DO NOT BUY THESE CDs! list of cds with sony rootkits

A Northern Soul · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 12:23 pm **Posts:** 3742

for those who dont know what im talking about, read this article.

source

heres the list

Trey Anastasio, Shine (Columbia)
Celine Dion, On ne Change Pas (Epic)
Neil Diamond, 12 Songs (Columbia)
Our Lady Peace, Healthy in Paranoid Times (Columbia)
Chris Botti, To Love Again (Columbia)
Van Zant, Get Right with the Man (Columbia)
Switchfoot, Nothing is Sound (Columbia)
The Coral, The Invisible Invasion (Columbia)
Acceptance, Phantoms (Columbia)
Susie Suh, Susie Suh (Epic)
Amerie, Touch (Columbia)
Life of Agony, Broken Valley (Epic)
Horace Silver Quintet, Silver's Blue (Epic Legacy)
Gerry Mulligan, Jeru (Columbia Legacy)
Dexter Gordon, Manhattan Symphonie (Columbia Legacy)
The Bad Plus, Suspicious Activity (Columbia)
The Dead 60s, The Dead 60s (Epic)
Dion, The Essential Dion (Columbia Legacy)
Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten (Epic)
Ricky Martin, Life (Columbia) (labeled as XCP, but, oddly, our disc had no protection)

Several other Sony-BMG CDs are protected with a different copy-protection technology, sourced from SunnComm, including:

My Morning Jacket, Z
Santana, All That I Am
Sarah McLachlan, Bloom Remix Album

Billzebub · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 10:26 pm **Posts:** 6459

Whew, I was never in danger afterall.

Twilightkid · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:42 pm

already bought OLP...

but then i d/l'ed a copy of the record to put on my ipod.

*wins*

The Mayor of Simpleton · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:42 pm

AWESOME topic. This needs to be stickied or whatever - stick it at the top permanently! Everyone needs to know what Sony's been doing and which titles to avoid. I'd add in every copy-protected title Sony's released in the US, because who knows how Sony decided what did and did not get a rootkit? They might have simply spread that between pressing plants or something. Anyway, yes, awesome. I want to see Sony suffer big-time for this one. And their friggin' DualDisc technology. Is there any year in music that has seen two more consumer-unfriendly, and downright completely hostile, technologies emerge?

Edited to add: nevermind, I see that you are listing copy-protected discs in general. You can add in the new David Gray (Life in Slow Motion,) Dave Matthews Band (Stand Up, or just Stand? Not sure.)

two guns holla · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:45 pm

I had no trouble ripping MMJ - Z with iTunes.

south pacific · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:46 pm

Gobblezebub Wrote:

Whew, I was never in danger afterall.

Thanks for posting this though.

d · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:46 pm

After Criticism, Sony Issues Fix for Hidden Rootkits

Walaika K. Haskins, newsfactor.com Thu Nov 3, 4:04 PM ET

Sony (NYSE: SNE - news) has admitted that it included a stealth rootkit on some music CDs shipped in 2005 and has issued an update to remove the hidden software one day after it was discovered. The company had drawn criticism from security experts who warned that the technology could serve as a tool for hackers.

The nearly undetectable monitoring utility, part of the company's digital-rights management (DRM) technology, was aimed at preventing consumers from producing illegal copies of CDs. The software installed itself automatically in Windows systems whenever a CD was inserted. Any files contained in the rootkit are invisible and almost impossible to remove.

Security expert Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals discovered the hidden rootkit and posted his findings on the company blog on November 1st. Russinovich wrote that although he checked in his system's Add or Remove Programs list, as well as on the vendor's site and on the CD itself, he could not find uninstall instructions. Nor, he says, could he find any mention of it in the End User License Agreement (EULA).

Stealth Tactics

A rootkit is a set of tools commonly used by hackers to circumvent antivirus software and control a computer system. Most rootkits are engineered so that common PC monitoring mechanisms cannot detect them. The rootkits are designed to tuck themselves in to the most basic level of the operating system and remain hidden from users.

