not install software from sources that you do not expect to contain software, such as an audio CD."
Sony BMG announced that it had instructed retailers to remove any unsold music discs containing the software from their shelves.
It was estimated by internet expert
Dan KaminskyDan Kaminsky is a security researcher and Director of Penetration Testing for IOActive. He formerly worked for Cisco and Avaya. He is known among computer security experts for his work on DNS cache poisoning, including showing that the Sony Rootkit had infected at least 568,200 computers and for...
that XCP was in use on more than 500,000 networks.
CDs with XCP technology can be identified by the letters "XCP" printed on the back cover of the jewel case for the CD according to
On November 18, 2005
ReutersReuters Group Limited is a UK-based, Canadian-controlled news service and former financial market data provider that provides reports from around the world to newspapers and broadcasters. News reporting once accounted for less than 10% of the company's income. Its main focus was on supplying the...
reported that Sony BMG would exchange affected insecure CDs for new unprotected disks as well as unprotected MP3 files.
Information about the swap can be found at
the Sony BMG swap program website. As a part of the swap program, consumers can mail their XCP-protected CDs to Sony BMG and would be sent an unprotected disc via return mail.
On November 29 then-New York Attorney General
Eliot SpitzerEliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer and former politician of the Democratic Party. He served as Governor of New York from January 2007 until his resignation on March 17, 2008 in the wake of the exposure of his involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring...
found through his investigators that despite the recall of November 15 Sony BMG CDs with XCP were still for sale in New York City music retail outlets. Spitzer said "It is unacceptable that more than three weeks after this serious vulnerability was revealed, these same CDs are still on shelves, during the busiest shopping days of the year, [and] I strongly urge all retailers to heed the warnings issued about these products, pull them from distribution immediately, and ship them back to Sony."
The next day, Massachusetts Attorney General
Tom ReillyThomas F. Reilly was the 45th Massachusetts Attorney General. He was born in Springfield, Massachusetts to Irish immigrant parents....
issued a statement saying that Sony BMG CDs with XCP were still available in Boston despite the Sony BMG recall of November 15. Attorney General Reilly advised consumers not to purchase the Sony BMG CDs with XCP and said that he was conducting an investigation of Sony BMG.
As of April 2, 2008 Sony BMG's website finally offered consumers their explanation and list of affected CDs.
http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/titles.html
As of May 11, 2006
Sony BMG's website offered consumers a link to
"Class Action Settlement Information Regarding XCP And Mediamax Content Protection." It has online claim filing and links to software updates/uninstallers. The deadline for submitting a claim was June 30, 2007.
Texas state action
On November 21, 2005, Texas Attorney General
Greg AbbottGregory W. "Greg" Abbott is the attorney general of Texas, only the second Republican since Reconstruction to serve in that role. Abbott was sworn in on December 2, 2002, following John Cornyn's election to the U.S. Senate...
sued Sony BMG. Texas is the first state in the United States to bring legal action against Sony BMG in this matter. The suit is also the first filed under the state’s 2005 spyware law. It alleges the company surreptitiously installed the spyware on millions of compact music discs (CDs) that consumers inserted into their computers when they play the CDs, which can compromise the systems.
On December 21, 2005, Abbott added new allegations to his lawsuit against Sony-BMG, regarding MediaMax. The new allegations claim that MediaMax violates the state's spyware and deceptive trade practices laws, because the MediaMax software is installed even if users decline the license agreement that would authorize its installation. Abbott said "We keep discovering additional methods Sony used to deceive Texas consumers who thought they were simply buying music", and "Thousands of Texans are now potential victims of this deceptive game Sony played with consumers for its own purposes." In addition to violations of the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act of 2005, which allows for civil penalties of $100,000 for each violation of the law, the alleged violations added in the updated lawsuit (on December 21, 2005) carry maximum penalties of $20,000 per violation.
New York and California class action suits
Class action suits have been filed against Sony BMG in New York and California.
On December 30, 2005, the New York Times reported that Sony BMG has reached a tentative settlement of the lawsuits, proposing two ways of compensating consumers who have purchased the affected recordings. According to the proposed settlement, those who purchased an XCP CD will be paid $7.50 per purchased recording and given the opportunity to download a free album, or be able to download three additional albums from a limited list of recordings if they give up their cash incentive. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald entered an order tentatively approving the settlement on January 6, 2006.
