Sony rootkit DRM: how many infected titles?
PrintIntrepid blogger starts counting
Posted in Music and Media, 15th November 2005 09:02 GMT
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So how many CDs actually contain XCP, Sony BMG's notorious DRM consumer assault weapon? And which ones?
Sony says that only 20 titles, which it refuses to name, contain the XCP virus - software which attacks music piracy by attacking your PC. But is it being economic with the actualité?
Reg reader Geoffrey McCaleb has found no fewer than 47 titles containing Sony's DRM rootkit. They are spread across several sub-labels owned by Sony-BMG, so it looks like a little finessing is going on.
Geoffrey has posted the list of rootkit-infected titles he's uncovered so far in his blog.
Sony BMG's woes continued yesterday with Microsoft's decision that the DRM software contained on infected CDs, counted as "malicious software under the rules it uses to define what Windows should be protected against", the BBC reports.
Sony has suspended production of CDs incorporating XCP copy protection, but the PR nightmare continues: class action lawsuits in California mean the record giant will be cleaning this oil slick for months to come. ®
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