Is Sony Breaking the Law?

[Murgos]

When Apple and Intel become butt buddies, though, maybe we'll get some of the cool viruses, too.  Maybe we can even Sony's popular new rootkit!  I only ever use a PC because I hate people having stuff I can't have. 

Microsoft is porting VBScript to OSX?

Maybe if the virus writers learned ANSI C they could find something more interesting to do than write virii?  There you go, all the worlds ills saved by proper education.

[spotd666]

Just out of interest is Sony helping to break other co's games.......WoW anyone?

(edit)
...oops, sorry you are already there..missed the previous...(at least it was a different link)...

I promise never to post again

[schild]

Just out of interest is Sony helping to break other co's games.......WoW anyone?

(edit)
...oops, sorry you are already there..missed the previous...(at least it was a different link)...

I promise never to post again

Whoa, I've never seen anyone reprimand themselves on the net before.

[stray]

Whoa, I've never seen anyone reprimand themselves on the net before.

Wha?! I do that shit all the time. 

[schild]

Whoa, I've never seen anyone reprimand themselves on the net before.

Wha?! I do that shit all the time. 

You're apologetic. Big difference between that and the forum equivilent of seppuku. Actually, that's not true. I have seen someone delete their own user account before. 

[Signe]

All of us on f13 should be ashamed.  We don't deserve the internet.

[Evangolis]

First Sony virus found; lawsuit filed

Here is the gist:

Under a subject line containing the words "Photo approval", a hacker has mass-mailed the so-called Stinx-E trojan virus to British email addresses, said British anti-virus firm Sophos. When recipients click on an attachment, they install malware, which may tear down the firewall and gives hackers access to a PC. The malware hides by using Sony software that is also hidden -- the software would have been installed on a computer when consumers played Sony's copy-protected music CDs.

The software sparked a class action lawsuit against Sony in California last week, claiming that Sony has not informed consumers that it installs software directly into the "root" of their computer systems with rootkit software, which cloaks all associated files and is dangerous to remove.

Do I really need to comment?  Just insert the profanities of your choice here.

[HaemishM]

Crotchpheasants.

[Evangolis]

Smaller Companies Face Bigger Problems

A U.S. court shut down three Internet companies for secretly bundling malicious "spyware" with ring tones, music programs and other free high-tech goodies, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said Thursday.

Sony can probably argue it did not intend to deliver spyware.  Which doesn't change the fact that it did.

Of course, there is no way that a multi-national like Sony could be shutdown as the smaller companies in this article have been.  But I think Sony should face some sanctions over this.

[HaemishM]

If by 'sanctions' you mean the violent anal rape of the programmers who wrote this and the executives who okayed it, then yes. They should face heavy sanctions.

Or to quote the Pope Larry Stenchek, they SHOULD PAY DEARLY FOR THEIR CRIMES!

[Trippy]

Sony to Stop Controversial CD Software

[HaemishM]

Sony to Stop Controversial CD Software

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.

Bunch of cockthieving cum dumpsters. I see they didn't offer to replace the CD's that had this bullshit on them with unfucked versions, or pay for any damages someone might get from catching a virus that uses this shit. Yeah, way to cowboy up, you anal-raping midget molesting tits.

[Evangolis]

In this case, not so much beating a dead horse, as it is beating a supine customer:

Fallout from Sony CD flap getting worse
Researchers says software removal scheme aggravates security hole

The fallout from a hidden copy-protection program that Sony BMG Music Entertainment put on some CDs is only getting worse. Sony’s suggested method for removing the program actually widens the security hole the original software created, researchers say.

...

“This is a surprisingly bad design from a security standpoint,” said Ed Felten, a Princeton University computer science professor who explored the removal program with a graduate student, J. Alex Halderman. “It endangers users in several ways.”

...

“The consequences of the flaw are severe,” Felten and Halderman wrote in a blog posting Tuesday. “It allows any Web page you visit to download, install, and run any code it likes on your computer. Any Web page can seize control of your computer; then it can do anything it likes. That’s about as serious as a security flaw can get.”

Not many people introduce security flaws so bad that people immediately begin writing a post-graduate thesis on it.  The only blessing is that there are only about 20 titles with the software 'protection' scheme on it, and Sony has recalled those.

Baby, the hits just keep on coming.


Added:  From Yahoo News

AUSTIN, Texas - The state sued Sony BMG Music Entertainment on Monday under its new anti-spyware law, saying anti-piracy technology the company slipped into music CDs leaves huge security holes on consumers' computers. The lawsuit is over the so-called XCP technology that Sony had added to more than 50 CDs to restrict to three the number of times a single disc could be copied. After a storm of criticism, Sony recalled the discs last week.