Ghost of a flea: Corporate spyware

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November 08, 2005

Corporate spyware

Think twice before running any Sony BMG cd on your computer lest you have to reformat your hard-drive to undo the damage. Supposedly a response to file-sharing of dubious legality, I can think of nothing better calculated to discourage people from using a legally acquired Sony BMG product. This is frankly outrageous.

... Sony BMG has configured some of its music CDs to install antipiracy software that uses techniques typically employed by hackers and virus writers to hide the program from users and to prevent them from ever uninstalling it.

Update, November 11: Sony suspends production of its rootkit hack as the inevitable wave of opportunistic trojans and class-action lawsuits appear in its wake.

Update, November 13: Microsoft is disabling its "rootkit" utility in response to the Sony BMG use of the feature. Good. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has published a list of cds with Sony BMG's tricky software for those wondering if their system has been infected and consequently might take part in a class-action lawsuit.

Posted by Ghost of a flea at November 8, 2005 08:27 AM

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