RealNetworks is in real trouble over its privacy violations

[mea culpa <jericho () DIMENSIONAL COM>]

From: "James J. Capone" <james () ptm com>

http://www.zdnet.com/zdtv/cybercrime/chaostheory/story/0,3700,2386995,00.html

[snip..]

By this time next week, everyone working at RealNetworks will be hauled
out of their Seattle offices in handcuffs and tossed in a federal stir on
charges of computer fraud. You read it here first.

As reported by the New York Times on Monday, computer security expert
Richard Smith discovered an undocumented feature in the company's
RealJukebox CD-playing software.

Every time the program is started, Smith found, it would use his Internet
connection to secretly send of plethora of information to RealNetworks'
servers, including the number of songs he had saved on his hard drive,
what kind of portable MP3 player he owned, and what his musical tastes
were.  RealJukebox also includes a globally unique identifier (GUID) in
the reports, which allows the company to identify users from their product
registration profile. The program even gives RealNetworks the opportunity
to maintain a log of every CD title a user plays on his or her computer,
though the company credibly denies storing that particular information.

[snip..]

ISN is sponsored by Security-Focus.COM