IT-Sony-HackingCD

IT-Sony-HackingCD

JP/17/VISHNU

New Sony music CD 'hacks' computers

Vishnu K. Mahmud
Contributor/Jakarta
vmahmud@yahoo.com

The Internet IT community is in an uproar over reports that a
number of new Sony BMG music CDs, such as the Van Zant Brothers'
ironically titled Get Right With The Man, surreptitiously
installs a "spyware" program when played on a computer.

Most alarmingly, this new application is completely
undetectable by the user, firewalls, antivirus programs and the
Windows operating system.

The hidden application in question appears to be a part of
Sony BMG's Digital Rights Management (DRM), a technology that
some music lovers believe overly restricts their rights as owners
of music CDs.

On the PC, the albums can only be used with a special music
player program -- included -- that also allows the creation of
three copy-protected "backup" CDs. In short, DRM is used to
prevent casual piracy.

From his investigation, Mark Russinovich, Chief Software
Architect of Winternals Software, wrote in his blog
(www.sysinternals.com/Blog/) that Sony's DRM uses rootkit
technology, which Wikipedia.org defines as "a set of tools
frequently used by an intruder after cracking a computer system."

As such, the program, which was installed secretly, and whose
functions are unknown, is hard to find and difficult to remove.
What's more, virus and Trojan writers are now using this new Sony
DRM to infect more Windows systems. Mac and Linux users are, so
far, not immediately affected.

Changing climate

The music industry has always stated that piracy is an issue
that continues to drain its profits, pointing to peer-to-peer
(P2P) file-sharing networks as one of the major culprits. The
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA.com) has even
filed lawsuits against individual computer users who are
suspected of "sharing" or downloading music.

A majority of the suits were settled out of court since most
people, whose guilt has yet to be proven, could not afford
expensive legal fees against a giant, cartel-like organization.

However, a paper titled The Effect of File Sharing on Record
Sales: An Empirical Analysis (www.unc.edu/cigar) by Associate
Professors Felix Oberholzer and Koleman Strumpf from Harvard
Business School and the University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill, respectively, found little credence to the RIAA's claims as
movies, computer software and video games are "actively
downloaded, and yet these industries have continued to grow since
the advent of file sharing."

They also point to a change in macroeconomic conditions,
transformations in the music industry, and a possible consumer
backlash against the RIAA's excessive tactics.

The issues facing the recording industry and other content
publishers are that the delivery medium to consumers has changed,
as has their expectations. One can simply log on to the iTunes
Music Store (www.apple.com/itunes) and purchase their music
online.

Although the music also is DRM-protected, Apple has the
perception that it does not treat customers as potential thieves
since its "restrictions" seem to be more acceptable to the
general public. Not even a month has passed since Apple
introduced videos at the iTunes Store, a million has already been
purchased and downloaded.

Inexorable rise of MP3

The music industry should realize that CD players are slowly
going the way of the dodo. Small, inexpensive MP3 players from
Korea and China have flooded the Indonesian market, with
handphone manufacturers now building in MP3 players into their
handsets.

With a new type of music playing device, the industry could no
longer justify its old business practices of excessive marketing,
costly CD pressing and rewarding only a few of its artists.

With the Internet, and companies offering digital music sales,
independent artists can completely bypass the middle-man (in this
case, the record labels), sign up with an iTunes like service,
and do their own marketing, be it online, club gigs and concerts
or word of mouth.

They are likely to receive more money than what any recording
contract could offer them (unless, of course, they are considered
to be a marquee brand and have the full backing of the label's
marketing team budget).

Also with the Internet, any attempt to circumvent any rights
of users and consumers will be unmasked and made public by the
technological priesthood of hackers and IT analysts around the
world, highlighting the fact that consumers (as well as artists)
are getting smarter.

In this new digital era, such heavy-handed tactics will only
distance a company from its target market.

There have been a number of angry responses online calling for
the boycott of Sony BMG products, with many others questioning
the wisdom of purchasing other Sony brands, such as the PSP or
the upcoming PS3. Lawsuits have even begun to be considered in
the U.S.

One can therefore conclude that it is vital for businesses to
engage consumers, not alienate them.

(Since this article was written the BBC has reported that Sony
has announced that it will suspend production of CDs with anti-
piracy software that can leave computers vulnerable to viruses)