Sony sued over DRM "rootkit"

Here we go again. Sony may have thrown a bone to angry consumers by opening up its DRM rootkit to virus-protection vendors, but that hasn't stopped at least some customers (or their lawyers) from deciding that Sony has infringed their rights. So, the only surprising thing about the fact that Sony is being sued over the DRM is the locale of the lawsuit: it's not in the litigation-happy US, but in Italy, which is typically known for more, shall we say, direct, ways of dealing with problems (OK, that's two national stereotypes in one sentence, for those of you keeping score at home). The lawsuit, from ALCEI (Italy's EFF), charges that Sony's DRM amounts to a virus, which is installed in a way that's "surreptitious way and not transparent." The irony, of course, is that the DRM has been in place for months, but the rootkit issue only came to light recently, thanks to Mark Russinovich, a systems expert with a flawless understanding of Windows' internal workings and questionable musical tastes.

[emerge -uDav world @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

finally. mabey this will knock some sense into them.

[n8 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I don't quite get the tone of this post - are you defending Sony on this one? Are we to think that just because the rootkit issue has been around for months (though only 'came to light recently') that it's all just fine? Where's the logic in that?

Sony ought to be hung out to dry on this one. Creating rootkit/malware/spyware/whatever is reprehensible and possibly illegal (criminally) - at least in some places. Calling it 'DRM' doesn't make it less so.

[Brandon @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Excellent, I hope they win against Sony. Maybe Sony will think twice before they try something like this again. On the other hand, maybe not.

I wonder if someone from the US will go after them.

[karmaghost @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

If you want to protect your music/products, that's fine, but this is the wrong way to do it. Companies need to be taught that this kind of thing is unacceptable.

[Alex Stapleton @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

The irony is that if you rename your ripping software to $sys$.exe it won't be able to block it anymore. Woops.

[Fire Hazard @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

what? are you saying that sony has given code to antivirus companies that block ripping software? That is insane! you could alway tell your antivirus to make an exeption for it i gess...

[nickpicker @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

The story continues:

http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/more-on-sony-dangerous-decloaking.html

[Sceptic @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I think we'll see Sony (or one of its divisions) go bankrupt in the next couple of years. That may seem incredible now, but the indications of an ailing company are there.

[Russ @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

i'm glad Mark Russinovich uses his powers for good, and not evil..

[Matt @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Pretty sure in the UK this would be illegal under Computer Misuse Act (especially the phone-home aspect anyway).

What really grinds my gears though is that this sort of thing just irritates the people who actually paid for the CD. The people who pirate/"steal" (ha!) it will just get their problem-free, DRM-free mp3s as usual.

[bluetrane @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

i hate sony
1 h8t s0ny
i hate sony
i hate sony

[Red_Munk @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I love the Sony company (products)... but they deserve to get dragged through the streets for this.


Gj Lawyers!! (<---o_O)

[mike @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Sony ought to be hung out to dry on this one. Creating rootkit/malware/spyware/whatever is reprehensible and possibly illegal (criminally) - at least in some places. Calling it 'DRM' doesn't make it less so.

--

I'm sure it wasn't intentional. If it was, congrats Sony. You never were a software company, but it looks like you might be getting better at it. Props on the PSP Media Center btw... way to lick Jobs' bunghole on that one.

[Ici @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

was all hot to get sony's new little laptop, but no more.

[Za @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Agreeing with Matt on this one--this makes it difficult for people who actually want to make legitimate music purchases.

[Daumier @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

would be a fun project to do a multinational class action lawsuit, wouldn't it? After all, Sony (like other recording companies) are quick to pull the trigger and sue P2P users everywhere -- why not return the favor?

[Pong Generation @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Although I think Sony's products are pretty good(their ES line of stereo equiptment was quite good as are their TVs)I'm glad they're being sued over this one,it's just WRONG to put anything on people's computers w/o them knowing it & especially if it cannot be removed easily.

