Our kindergarten teachers always told us how we should be sharing, but
the RIAA would have you believe otherwise. Looking at any recent
major label release, the packaging is pretty much destroyed now with
big blocks of text, an FBI symbol and a warning. Unfortunately,
monster megalith Sony BMG isn't out to warn the consumer or provide any
information that they're illegally loading "malware" (malicious software) onto unsuspecting
machines.
An
article by Mark Russinovich
appeared on his Sysinternals blog which detailed the RootKit
installation of Sony Music CDs onto his computer. Basically this file
gets into the computer's critical operating parts and opens it wide for
viruses to exploit it. Yesterday, an
article in The Register
detailed that a Trojan virus has already been used to exploit this hole,
ironically created in the name of Digital Rights Management.
The bottom line is basically that IF YOU BUY ANY MUSIC FROM SONY BMG,
YOU CAN SERIOUSLY BE FUCKED. These files cannot be removed easily
from the machine without massive destruction. As for Macintosh
OSX users, they're not spared either.
Slashdot reports that "A MacInTouch poster has found that certain Sony CD's also
contain a smaller extra partition
for 'enhanced' content. Running one of the applications found within
this partition installs kernel extensions containing DRM software by
SunnComm."
There's buzz around the net on places like
Wired
but this should not be treated like a geek issue. This effects
the entire music buying public and must be stopped immediately.
This is only the latest chapter in "the ultimate problem of the major label industry and the RIAA
that protects them" (Don't ever be fooled that
they're trying to protect the artists.) They basically have waged an illegal war
against their customers. They have alienated their
consumers. They, unlike EVERY industry in the world are doing
nothing to attract customers and are doing everything to show them how
much distance there is between consumer and corporation. This is
why they are all endangered species (there were six major labels less
than ten years ago, now there's only four left) and with any luck they
will all perish within a very short while.
The major labels and the RIAA have not yet changed their tune to
embrace new technology and work on finding new ways to distribute music
successfully and effectively while keeping their musicians paid and
their employees earning a living wage. If they continue to
operate in this manner, then they need to face the consequences: they
will not survive. The consumer is always the boss.
What Sony has done is criminal. It's time to demand a criminal
investigation and begin individual legal action if "malware" has been
installed on your computer by a Sony BMG product.
Class action lawsuits are being filed but US residents may still
write to their Congressional Representative. State that you are a music consumer and Sony BMG is committing a crime by violating
Title 18 Part 1 Chapter 47 Section 1030: Fraud and related activity in connection with computers and you demand a criminal investigation.
If your computer is infected, find a lawyer and seek damages immediately. Known cases of infected CDs are listed in
an article at the Electronic Front Foundation.