The settlement is designed to compensate those whose computers were infected, but not otherwise damaged. Those who have damages that are not addressed in the class action are able to opt out of the settlement and pursue their own litigation.
A fairness hearing was held on May 22, 2006 at 9:15 am at the
Daniel Patrick MoynihanDaniel Patrick “Pat” Moynihan was an American politician and sociologist. A member of the Democratic Party, he was first elected to the United States Senate for New York in 1976, and was re-elected three times . He declined to run for re-election in 2000...
United States Courthouse for the Southern District of New York.
Claims had to be submitted by December 31, 2006. Class members who wished to be excluded from the settlement must have filed before May 1, 2006. Those who remained in the settlement could attend the fairness hearing at their own expense and speak on their own behalf or be represented by an attorney.
Other actions
It was reported on December 24, 2005 that then-Florida Attorney General
Charlie CristCharles Joseph "Charlie" Crist, Jr. is an American politician of the Republican Party and the current Governor of Florida. He was born in Altoona, Pennsylvania and moved to St...
was investigating Sony BMG spyware.
In Italy, ALCEI (an association similar to
EFFThe Electronic Frontier Foundation is an international non-profit advocacy and legal organization based in the United States with the stated purpose of being dedicated to preserving the right to freedom of speech, such as protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, in the...
) also reported the rootkit to the Financial Police, asking for an investigation under various computer crime allegations, along with a technical analysis of the rootkit. On November 21, EFF announced that they were also pursuing a lawsuit over both XCP and the
SunnCommSunnComm International Inc. was the company that developed and owned the MediaMax technology software package, which was sold as a form of copy protection for compact discs...
MediaMaxMediaMax may refer to:* MediaMax company and web based storage service.* MediaMax CD-3 copy protection for compact discs....
DRM technology. On December 6, 2005 Sony-BMG said that 5.7 million of its CDs were shipped with SunnComm MediaMax that requires a new software patch to prevent a potential security breach in consumers' computers. The security vulnerability was discovered by EFF and brought to the attention of Sony BMG. The MediaMax Version 5 software was loaded on 27 Sony BMG titles. All these suits are regarding security threats and other damage to customer computers, not copyright issues in the code. The EFF lawsuit also involves
issues concerning the Sony BMG end user license agreement.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) made no comment on whether it would take any criminal action against Sony. However Sony did receive a public admonishment from Stewart Baker of the Department of Homeland Security, who in a speech at a Chamber of Commerce event made the statement, "it's your intellectual property — it's not your computer".
On January 30, 2007, the U.S.
Federal Trade CommissionThe Federal Trade Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, established in 1914 by the Federal Trade Commission Act...
(FTC) announced a settlement with Sony BMG on charges that their CD copy protection had violated Federal Law. The settlement requires Sony BMG to reimburse consumers up to $150 to repair damage that resulted directly from their attempts to remove the software installed without their consent. The settlement also requires them to provide clear and prominent disclosure on the packaging of future CDs of any limits on copying or restrictions on the use of playback devices, and bars the company from installing content protection software without obtaining consumers’ authorization. FTC chairwoman
Deborah Platt MajorasDeborah Platt Majoras is the former chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, appointed May 11, 2004, by President George W. Bush and sworn in on August 16, 2004. President Bush had announced his intention to appoint her to the position on July 30, 2004...
added that, "Installations of secret software that create security risks are intrusive and unlawful. Consumers' computers belong to them, and companies must adequately disclose unexpected limitations on the customary use of their products so consumers can make informed decisions regarding whether to purchase and install that content."
Company and press reports
National Public RadioNational Public Radio is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to 797 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, signed into law...
was one of the first to report on the scandal on November 4, 2005.
Thomas HesseThomas Hesse is President of Sony Music Entertainment's Global Digital Business, US Sales, and Corporate Strategy. He reports to Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, Chief Executive Officer for Sony Music Entertainment...
, Sony BMG's Global Digital Business President, told reporter
Neda UlabyNeda Ulaby is an American reporter for National Public Radio, covering arts, cultural trends and digital media. She lives in Washington, D.C.- Early life and education :...
, "Most people, I think, don't even know what a
rootkitA rootkit is a software system that consists of one or more programs designed to obscure the fact that a system has been compromised. Contrary to what its name may imply, a rootkit does not grant a user administrator privileges, as it requires prior access to execute and tamper with system files...
is, so why should they care about it?"
