[Dixielandjazz] Sony CD hidden software redux

[tcashwigg at aol.com]

Just in case anybody does not think the Internet is a powerful tool in 
the hands of the savvy just read the following
  no more than two days since we saw the original post about this 
subject.

You think the major labels are not shaking in their boots these days, 
think again,  they can file all the lawsuits they want but they can't 
beat the people with the computers Hell bent on kicking their greedy 
asses at every given opportunity.  :))

Musical content:
"Goody Goody ya had it comin' to ya "

Cheers the Prophet:  Rev. Tom Bob  " I told ya So" Wiggins

Now if we can just get these smart kids turned on to OKOM  we can win 
this war, since no major label wants anything to do with it anyway.  
This is the Primary reason to go play to younger audiences folks.   It 
is time to take back OUR music and this time if we all do it correctly 
We can make the money.   Or we can continue to be of the Ostrich race 
and continue to stick our heads in the sand or wherever :))



Trojan Horse Halts Sony Anti-Piracy Effort

Sony Halts Production of Music CDs With Copy-Protection Scheme


  - Stung by continuing criticism, the world's second-largest music 
label, Sony BMG Music Entertainment, promised Friday to temporarily 
suspend making music CDs with antipiracy technology that can leave 
computers vulnerable to hackers.

Sony defended its right to prevent customers from illegally copying 
music but said it will halt manufacturing CDs with the "XCP" technology 
as a precautionary measure. "We also intend to re-examine all aspects 
of our content protection initiative to be sure that it continues to 
meet our goals of security and ease of consumer use," the company said 
in a statement.

The antipiracy technology, which works only on Windows computers, 
prevents customers from making more than a few copies of the CD and 
prevents them from loading the CD's songs onto Apple Computer's popular 
iPod portable music players. Some other music players, which recognize 
Microsoft's proprietary music format, would work.




Sony's announcement came one day after leading security companies 
disclosed that hackers were distributing malicious programs over the 
Internet that exploited the antipiracy technology's ability to avoid 
detection. Hackers discovered they can effectively render their 
programs invisible by using names for computer files similar to ones 
cloaked by the Sony technology.

Sony's program is included on about 20 popular music titles, including 
releases by Van Zant and The Bad Plus.
Sony Corp.


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"This is a step they should have taken immediately," said Mark 
Russinovich, chief software architect at Winternals Software who 
discovered the hidden copy-protection technology Oct. 31 and posted his 
findings on his Web log. He said Sony did not admit any wrongdoing, nor 
did it promise not to use similar techniques in the future.

Security researchers have described Sony's technology as "spyware," 
saying it is difficult to remove, transmits without warning details 
about what music is playing, and that Sony's notice to consumers about 
the technology was inadequate. Sony executives have rejected the 
description of their technology as spyware.

Some leading antivirus companies updated their protective software this 
week to detect Sony's antipiracy program, disable it and prevent it 
from reinstalling.

After Russinovich criticized Sony, it made available a software patch 
that removed the technology's ability to avoid detection. It also made 
more broadly available its instructions on how to remove the software 
permanently. Customers who remove the software are unable to listen to 
the music CD on their computer.