Sony pirating software

Apparently Sony's rootkit DRM software contains a statically linked version of the lame mp3 decoder. Lame is licensed under the LGPL license, which would typically only allow this sort of reuse if the application using lame would also be released under LGPL, or Sony bought a non-LGPL license from the authors of lame.

It's highly unlikely Sony did either.

So here we have a company trying to protect their products from being pirated using pirated software. Oh the irony!

-TPP

Rootkits are a-ok by Sony

NPR recently interviewed Thomas Hesse, president of Sony BMG's Global Digital Business division, regarding the DRM scheme Sony BMG is using on some of their music CDs.

Mr. Hesse had this to say about their rootkits:

“Most people I think don't even know what a root kit is so why should they care about it”

That comment shows a complete lack of understanding regarding computer security issues. It's not "most people" you have to worry about, it's the bad actors, who are the ones who WOULD know about exploiting the security hole created by Sony. "Most people", precisely because they don't know what a rootkit is, would never know how to protect themselves against exploits helped by Sony's cluelessness.

Here's further evidence of Sony's cluelessness. Mark Curtis' daughter bought a Sony BMG music cd from Walmart. The CD does not play on any music player, including stereo equipment, the family owns. The DRM software is causing the family computer to BSOD immediately after bootup. Walmart is refusing a refund. Sony is saying to install a patch to get rid of the DRM program. How would one do that, if the computer doesn't boot up any more?

-TPP