Hello!
This is heavily offtopic on this list but I couldn't stand to let
anyone here get into the pitfall which would be even more serious to
anyone using his/her PC for business.
Sony BMG and their subsidary record labels [1] have released a couple
of music CDs that contain malicious software claiming to simply be a
copy protection system called "XPC".
But it's worse.
Far worse.
When one of these CDs is put into the computer's CD or DVD drive, it
installs software that
- hides itself from the user
- opens backdoors enabling the PC to be controlled from the internet
- submits infos on played CDs (and maybe more) to Sony BMG
- disturbs MP3 playback and iPod filling
- consumes up to 2% CPU time EVEN IF NO CD OR SOUND FILE IS PLAYED
- is not removeable
In my eyes, this is a violent attack against consumer rights worldwide
and a clear case of computer sabotage.
The EFF has made a list of CD's being affected with this software:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004144.php
Do NOT put any of these in a Windows PC's drive!
The main EFF article on this issue can be found at:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004117.php
In-depth technical information on the software by Mark Russinovich who
discovered it:
http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/10/sony-rootkits-and-digital-
rights.html
Be very careful bying CD's from one of the Sony BMG labels (according
to http://www.sonybmg.com/labels.html):
Arista Records
BMG Classics
BMG Heritage
BMG International Companies
Columbia Records
Epic Records
J Records
Jive Records
LaFace Records
Legacy Recordings
Provident Music Group
RCA Records
RCA Victor Group
RLG - Nashville
Sony Classical
Sony Music International
Sony Music Nashville
Sony Wonder
Sony Urban Music
So So Def Records
Verity Records
One last beg: SPREAD THIS WARNING!
Pass it over to friends and collegues. If they dont' have email,
printit out and copy it!
Protecting creative work is one thing, but attacking user's privacy
like this is not tolerable.
Thanks you all for reading.
Gerhard Torges
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