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I’d like to talk about something besides Sony, but every time I think that I’ve heard the weirdest thing possible, this happens.
Sony, if you’re going to create malicious software to prevent people from “stealing” you should really be more careful about where you get your source code.
Yeah, you heard it right. Sony stole portions of their now notorious DRM from the open source mp3-encoder LAME.
By the way, I’m pretty sure that the open-source community doesn’t look too kindly on signing an “Open Invention” agreement with your left hand, while violating our copyrights with the other.
There are people who are taking this Sony Boycott seriously, and I’m getting a metric ton of Google Searches for “sony boycott”. So I’m going to do my own version of “Sony Detox”, reviewing a different independent artist every week for a month. Last week it was Laura Love, we’ll make this week’s artist Nickel Creek.
Their uniquely upbeat mix of bluegrass and acoustic pop has been a favorite of mine for years. Their already evocative lyrics are made all the more powerful by their subtle harmonies and vocal talent.
Even better, they’re performing at the Tampa Theatre this weekend. Sugar Hill is their label, which is not a part of any of the Big Four, that I’m aware of. Look for me there if you decide to go!
I wasn’t the only one who saw this coming. A security firm has identified a Sony DRM virus that hides using Sony installed technology. So, when they said “creates no inherent security threat,” Sony meant to say, “puts out the welcome mat to any unsavory software that doesn’t want to be seen.”
In (possibly) unrelated news, Sony has joined a Linux patent sharing alliance with Phillips and IBM opening the door to using Linux in common consumer electronics, with no legal gray area. Good thing or bad thing? Does Sony having a legal claim to software patents endanger the larger Linux community?
If you’re a thirtysomething USF grad that’s still riding the HARTLine bus for free with your old-as-dirt student ID (cheater!) get ready for a rude awakening.
As part of re-negotiations on the UPass program, HARTLine is considering installing card readers on HARTLine buses, to insure that people riding the bus for free with their USF ID are in fact still affiliated with the University. This was always something I wondered about, now I know that others were wondering about it too. How many of the USF fare-free riders are USF students?
Another important question is how many fare-free riders are staff and faculty? Changes to the current program go into effect in December, and should continue through June, a brief reprieve from the impending loss of fare-free rides for USF students and staff.
Looking to get started going cold turkey on Sony’s oppressive music, but don’t know where to start?
Well, try Laura Love for a great start. She was in Tampa last week with her unique amalgamation of blues, folk, and funk with inflections of jazz. From the politically charged “I Want You Gone” to her mellow bass and vocal tribute to Kurt Cobain’s “Come As You Are” her albums have an unmistakable groove from start to finish.
She’s as far from a corporate record label as you can get, so best of luck finding her CD in your neighborhood FYE or Camelot, but if you happen to have iTunes, like I do now, you can buy it there.
So I downloaded this SharpMusique application to give it a shot as an iTunes interface. Turns out it’s the application written by DVD Jon famous for breaking DVD CSS encryption and later cracking through the Apple iTunes DRM.
So every song I buy from iTunes on SharpMusique lands on my hard drive in a DRM free file that I can play on all my computers and burn to as many CDs as I want, no hassles.
So neither Sony’s nor Apple’s DRM affects me. It appears that we can add “DRM-free” to Linux’s strengths on the desktop.
Sarah, along with 4,294 others, is talking about Sony’s draconian DRM strategy. Sarah suggests a boycott of all things Sony.
This response is exactly what I was hoping for. Sony is too invasive, and we as consumers should start voting with our wallets.
Of course, I find myself personally in a troubling position. If I agree to boycott Sony/BMG, I can’t buy the new album by my favorite geeky pianist.
So I’m wondering this. If I decide I like Ben Folds enough to support him, but I’d like to boycott Sony, what alternatives do I have. There’s an iTunes interface for Linux, but I wonder if that actually helps me significantly. Sony still gets revenue from the purchase, Ben Folds gets his nickel-and-dime percentage, and I’m stuck with more DRM than if I bought the CD (I use Linux, hence this new rootkit DRM is blind and helpless on my computer.) However, my insignificant purchase is counted as a vote of no confidence in this new music revenue model.
Ben, do me a favor and release some of your songs on Magnatune, okay?
It appears that the negative publicity surrounding this invasive DRM software, which employs methods more commonly used by virus writers, has driven Sony to offer a patch returning your computer to a non-crippled state.
Sony’s official statement is that there is no inherent security threat in an operating-system level redirecting of function calls to hide any file with the prefix $sys$.
I’m a level-headed chap, but that is an absurd assertion. Now any virus that puts $sys$ in front of its file-name has free OS level cloaking from Sony. It won’t show up anywhere, ever.
The patch from Sony doesn’t even remove the DRM, it just makes it so you can see it invading your privacy. Removing the DRM still disables your CD-ROM drives.
Sony, there’s a line drawn separating what you can do to people’s computers and what you can’t; a line between what’s annoying and what’s illegal. You’ve crossed it.
Alaska gets a $223-million bridge to nowhere, Tampa gets a $129-million bridge to everywhere. From the Crosstown Expressway to the Port to I-4, this new elevated tribute to motorists sounds like it holds real promise in relieving congestion. Lets just hope they do a better job on it than on the infamous Lee Roy Selmon Expressway.
DRM keeps getting more sophisticated, but in the good old days a simple Sharpie or the shift key would circumvent most measures. It appears that’s not enough for Sony.
Sony’s latest DRM measure, reported by Sysinternals, actually patches Windows APIs, hijacking functions in order to completely cloak a driver/software combination which is far more nefarious.
Not only does this software communicate constantly to ensure that you don’t ever make more than 3 copies of the CD with any program, period, but it installs a filter on your optical device driver, to capture usage at that level.
If you manage to delete this hidden software (not an easy task) this device filter means that your CD-ROM driver fails to load, making your CD-ROM drive inoperable. Use Linux or a 64-bit version of Windows and you don’t have to deal with this. If you use a 32-bit version of Windows however, watch your Sony music carefully; it may be doing dark things without your permission.
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