Do not put Sony Music CDs in your editor's drive

[George Ellis]

Originally Posted by Jack Zhang

The affected CDs (according to the meda) are to be returned for a Copy-protectionless copy of the disc. Guess the people who did get the virus in their computer would have to reinstall everything and format the Hard drive!

I have found notes in MS support groups saying that Microsoft's next version of the Malicious Software Removal Tool will remove it. MS' Anti-Spyware should now detect it and may remove it or soon will. I know that Symantec AV Version 10 now does signatures on it (no specific removal kit.) This Sophos kit should too http://www.sophos.com/support/disinfection/rkprf.html

I have not tested any of these methods, but do not have an infected machine to test with either (we actually talked about buying a CD to test with - my group does strategy security work).

[Boyd Ostroff]

http://businessweek.com/technology/c...117_444162.htm

But some industry execs admit privately that the Sony rootkit brouhaha has shown that there are some lines that content creators simply can't cross. The industry learned a similar lesson in 2003, when Senator Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), then-chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, wondered aloud whether the tech trade could build a computer that would explode if it was used to illegally download music tracks.

[Jaime Valles]

I'm assuming if one uses a Mac, it's not an issue, right?

[Boyd Ostroff]

Yes - the "root kit" is a Windows thing. Of course somebody may be doing something nasty on OS X as well, and we just haven't found out about it yet ;-)

[Steve House]

What's especially galling is that real pirates, people copying CDs for commerical gain, can get around any of these copy protection devices by making at most a miniscule investement. Play the CD and re-record the audio coming from the S/PDIF or an AES/EBU digital output or even loop analog audio out back into an analog input, something easily done with any pro-quality audio interface and a lot of consumer grade soundcards, then remaster from the recorded material. (And remember AES is like S/PDIF but strips out the copy-protection bit from the data stream so any player or audio interface that has it should work as the digital signal source.) So what if you aren't making a bit-for-bit copy of the disk - most people who purchase discs where pirates usually distribute don't have either the hearing or the playback equipment to tell the difference. (Look at how many people are blissfully unaware that their mp3's are Especially in this forum I'll bet 90% of the people reading this have the necessary hardware and software to copy those discs with impunity, copy protection or no, with very little if any noticable generational loss. And if it's a personal copy you're making to have a disc to take with you in the car or to a party while leaving your expensive original safely at home, well, I'll guarantee you any losses you do incur will be obscured by the background noise of your listening environment.

I can understand the recording companies desire to prevent people from copying and posting music online but even there I wonder how much impact it really has on record sales. There's no doubt there's a lot of it posted illegally. But the real question is how many people who have downloaded it or copied a friend's CD would have purchased the CD had it not been available online and there I have my doubts. I'm sure there's some erosion but I wonder how much there really is. I suspect in many cases those people who are downloading and burning or copying would just wait for their tunes to come around on their favorite radio station's playlist or simply do without. Yes, we've all heard how sales are declining but whether that decline is *caused* by copying or other competing market factors are more important remains to be seen. Perhaps the teen market is more motivated to spend their money of other alternative pastimes like video games and will listen to DL'd music if it's available but otherwise would just listen to the radio.

[Boyd Ostroff]

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/051118/music...tion.html?.v=3

"The biggest mistake the labels are making is, they're letting their lawyers make technical decisions. Lawyers don't have any better understanding of technology than a cow does algebra," Leigh said. "They insist on chasing this white whale."

Here's a list of the Sony CD's that use the XCP copy protection:

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

[Christopher Lefchik]

Originally Posted by Jaime Valles

I'm assuming if one uses a Mac, it's not an issue, right?

Um, actually, it is. See this article: Sony's DRM Rootkit Comes in Mac Flavor, Too

[Boyd Ostroff]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Of course somebody may be doing something nasty on OS X as well, and we just haven't found out about it yet

Well there ya go....

[James Emory]

How does that Microsoft Removal Tool work? I know that I downloaded it recently but I couldn't find it in my programs. Where is it located in my PC?

All of this anti-copy encryption software is useless if someone just connects the audio output from an external CD player to the inputs of a recorder. I guess Sony's software only prevents burning from the source disc with burning software in a PC.

[Christopher Lefchik]

Originally Posted by James Emory

How does that Microsoft Removal Tool work? I know that I downloaded it recently but I couldn't find it in my programs. Where is it located in my PC?

The Microsoft Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool is downloaded once a month through Windows Update (make sure Windows is set to automatically download and install critical updates, or else be sure to check frequently for critical updates yourself), at which time it scans for and removes malicious software.

[James Emory]

So, if it does find something, does it notify you or just do its thing silently?

[Christopher Lefchik]

Originally Posted by James Emory

So, if it does find something, does it notify you or just do its thing silently?

According to Microsoft, "When the detection and removal process is complete, the tool displays a report describing the outcome, including which, if any, malicious software was detected and removed." Find out more at the Malicious Software Removal Tool Web page.

[Glenn Gipson]

http://news.yahoo.com/fc/tech/computer_security