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In honour of the LHC starting up in September, my girlfriend made some celebratory cookies ... of the Large Hadron Goatse. Note the gold ring.

Ah, but don't go home with your hadron
It will only drive you insane
You can't shake it (or break it) with your Motown
You can't melt it down in the rain.

• Apologized
• Released an uninstaller
• Replaced the discs with DRM free discs (even paying shipping), and offering three free albums, or a (tiny) amount of cash to people affected (Admittedly, they should have done this much sooner than they did)
• Released the most open commercial video game console ever, allowing custom OS installs, the playback of open media formats, using open network protocols, and supporting other vendor's physical media formats
• And now... Started selling DRM free music downloads.

The people responsible for this are from the BMG side, because although Sony/BMG have joint ownership, the top executives are from BMG. For instance the CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz is from the BMG side. Also Thomas Hesse who made those comments that "Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it?" is also from BMG. BMG has always had a crappy reputation and their responsibility should not be minimized.

If you don't see a difference I'd direct you here to the website of popular Rap duo "Kriss Kross". This page hasn't been updated since about 1996.

See the difference now?

• James Bond: Casino Royale
  
• Open Season
  
• Monster House
  
• Spiderman 3
  
• Stranger Than Fiction
  
• The Da Vinci Code
  
• Zoom
  

• The King of Queens
  
• JEOPARDY!
  
• Wheel of Fortune
  
• Ripley's Believe It or Not!
  
• Dragon Tales
  
• The Boondocks
  

There is already working solution called "SACD", Super Audio CD. It allows "Hybrid" thing so on ordinary CD player you play it like CD (16bit) and SACD player 24 bit stereo (5.1 sometimes)

I keep saying if I was in USA, I wouldn't think a second. http://www.sonymusic.com/sacd/

I may bet the DVDs they try to sell will not have DTS which is much better than Dolby Digital too.

I really think there should be some offering to us in 2006, to original CD (plastic) buyers (puppets of RIAA?) but this is not it.

(before someone comes up with "Sony patent" word, CD is also commercial patent product owned by Sony and Philips)

It tends to be easier to actually GET the judgement if you file in the offender's home area.

According to this page, they're in New York, NY.

Read here. http://www.courts.state.ny.us/courts/nyc/smallclai ms/index.shtml

From their FAQ.
http://www.sonymusic.com/about/faq.html#2.4
Where can I find sheet music?
We do not sell sheet music at this time. You may want to do a search on the Internet for other sites that can help you. One thing I know, I'm not buying any more CD's/DVD's off these bastards.

Why sit here whining about it? Tell them how you feel, I did. Im sure a couple emails wont make a differnce, but with the combined effort of the /. community they will listen. Especially when you tell them like I did, that their bottom line will suffer since you now refuse to purchase ANY of their products again. http://www.sonymusic.com/about/faq.html

We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause our customers and we are committed to making this situation right. It is important to note that the issues regarding these discs exist only when they are played on computers, not on conventional, non-computer-based CD and/or DVD players.

Of course, looking at how the whole thing developed and at the arrogance of some of their execs and the company as such after this whole mess started to blow up this reads like something cranked out by a third rate pr flack.

As far as I'm concerned: By pulling this shit off Sony proved beyond reasonable doubt that they are a company, which can not be trusted, ever!

http://www.sonymusic.ca/contact.html

Opps 500 Server error.

They want to hear from us. They should hear from us.

http://www.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.html

I was going to buy a PlayStation 3, but I'm afraid the games will come infected with DRM like the sony music discs. I can't run the risk of a company telling me I can only play the games I bought on the console in my house a set number of times before the disc expires. Even worse would be if the PS3 left my home stereo system infected with DRM.

So, I guess I better start getting excited about the new nintendo console.

Sony won't stop until every last machine is Infected with DRM

Sony music wants your machine infected with DRM
Sony corporate wants your machine infected with DRM
I won't buy a playstation because I'm afraid it will leave my stereo equipment Infected with DRM

Sony won't stop until every last machine is Infected with DRM

Sony music wants your machine infected with DRM
Sony corporate wants your machine infected with DRM
I won't buy a playstation because I'm afraid it will leave my stereo equipment Infected with DRM

From http://www.sonymusic.com/labels/ :

Columbia Records
Epic Records
Legacy Recording
Sony Classical
Sony Nashville
Sony Wonder

Don't buy music Infected with DRM.

You can submit your own here.

"Thomas Hesse, President of Sony BMG's global digital business division, showed up on NPR to try and sweep the entire thing under the rug.

'Most people, I think, don't even know what a rootkit is, so why should they care about it,' he asked? 'The software is designed to protect our CDs from unauthorized copying, ripping.'"

I don't care WHAT it was designed to do - you DO NOT install rootkits on computers that do not belong to your company.

To make this matter more distasteful, the hoops a consumer has to jump through to even GET software to remove your company's rootkit are ridiculous.

And the final straw is: your "removal tool" that removes XCP2 Aurora [xcp-aurora.com], simultaneously installs another DRM (MediaJam).