In a November 7, 2005 article, vnunet.com summarised Russinovich's findings, and urged consumers to avoid buying Sony BMG music CDs for the time being. The following day,
The Boston GlobeThe Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993. Its chief print rival is the Boston Herald....
classified the software as
spywareSpyware is a type of malware that is installed on computers and that collects information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's personal computer...
and Computer Associates' eTrust Security Management unit VP
Steve CurryStephen Thomas Curry is a former starting pitcher in Major League Baseball who played briefly for the Boston Red Sox during the season. Listed at 6' 6", 217 lb., he batted and threw right-handed....
confirmed that it communicates personal information from consumers' computers to Sony BMG (namely the CD being played and the user's
IP addressAn Internet Protocol address is a numerical label that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol for communication between its nodes....
). The methods used by the software to avoid detection were likened to those used by data thieves.
The first virus which made use of Sony BMG's stealth technology to make malicious files invisible to both the user and anti-virus programs surfaced on November 10. One day later
Yahoo! NewsYahoo! News is an Internet-based news aggregator provided by Yahoo!. It features Top Stories, U.S. National, World, Business, Entertainment, Science, Health, Weather, Most Popular, News Photos, Op/Ed, and Local news....
announced that Sony BMG had suspended further distribution of the controversial technology.
According to ZDNet News:
"The latest risk is from an uninstaller program distributed by
SunnCommSunnComm International Inc. was the company that developed and owned the MediaMax technology software package, which was sold as a form of copy protection for compact discs...
Technologies, a company that provides copy protection on other Sony BMG releases." The uninstall program obeys commands sent to it allowing others "to take control of PCs where the uninstaller has been used."
According to
BBC NewsBBC News, formerly BBC News and Current Affairs, is the department within the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the corporation's news-gathering and production of news programmes on BBC television, radio and online....
on November 14, 2005, Microsoft decided to classify Sony BMG's software as "
spywareSpyware is a type of malware that is installed on computers and that collects information about users without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's personal computer...
" and provide tools for its removal. Speaking about Sony BMG suspending the use of XCP, Microsoft employee
Mark RussinovichMark E. Russinovich is a software engineer and author who works for Microsoft as a Technical fellow. He is a regular contributor to TechNet Magazine and Windows IT Pro magazine on the subject of the Architecture of Windows 2000 and was co-author of Inside Windows 2000...
said, "This is a step they should have taken immediately."
Sony BMG in Australia released a press release indicating that no Sony BMG titles manufactured in Australia have copy protection.
See also
- Extended Copy Protection
Extended Copy Protection is a software package developed by the British company First 4 Internet, , and sold as a copy protection or digital rights management scheme for compact discs...
- Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a generic term for access control technologies that can be used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals to try to impose limitations on the usage of digital content and devices...
- OpenMG
OpenMG is an SDMI-compliant digital rights management scheme by Sony. It is designed for audio files in ATRAC3 format. The compliant software, eg. Sony SonicStage, is usually capable of transcoding MP3 and wav files to OpenMG/ATRAC3...
, DRM used by Sony BMG's SonicStageSonicStage is the name for Sony software that is used for managing portable devices when they are plugged into a computer running Microsoft Windows. It comprises a music player and library manager, similar to iTunes, Windows Media Player and RealPlayer. It is used to manage the library of ATRAC...
software for Sony ConnectThe CONNECT Music Store was Sony's music store built within the SonicStage music management application for Microsoft Windows-based personal computers. It was one of the world’s largest online music download stores with over 2.5 million tracks to preview and purchase, with over 10,000 new songs...
on-line music store
- Rootkit
A rootkit is a software system that consists of one or more programs designed to obscure the fact that a system has been compromised. Contrary to what its name may imply, a rootkit does not grant a user administrator privileges, as it requires prior access to execute and tamper with system files...
- File sharing and the law
The legal issues in file sharing involve violation of copyright laws as digital copies of copyrighted materials are transferred between users.The application of national copyright laws to peer to peer and file sharing networks is of global significance...
- SecuROM
SecuROM is a CD/DVD copy protection product, most often used for commercial computer games running under Microsoft Windows, developed by Sony DADC. SecuROM aims to resist home media duplication devices, professional duplicators, and attempts at reverse engineering the game. The use of SecuROM has...
External links