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 <a href= "http://www.sunncomm.com">Sunncomm</a> 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 <a href ="http://www.negativland.com/intprop.html"> Negativland save us from this shit!</a>
---
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
(<a href="http://www.cs.princeton.edu/~jhalderm/cd3/">source</a>)
If they can find a way to inconvienience thieves only, Ill learn to deal, until then, fuck Suncomm.
_______________________________
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?
Excerpt:
<table>
<tr>
<td width=25>
<td>
<b>John Zorn: Love, Madness and Mysticism</b>
<p>
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.
</table>
_______________________________
_______________________________
_______________
<i>The Boot Knife of Mild Reason </i>
_______________________________
_______________________________
Corporate Rock Still Sucks.
_______________________________
_______________________________
Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 11:48:40 -0600
Sender: AUTOCAT <AUTOCAT@LISTSERV.BUFFALO.EDU>
From: "Sprochi, Amanda K." <sprochia@health.missouri.edu>
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 <a href=http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-rights.html>blog</a>
and its <a href=http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/more-on-sony-dangerous-decloaking.html>follow-up</a>
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.
One word for the folks @ Sony: Soulseek!
_______________________________
(my apologies for the BREITBART link ;)
_______________________________
(and, no, BTW, <a href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-11/11.shtml#sony">P-fork</a> doesn't like it either...
_______________________________
_______________________________
fuck Suncomm.
_______________________________
_______________________________
Looking forward to the day when record labels realize their "value added" is in publishing music, not pushing bits of plastic.
_______________________________
_______________________________
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
_______________________________
Parental Mind and Renal Control?
_______________________________