Interesting People mailing list archives
more on Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco
From: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Date: Thu, 1 Dec 2005 11:29:59 -0500
Begin forwarded message: From: Bob Frankston <Bob2-19-0501 () bobf frankston com> Date: December 1, 2005 10:53:23 AM EST To: dave () farber net, ip () v2 listbox com Subject: RE: [IP] more on Sony's Escalating "Spyware" FiascoLet's be fair -- it was the Mac that first had autoexecuting floppies. The
original autoplay feature was hailed as a major advance in ease of use. You can argue that the companies haven't been fast enough about removing the feature or sandboxing it but it has been considered a feature for a long time.Of course Multics had a similar capability in the design but it was never
implemented because the problems became obvious early in a system that stressed the need for users to be able to trust the system. -----Original Message----- From: David Farber [mailto:dave () farber net] Sent: Thursday, December 01, 2005 05:30 To: ip () v2 listbox com Subject: [IP] more on Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco Begin forwarded message: From: Bob Hinden <bob.hinden () nokia com> Date: November 30, 2005 5:02:24 PM EST To: dave () farber net Cc: Bob Hinden <bob.hinden () nokia com> Subject: Re: [IP] Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco Dave, There is something in this that I am missing. Why is no one upset with Microsoft for providing the functionality that allows a hidden program on an audio CD to automatically install software on the PC invisibility to the user. This is very broken. While Sony is clearly the main culprit, Microsoft was the facilitator. Bob ------------------------ On Nov 30, 2005, at 3:35 AM, ext David Farber wrote:
Begin forwarded message: From: Monty Solomon <monty () roscom com> Date: November 29, 2005 11:15:45 PM EST To: undisclosed-recipient:; Subject: Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco NOVEMBER 22, 2005 News Analysis By Lorraine Woellert Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco Along with lawyers, prosecutors, and furious fans, artists are joining the backlash against the label for slipping a hidden, anti-theft program into users' computers Van Zant's Get Right with the Man CD was released in May, but six months later it still was doing better-than-respectable business on Amazon.com (AMZN ). The album ranked No. 887 on the online retailer's list of music sales on Nov. 2. Then news of the CD's aggressive content safeguards -- a sub-rosa software program incorporated courtesy of Sony BMG -- exploded on the Internet. To prevent audiophiles from making multiple copies of the CDs, Sony (SNE) had programmed the Van Zant disk, and dozens of others, with a hidden code called a "rootkit" that secretly installs itself on hard drives when the CDs are loaded onto listeners' PCs. Soon enough, hackers began designing viruses to take malicious advantage of the hidden program, and a Sony boycott had begun (see BW Online, 11/17/05, "Sony's Copyright Overreach"). GROWING OUTRAGE. Overnight, Get Right with the Man dropped to No. 1,392 on Amazon's music rankings. By Nov. 22 -- after the news made headlines and Sony was deep into damage control, pulling some 4.7 million copy-protected disks from the market -- Get Right with the Man was even further from Amazon's Top 40, plummeting to No. 25,802. The wrath of fans killed Sony's CD copy controls, with the company pulling 52 titles off retail shelves, beginning the week of Nov. 14. But the wrath of bands could be far worse for the company -- and for efforts to protect content in general. Singers and songwriters are increasingly expressing frustration at devices used by record companies to protect digital content from widespread theft that results when CDs are copied repeatedly or popular tracks are given away on peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, such as LimeWire and BitTorrent. Sony's misstep has been bad for the company -- and its effects could spread much further, should the consumer outcry gain traction with the recording artists who need to keep their fans happy if they want to sell records. ... http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2005/ tc20051122_343542.htm ------------------------------------- You are subscribed as bob.hinden () nokia com To manage your subscription, go to http://v2.listbox.com/member/?listname=ip Archives at: http://www.interesting-people.org/archives/interesting- people/
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- more on Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco David Farber (Dec 01)
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- more on Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco David Farber (Dec 01)
- more on Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco David Farber (Dec 02)
- more on Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco David Farber (Dec 02)
- more on Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco David Farber (Dec 03)
- more on Sony's Escalating "Spyware" Fiasco David Farber (Dec 06)