This is below contempt and has caused me to purchase not only music, but computer hardware, flat panels and electronics from other companies that are NOT Sony.

I see the class action law suits have wheels turning already; serves your company right for this disrespect for the consumer that lines your pockets with cash.

I want you know that I will never purchase any Sony product again until: a) the VP who approved your rootkit is fired; and b) Sony promises not to do anything like this again. I have never pirated a CD, and I use Linux (so this rootkit would not affect me), but you have effectively declared war on your customers. So, I will refuse to be one of your customers from now on. I am giving you this feedback because I wanted you know why I am boycotting you. I believe that Sony should be accountable for its actions.

Thanks for visiting Sony Music Online and for your feedback. We appreciate (and encourage) all suggestions and comments. As you can imagine, we receive quite a few email messages every day. While we would like to respond to each of them individually, we often do not have the time and resources to do so. Be assured that I will pass your comments on to the parties most responsible for dealing with them. Have you checked out our FAQ page? Perhaps you will be able to find the answer to your questions there: http://www.sonymusic.com/help/faq/ Thanks again for your note and the time spent on Sony Music Online.

I want you know that I will never purchase any Sony product again until: a) the VP who approved your rootkit is fired; and b) Sony promises not to do anything like this again. I have never pirated a CD, and I use Linux (so this rootkit would not affect me), but you have effectively declared war on your customers. So, I will refuse to be one of your customers from now on. I am giving you this feedback because I wanted you know why I am boycotting you. I believe that Sony should be accountable for its actions.

Thanks for visiting Sony Music Online and for your feedback. We appreciate (and encourage) all suggestions and comments. As you can imagine, we receive quite a few email messages every day. While we would like to respond to each of them individually, we often do not have the time and resources to do so. Be assured that I will pass your comments on to the parties most responsible for dealing with them. Have you checked out our FAQ page? Perhaps you will be able to find the answer to your questions there: http://www.sonymusic.com/help/faq/ Thanks again for your note and the time spent on Sony Music Online.

Web-form for comments to Sony Music is here ->

http://www.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.cgi

Also the snail mail address is given as well:

Sony Music Online Services
550 Madison Ave, 24th Fl
New York, NY 10022-3211

Lets put the /. effect to good use!

I had over 27 hits on my blog today for "sony rootkit" or something similar to that search.
Here's where you can complain to Sony about DRM and Rootkits:
http://www.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.cgi

Here's my letter, please modify it if you use it:

Dear Sony,
I'd like you to know how displeased I am that you've put DRM in your Compact Discs, and I'm shocked that "Van Zant's" CD is reported to have a "rootkit" virus that infects Windows so that certain file names remain hidden from even anti-virus scanners. Your product has endangered thousands of music fans, by crippling their Windows system in yet another way that virus writers can exploit.

I think you owe your customers better.

Sincerely,
Saskboy
Yorkton, SK CANADA

Malware Malware Malware
Virus Virus Virus
Rootkit Rootkit Rootkit
Spyware Spyware Spyware

Malware Malware Malware
Virus Virus Virus
Rootkit Rootkit Rootkit
Spyware Spyware Spyware

Malware Malware Malware
Virus Virus Virus
Rootkit Rootkit Rootkit
Spyware Spyware Spyware

Malware Malware Malware
Virus Virus Virus
Rootkit Rootkit Rootkit
Spyware Spyware Spyware

Yes, I've heard the suggestions that you should complain to the artists on Sony's label. But I think that Sony needs to hear as well. Complain to SonyMusic: http://www.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.cgi/

Sony has a feedback page for their music site here.

I just sent them to following message:

I've been following the news about the Root kit being installed by many of your copy protected CDs. I'm disturbed by the fact that, among other things, it allows any application to hide files by adding the text $sys$ to the beginning of a file name. How long before this is used by viruses and spyware to hide from virus scanners.

I'm also disturbed by the fact that you can't uninstall the DRM software, and that trying to do so renders your CD ROM drive non functional.

I have no desire to have to reformat my PC and reinstall the operating system from scratch to get rid of what is, to be blunt, a massive security hole.

I will not be purchasing any Sony label music in the future. This included the purchase of Sony labeled music through iTunes. I was going to get my brother a Playstation 3 this Christmas. I will NOT be doing this. I will also stop buying new games for my existing Playstation 2, and am seriously considering selling the game system and the games I've accumulated.

I will not purchase Sony products in the future. I have no desire to pay for something that deliberately damages my computer.

I plan to check my home PC for any signs of this DRM root kit, and if I find it, Sony will be receiving an itemized bill for the time taken to reinstall the operating system and my applications.

Follow this link to send a comment to Sony. I know I won't be buying their products anymore, and I sure as hell let them know.

Who'll follow up on this thread? I'm sure we can find enough free-as-in-freedom warriors to do a tech analysis on the software and confirm the report in parent comment? C'mon, hoisting retards on their own petards is just too much fun!

