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Posted by rladew on 2005-06-15 21:59:08 +0000

Fuck Sunncomm

So, I know I got what I deserved for picking up the new double Foo Fighters. Im not a maniac of all things Foo, but I do like to check what Mr. Grohl is doing from time to time. Anyhow, I get home, throw the disc into my computer and start thinking about posting something on RSN when the weirdest skipping and unplayble type noises start coming from my computer. Seems as though our RCA/BMG (maybe the other major record labels as well) friends have a wonderful new collusive act with a company called Sunncomm to thwart home taping. The only problems with this, is that, me, the paying customer, cant use his own FREEKIN product. I dont want to hold and have some other computer talk to my computer about valid certificates... The only similar story in this vein I can think of is last year's 'To The 5 Bouroughs" by the Beastie Boys which had some kind of intrusive spyware on it as well. Fair Use is where its at my friends.. Im gonna have to listen to more Negativland save us from this shit!

Posted by tgl on 2005-06-15 22:11:01 +0000
Home taping is killing the record industry. --- I believe there is a workaround on the web somewhere. I don't remember it precisely, it has something to do with disabling a system setting that automatically runs the first executable on the disc, which is the Sunncomm anti-piracy program. --- Here it is (if it's what they call MediaMax): net stop sbcphid del %systemroot%\system32\drivers\sbcphid.sys (source)

Posted by rladew on 2005-06-15 22:57:10 +0000
I looked for this stuff on the web for a while, but Im just irked I have to do anything to listen to music that I paid for. If they can find a way to inconvienience thieves only, Ill learn to deal, until then, fuck Suncomm. _______________________________

Posted by dawnbixtler on 2005-06-16 01:45:30 +0000
Home taping will be the death of us all. Look at the cassette tape...[/sarcasm] Sunncomm looks like a bunch of assholes, if you check the web site... Wasn't this exact thing RATM's argument against anti-pirating software, and for Napster?

Posted by tgl on 2005-06-16 18:09:25 +0000
a nice rant Excerpt:
John Zorn: Love, Madness and Mysticism

I have stolen from you because I am confused and afraid, and intrigued by confusion and fear. I don't know whether this John Zorn record alienates me or fascinates me. I certainly can't decide based on excerpts, and I probably won't have even the most tentative guess until I've listened to it several times, more or less against my existing will. If I decide it's mind-expanding genius, I'll happily pay for it. If I decide it's stochastic crap my old parameters justifiably excluded, I'll delete it. If you believed in your music, and in me, you'd take that deal in an instant. My patience costs me dearly, after all, and yours costs you nothing. But you don't believe in your music. Most of the time you don't even know what it is. And you certainly don't know me, or where my curiosity leads or misleads me. So you invest nothing, and you shouldn't be surprised by your returns.


Posted by rladew on 2005-06-16 18:36:12 +0000
awesome. _______________________________

Posted by frame609 on 2005-06-16 18:38:52 +0000
I still want a 'Christianity Is Stupid' shirt.

Posted by rladew on 2005-06-16 20:08:25 +0000
watch it pal, or Ill send you to "Guantanamo Summer Camp" (TM) _______________________________

Posted by G lib on 2005-06-17 13:11:46 +0000
THAT is funny. Has that t-shirt already been made? _______________ The Boot Knife of Mild Reason

Posted by tgl on 2005-06-17 15:07:09 +0000
Sort of.

Posted by rladew on 2005-06-17 15:43:18 +0000
all that trouble to listen to the music, and the music isnt that great. I should have picked up a non Suncomm dischord copy of "Feral Hymns" oh well.... _______________________________

Posted by rladew on 2005-06-18 16:34:12 +0000
actually the Norah Jones collaboration w/ Mr. Grohl and co. on the Antonio Carlo Jobimish Bossa of "Virginia Moon" is pretty good after a few listens.... I stand corrected... _______________________________

Posted by rladew on 2005-10-18 12:51:50 +0000
Renee Graham of the glob files her Suncomm grievance today. Corporate Rock Still Sucks. _______________________________

Posted by Honar the librarian on 2005-11-09 19:28:51 +0000
And more on the evils of corporate music.