A Finnish antivirus company, F-Secure, reported that it had spent several weeks recently trying to find the cause of some unknown files reported by a user who suspected an audio CD as the cause.

Mikko Hyppnen, chief research officer at F-Secure, said hackers could use the rootkit to insert their own files by inserting a simple command at the beginning of the file name that would render them undetectable by most antivirus software. On the F-Secure blog, Hyppnen wrote that he heard rumors that Universal is using the same DRM system on its audio CDs.

Privacy? What Privacy?

Although industry analysts said they cannot fault Sony's motives, some saw the company's initial failure to disclose the hidden technology as a violation of U.S. copyright laws. According to Jared Carleton, an analyst at Frost & Sullivan, Sony is overstepping the fair-use clause that gives consumers the right to make backup copies.

"[Sony] is saying, 'No, we are not going to pay attention to U.S. copyright law that's been generally accepted for the past 30 years,' " he said.

Carleton likened the hidden DRM to malware, and said it was no different than adware and spyware. He said that if Sony was shipping DRM-protected CDs, the company needed to put a notice on its packaging. Consumers understand that artists should be paid for their music, he said, but he added that consumers don't like this type of secrecy.

Andrew Jaquith, senior security analyst at Yankee Group, said the company behaved badly and that there could be a backlash. He said that the desire to protect intellectual property is understandable, but that Sony should have been upfront about its DRM technology, and would have been better off using industry-standard software.

"I haven't seen a single positive comment about this and it makes them look at little slimy," Jaquith said. "They should have been above-board and should have used software that they hadn't cobbled together themselves."

On the Web page containing the update, which enables users to detect and remove the rootkit, Sony said its technology did not pose a security risk. "This component is not malicious and does not compromise security," the company's post said. "However to alleviate any concerns that users may have about the program posing potential security vulnerabilities, this update has been released to enable users to remove this component from their computers."

The fix can be downloaded at http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/updates.html

Stop Breathin' · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:48 pm

south pacific Wrote:

Gobblezebub Wrote:

Whew, I was never in danger afterall.

Thanks for posting this though.

your posts on the worthlessness of wrens files are likewise appreciated.

jewels santana · **Joined:** Thu Nov 04, 2004 2:36 pm **Posts:** 10198

marianfudge Wrote:

I had no trouble ripping MMJ - Z with iTunes.

ditto

The Mayor of Simpleton · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:50 pm

dnorwood Wrote:

[i]After Criticism, Sony Issues Fix for Hidden Rootkits

Sony's done the most bare-minimum to fix this - the patch they offer still does things that it shouldn't. Read here. Sony is, basically, 100% pure evil. No company would ever pull something like they have if they actually cared even remotely about their customers.

andyfest · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:56 pm

Northern Soul Wrote:

[*]Celine Dion, On ne Change Pas (Epic)
[*]Ricky Martin, Life (Columbia) (labeled as XCP, but, oddly, our disc had no protection)[/list]

I'll be taking these off of my Christmas list, then!

This thing with Sony is terrible. I'll do whatever I can to avoid buying any of their products. By the way, does anyone have a list of Sony-affiliated labels?

timmyjoe42 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:02 pm

whew, I don't even want any of those cd's

Borg166 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:17 pm

Quote:

Amerie, Touch (Columbia)
Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten (Epic)

I bought these, but I got by the copy-protection installation by forcing the program to crash when it loaded up via AutoPlay.

It's still a dirty move by Sony.

The Mayor of Simpleton · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:31 pm

andyfest Wrote:

By the way, does anyone have a list of Sony-affiliated labels?

