For the last couple months several people have been blogging about the vicious nature of Sony BMG's Copy-Protection software. Essentially, when you load these CD's, they make you install software which in turn buries a 'root kit' deep in your Windows OS. Mark Russinovich went into amazing detail a couple weeks ago how they were doing it, and illuminated much of the software's maliciousness (Freeware Sysinternals.) Last week it came to a head when three lawsuits were thrown at Sony BMG over the software, and this week, Sony BMG finally backs down and promises to recall all unsold CDs with this Copy-Protection. They accept no blame (leaving that for the software company they used to create the Copy-Protection) but do have a link up stating their concern and offering solutions, even including swapping out with an newer unaffected CD (when they become available.) (UPDATE - Microsoft, this morning, has chimed in and said they will offer a tool to remove the program entirely.)
The playlist above has 40 of the 49 CD's that were affected by this invasive program (see tracklisting.) I've, by principle, avoided buying any album w/ Copy-Protection until I found My Morning Jacket's Z used and tried it out. Let's just say I wish I hadn't. Take a look at the list and see if you've got one in your collection. If you do, get this software update from Sony. Note that Sony BMG hasn't given up on the concept of Copy-Protect Software, they just have to go back to the drawing board. Hopefully, enough people will make a stink and we can be rid of this insidious concept.
UPDATE: A good solution to bypass the software on these CD's is to hold the shift key down while the CD loads. As soon as the CD stops spinning, it should appear in Rhapsody/RealPlayer/iTunes/WMP/whatever you use to rip it.
From the My Morning Jacket forum.
More:
Sony BMG Recalls Copy - Protected CDs (New York Times)
Sony copy protection problems at a glance (Yahoo! News)
Time to scan for that Sony BMG malware (Computer Review Online)
Mark's blog on Sony's refusal to supply uninstalls with the software
Google the story
tags: rhapsody, playlist, music, sony bmg, copy-protect, my morning jacket, consumer report, rootkit
2 comments:
Sony BMG Copy-Protected CDs
* "Off The Record" - My Morning Jacket - Z
* "Taper Jean Girl" - Kings Of Leon - Aha Shake Heartbreak
* "Love Seals Us From Loneliness" - Idlewild - Warnings/Promises
* "Hell Yeah" - Neil Diamond - 12 Songs
* "Club Foot" - Kasabian - Kasabian
* "Best Of You" - Foo Fighters - In Your Honor
* "Shine" - Trey Anastasio - Shine
* "The One I Love" - David Gray - Life In Slow Motion
* "Riot Radio" - The Dead 60s - The Dead 60s
* "Sweet Troubled Soul" - Stellastarr - Harmonies for the Haunted
* "Nobody Gonna Tell Me What To Do" - Van Zant - Get Right With The Man
* "Do It For The Kids" - Velvet Revolver - Contraband
* "Tears all over town" - A Girl Called Eddy - A Girl Called Eddy
* "Stars" - Switchfoot - Nothing Is Sound
* "Looking For You" - Kirk Franklin - Hero
* "Lover Man" - Chris Botti - To Love Again
* "Starman" - Seu Jorge - The Life Aquatic (Soundtrack)
* "Tiny Town" - Shelly Fairchild - Ride
* "1 Thing" - Amerie - Touch
* "Dirty Little Secret (Thievery Corporation Mix)" - Sarah McLachlan - Bloom (Remix Album)
* "John Henry - (Live)" - Pete Seeger - The Essential Pete Seeger
* "Capricious" - Gerry Mulligan - Jeru
* "I Don't Care (English Version)" - Ricky Martin - Life
* "If She Were Any Other Woman" - Buddy Jewell - Times Like These
* "Jive Hoot" - Bob Brookmeyer - Bob Brookmeyer & Friends
* "Where Are You" - Our Lady Peace - Healthy In Paranoid Times
* "Me Llenas De Ti" - Chayanne - Cautivo
* "In The Morning" - The Coral - The Invisible Invasion
* "La Fiamma Sacra (The Sacred Flame)" - Amici Forever - Defined
* "The Empire Strikes Backwards" - The Bad Plus - Suspicious Activity?
* "I Told You So" - Dexter Gordon - Manhattan Symphonie
* "Different" - Acceptance - Phantoms
* "On ne change pas" - Celine Dion - On Ne Change Pas
* "No One's Waiting For Me - (previously unreleased)" - Dion - The Essential Dion
* "Stand Up" - A Static Lullaby - Faso Latido
* "Shell" - Susie Suh - Susie Suh
* "I Gotta Get Drunk ( With Willie Nelson)" - George Jones - My Very Special Guests
* "Hank's Tune" - Horace Silver - Silver's Blue
* "Love To Let You Down" - Life Of Agony - Broken Valley
* "Unwritten" - Natasha Bedingfield - Unwritten
A good solution to bypass the software on these CD's is to hold the shift key down while the CD loads. As soon as the CD stops spinning, it should appear in Rhapsody/RealPlayer/iTunes/WMP/whatever you use to rip it.
From the My Morning Jacket forum.
Post a Comment