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-09 20:25:31 +0000
didn't let me through.... what was the gist? _______________________________

Posted by Honar the librarian on 2005-11-09 20:42:56 +0000
doh, sorry about the bad link. This is from autocat, list serv for catlogers. I made some formatting changes with links, but other than that I cut and pasted. Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 11:48:40 -0600 Sender: AUTOCAT From: "Sprochi, Amanda K." Subject: Sony/BMG CDs may harm your computer I don't know if anyone has been following this, but for those of you who have collections with CDs, be aware that there is a potentially fatal problem with the new anti-piracy software that comes with new Song/BMG titles. These CDs come bundled with their own player, which has to be installed in order for the CD to run. This program then limits the number of copies that can be made from the CD to three. However, in doing this it also installs a rootkit. Rootkits, according to Mark Russinovich, who writes a computer blog, are "cloaking technologies that hide files, Registry keys, and other system objects from diagnostic and security software, and they are usually employed by malware attempting to keep their implementation hidden." What this rootkit does is actually rewrite parts of the code on your OS. Trying to delete these files may cripple your system, and may leave it vulnerable to other viruses and worms that capitalize on security weaknesses in the new code. It may also lead to the "Blue Screen of Death" and potential loss of data. Note that nowhere in the licensing agreement we all click without reading does it say that using the CD will alter your OS or rewrite your computer's code. It is also very hard to get the uninstall program from Sony, and it doesn't seem to work very well if you do get it. The original problem was noted in Russovich's blog and its follow-up It has also been covered by several news outlets and on it security websites: http://www.enterpriseitplanet.com/security/news/article.php/3561181 http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/hackers_raid_so_1.html (this has good links to other ariticles as well) Because libraries buy and circulate CD copies to mulitple users, you may want to take a look at the CDs in your collection and avoid these. Apart from the spyware and privacy aspects, this is potentially a huge security problem, and may actually cause Windows PCs to fail. Caveat emptor.

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-09 20:49:32 +0000
Boy, that stuff infuriates me. One word for the folks @ Sony: Soulseek! _______________________________

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-10 22:17:44 +0000
Now other baddies are piggybacking all kinds of other shit onto yr computer when you use Sony /BMG copy protected cds.... (my apologies for the BREITBART link ;) _______________________________

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-11 21:01:43 +0000
Behold the Rootkit! (and, no, BTW, P-fork doesn't like it either... _______________________________

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-11 21:08:05 +0000
My computer still has problems from way back when I started the thread. Im starting to see many other people are just as pissed as I am: Down with Suncomm! _______________________________

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-11 21:13:54 +0000
BTW - 3 days after I posted this thread I got the mp3s of the songs I liked (A whopping 3 songs over a double cd set) on Soulseek for free in under 10 minutes. fuck Suncomm. _______________________________

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-14 15:25:57 +0000
Hallelujah! _______________________________

Posted by tgl on 2005-11-14 15:38:19 +0000
The patch just fixes the security hole, still no word on how to remove the rootkit itself if you've got it installed. Looking forward to the day when record labels realize their "value added" is in publishing music, not pushing bits of plastic.

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-14 15:46:32 +0000
not so much talking about the patch as I am Sony/BMG stopping the copy protection .exe files they are putting on cds... _______________________________

Posted by tgl on 2005-11-14 15:50:49 +0000
Ah. Still though, you're sort of screwed if you've already run one through your 'puter.

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-14 16:03:58 +0000
Dont I know it :) _______________________________

Posted by Miriam on 2005-11-14 19:46:10 +0000
My IT guy at work showed me an easy fix...unclick the box on your Windows Media Player that asks for liscening okays. Haven't tried it at home yet, but I'm looking forward to it!

Posted by Honar the librarian on 2005-11-15 13:18:37 +0000
The latest.

Posted by tgl on 2005-11-15 14:06:38 +0000
Unclicking the licensing OKs in Windows Media Player won't fix this problem. Maybe others, though.

Posted by Miriam on 2005-11-15 16:17:26 +0000
yippee!

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-15 17:29:34 +0000
Nail SONY/BMG and their Sunncomm ilk to a cross! while they're up there subject them to a Tipper gore PMRC era lecture... Quick Quick before it will be illegal to give wrongdoers in our country anything less than 120 channel digital television and sweedish memory foam mattresses lest they be considered under cruel treatment _______________________________

Posted by Miriam on 2005-11-15 19:44:13 +0000
PMRC Parental Mind and Renal Control?

Posted by rladew on 2005-11-21 18:44:21 +0000
Don't Mess with Texas! _______________________________

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