Found in the comments on Mark's Sysinternals blog:

http://www.arista.com/
http://www.bluebirdjazz.com/index.jsp
http://www.bmgclassics.com/
http://www.bmgheritage.com/
http://www.bnarecords.com/
http://www.columbiarecords.com/
http://www.epicrecords.com/
http://www.j-records.com/
http://www.laface.com/
http://www.legacyrecordings.com/
http://rcarecords.com/
http://www.rcavictor.com/index.jsp
http://www.sonyclassical.com/
http://www.sonynashville.com/
http://www.sonywonder.com/
http://www.soso-def.com/
http://www.verityrecords.com/
http://www.windham.com/index.jsp

timmyjoe42 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:35 pm

http://www.sonynashville.com/

I don't know if I can get by without it....

rogneeb · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 1:07 pm **Posts:** 12618

jewels santana Wrote:

marianfudge Wrote:

I had no trouble ripping MMJ - Z with iTunes.

ditto

i did

The Mayor of Simpleton · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:41 pm

me and willie mcgee Wrote:

jewels santana Wrote:

marianfudge Wrote:

I had no trouble ripping MMJ - Z with iTunes.

ditto

i did

Anyone that has Autorun disabled won't be affected by this crap. If you don't have Autorun disabled, DO IT.

Dusty Chalk · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:33 pm

I wonder about the import version of Invisible Invasion?

thrillhouse · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:37 pm

Northern Soul Wrote:

for those who dont know what im talking about, read this article.

source

heres the list

Trey Anastasio, Shine (Columbia)
Celine Dion, On ne Change Pas (Epic)
Neil Diamond, 12 Songs (Columbia)
Our Lady Peace, Healthy in Paranoid Times (Columbia)
Chris Botti, To Love Again (Columbia)
Van Zant, Get Right with the Man (Columbia)
Switchfoot, Nothing is Sound (Columbia)
The Coral, The Invisible Invasion (Columbia)
Acceptance, Phantoms (Columbia)
Susie Suh, Susie Suh (Epic)
Amerie, Touch (Columbia)
Life of Agony, Broken Valley (Epic)
Horace Silver Quintet, Silver's Blue (Epic Legacy)
Gerry Mulligan, Jeru (Columbia Legacy)
Dexter Gordon, Manhattan Symphonie (Columbia Legacy)
The Bad Plus, Suspicious Activity (Columbia)
The Dead 60s, The Dead 60s (Epic)
Dion, The Essential Dion (Columbia Legacy)
Natasha Bedingfield, Unwritten (Epic)
Ricky Martin, Life (Columbia) (labeled as XCP, but, oddly, our disc had no protection)

Several other Sony-BMG CDs are protected with a different copy-protection technology, sourced from SunnComm, including:

My Morning Jacket, Z
Santana, All That I Am
Sarah McLachlan, Bloom Remix Album

shmoo - i am submitting this here as my top 23 of 2005.

tehobner · **Joined:** Mon Oct 25, 2004 8:48 pm **Posts:** 4479

Don't buy any of these cds:

http://www.sonymusicstore.com/store/catalog/Home.jsp

andyfest · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:53 pm

Meat, no hoopla Wrote:

http://www.legacyrecordings.com/

Ouch! Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Son Volt, etc.

The Mayor of Simpleton · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:10 pm

andyfest Wrote:

Meat, no hoopla Wrote:

http://www.legacyrecordings.com/

Ouch! Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Son Volt, etc.

Funny thing about this just proves how odd Sony's copy-protection program is: Son Volt's latest was released earlier in the year as a DualDisc only release. A few weeks ago it was released as a standard CD - no copy protection, either. You don't have to boycott everything, just what has the copy-protection label on it. Boycotting altogether is best, obviously, but even I've given in and bought a few Sony products this year (Fiona Apple, Son Volt, Trey Anastasio, probably a couple others that I can't think of.)

south pacific · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:10 pm

Stop Eatin' M'Turkey Wrote:

south pacific Wrote:

Gobblezebub Wrote:

Whew, I was never in danger afterall.

Thanks for posting this though.

your posts on the worthlessness of wrens files are likewise appreciated.

Actually WRENS files are okay as they do not damage or harm my computer. Their music however has been proven to cause cancer if one listens to it, resulting in repeated overactive delusional hyping about how great they really are.

shiv · **Posted:** Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:18 pm

should i boycott sony and not buy a PS3 whenever it comes out?

Fryxell · **Posted:** Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:53 am

That new Mike Gordon/Leo Kottke cd has some copy protection thing too.

DO NOT BUY THESE CDs! list of cds with sony rootkits

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