To the author of this article....I question YOUR music tastes,Lynyrd Skynyrd was one of the best (& VERY respected)Rock bands EVER!Who do you listen to Madonna?Rap(crap) or hip-hop?How many of them do you actually see on stage playing an instrument?At least Lynyrd Skynyrd(& the VanZant brothers,Ronnie(deceased)& Johnnie could actually write music & their band(s) actually play instruments,not like today where most groups(not bands.....they can't be called that) don't know a thing about writing lyrics & music in general,there are very few exceptions like Cheryl Crowe(guess what?....her roots were listening to the Allman Brothers & Lynyrd Skynyrd),John Mayer(a good friend of mine taught him to play),Dave Matthews,even Kid Rock who started with Rap roots learned to play guitar by listening to southern rock & that made him more versatile.

[JohnnyCashAK @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Hopefully this will knock some sense into Sony before it's too late to fix their crap DRM on blu-ray. But considering that little proprietary monetary sinkhole is destined to go the way of Beta, who gives a crap? Sony has made a profession out of shooting itself in the foot, so this should be all kinds of amusing watching how this little joke plays out. Where are all the Ipod/Apple haters anyway? I'm sure they could come up with some creative criticism even if the company involved isn't run by Steve-o.

[yup @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I...smell...recall...(wonder exactly how many of these DRM-crapped discs they have sold?)

[JimK @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I have been posting this all over just in case Sony is mining the web for mention of this situation.

I WILL NEVER BUY ANOTHER SONY MUSIC PRODUCT EVER, BECAUSE OF THIS DRM ROOTKIT SITUATION.

[Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I don't get the posts who think this will "knock sense" into Sony. Sony has always used this "our way or the highway" philosophy with everything they do. Just look at how long it took their portable players to support other formats. The PS3 has been called the most proprietary and difficult to platform to program for by developers. Now they create a piece of malware that's WORSE than a virus, then deny any wrongdoing when caught with their pants down. This stuff embeds itself into your files, hides from anti-virus and spyware programs, hogs resources, fucks up your system, AND phones home about what's on your system. Sony won't change the ridiculous DRM on Blu-ray because that's too pro-consumer for them. There's no reason for them to change when people will run out and buy their products just because "Hey! We're Sony and we're freakin' huge!" :eyeroll:

[Jason @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

One more thing:
Interesting how #17 mentioned Beta. Do people remember WHY Beta failed? It was better quality than VHS, just like Blu-ray has more storage and superior tech to HD-DVD, but it was so damn proprietary that consumers opted for the more open format. Just something to chew on when thinking about Sony's philosophy when it concerns consumers.

[Foof @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Yeah, the general tone of this article caught me off-guard too. The thing is, I don't get the sense that it's the editor's rightful opinion as it's simply borne out of a lack of understanding behind what a rootkit is and why it is setting such a huge precedent.

Well, I guess this is a "gadget" site and not a "tech" site :/

[Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I second #10. I hope Korean competitors will bury them under 6 feets of good gadgets. And it's slowly happening.

Also, It is important to notice direct implications to security: something /invisible/ is installed and running on your computer. Crackers for sure would be first to find and exploit the damm thing. So customers end-up being exploited w/o even knowing what have caused the problem. In this particular case, you wouldn't expect Audio CD playback to trash your computer?

[Tim Howland @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Don't go after sony- go after walmart. Sony will fight this one till they die. However, Walmart doesn't want to be included as negligent in a class-action lawsuit- especially for the sake of some Sony dumbass marketing droid getting all confused with technology.

The quickest way to get DRM rejected in the marketplace is to include Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy as codefendants- if they are knowingly selling a defective product, they are liable. An enterprising Attorney General with Political Ambition (Eliot Spitzer?) ought to be acting to protect the consumer here- it's amazing this is happening in Italy first.

[o0adam0o @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

I hate sony!!!

Too busy trying to block piracy that they do not realise they are gettring STOMPED all over by other companies techonolgy.

Wake up Sony! Make some good products first!

[Stealth43 @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Tim,
re the eliot spitzer bit. B R I L L I A N T. In fact the entire bit was good. I'd love to See a big entertainment company like Sony hung out to dry for repeatedly fuc_king consumers over.

[DM @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Awesome, I was wondering why is it taking so long..

[Pope_on_a_bender @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Now it's being used as a hck tool for subverting game anti-cheats ... thanks a lot Sony...

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/04/secfocus_wow_bot/

[Lawyers @ Dec 19th 2005 1:37AM]

Nothing warms my heart more since the announcement of the lawsuit against Apple for the Nano scratches then this. Lawyers really do help the world in many different and good ways!!