While waiting for a lawsuit to be organized, leave your feedback at
http://www.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.cgi

or email
SonyMusicOnline@sonymusic.com

At http://www.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.cgi

Gosh, and if that weren't enough, here's a link right from the very front page of Slashdot not 10 hours later: http://forums1.sonymusic.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/ f/716102313/m/5201067064.
Lifted from: http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/09/19/03 43251&tid=141&tid=17

Hmm, maybe musicians aren't really happy with the way things are going... It could be that under the current system, these labels they are only quite so happy to sign to are the only way of getting themselves heard en masse...

What if I lose the original, and can't backup my backup.

Don't buy music from any of these artists. http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/ and it won't be an issue. Put your money where your mouth is and support independant music producers who don't restrict your rights. Then Sony will have a problem and you won't.

His role as Nasty Man was convincing enough for me.

Interesting really, when you compare LaserDisc to concept of SACD, the ideas are pretty similar. Have no idea what the bitrate equivalent would be for a LD, but SACD follows a higher definition waveform, since it is recorded at a 192Khz sampling rate. CD's are only 44.1Khz.

Its done, excellent sample rate and bit depth. Even Mark Levinson suggests using them.

http://www.sonymusic.com/sacd/

Don't be tricked by the company name in URL, there are lots of other companies. It was the first google hit and I am in hurry.

I have friends who positively hate Pearl Jam that love this album.

Disclaimer: I'm a very-biased fan.

Have you ever seen a sky without vapor trails?

No one asked me if I wanted vapor trails in the sky. But there they are. Every day, the sky is crisscrossed with vapor trails from airplanes. Even on hiking trips, far away from civilization, these things still exist. I hate them. But I have come to accept tham as part of Nature.

The only time I've ever seen the sky without them was in the few weeks following the WTC attack. All planes were grounded. Not a vapor trail to be seen.

It was beautiful.

It'd be like if Sony CD players only played CDs released by Sony.

Like SACD?

THE OFFICIAL TACO-SNOTTING FAQ

By J. Wipo Troll, Esq., $Revision: 1.16 $

[This article attempts to document a vile, ungodly practice that runs rampant through the homosexual geek and hacker community, a practice known as Taco-snotting, or simply snotting. Taco-snotting is something that few geeks dare talk about in free or open conversation, but it is nonetheless a widely-practiced and dangerous form of homosexuality. If you or anyone you know has ever engaged in Taco-snotting, please get professional help before it is too late. ed.]

Why do I keep receiving emails from an individual calling himself CmdrTaco?

You have been receiving unsolicited mailings from a certain

Robert CmdrTaco Malda, owner of the popular technology website slashdot.org. Actually, its not a very popular site in the common sense of the word; the site is rife with pimply, antisocial geeks and hackers, zit-faced nerds, communists, dirty GNU hippies, and other societal rejects and outcasts. Its also home to one of the worlds largest suspected pædophile rings, the infamous Slashdot crew.

Whenever Mr. Malda gets bored (and who wouldnt, running a site like

Slashdot all day), he roams through the user database, penis in hand, looking for people who might enjoy engaging in homosexual activities with him. How he determines this is anyones guess; but if you have a homosexual-sounding nickname, or a nick with a letter of the English alphabet in it, youre a potential candidate.

This time, he found

you. Lucky you.

Mr. Malda seems to be speaking in some sort of code. Do you know what it means?

CmdrTacos code language is relatively easy to decipher. This pervert prefers to speak in thinly-veiled sexual innuendo (yes, thats right: he wants you) to evade the watchful eye of Slashdots parent corporation,

VA Software. Mr. Maldas Commander is, of course, his penis: a small, withered little thing that lives in his pants and only comes out in the presence of other male geeks or at the beck and call of Maldas own lubed-up right hand. His Taco bells are the shriveled testicles that droop beneath his Commander, and his Taco sauce is his thin, runny semen. It should be more than obvious to you now what he means if he asked you to ring his Taco bells or taste his gourmet Taco sauce.

I would also guess CmdrTaco asked you to engage in a practice known as Taco-snotting and, if he was in a particularly depraved mood at the time, a circle-snot.

Good Lord. And, yes, he did. What is Taco-snotting?

Taco-snotting is the term used by Robert Malda to refer to the depraved act of fellating another man (homo- or heterosexual; CmdrTaco is rumoured to prefer raping unwilling victims), then blowing the semen out his nose and back onto the face and body of his victim. Naturally, a long, bubbly stream of milky-white semen is

left on CmdrTacos face, dribbling out of his nose and down his cheek: hence the term, Taco-snotting.

And if thats not bad enough

A circle-snot is a Taco-snotting

circle-jerk, anothe

They've been around since at least 1999 - see here.

I guess you'll like Isaac Brock on Interviews then ;-) But if people really are out to get you then perhaps paranoia is warranted, eh?

There was a 128kbps test a month or two ago (which for some reason got repeatedly rejected when submitted to slashdot). You can see it here. Of course, it's financed by Sony, so don't expect the results to be 100% trustworthy. They claim it is independent though. The results there aren't quite as interesting (it was mostly a big tie). Unfortunately, tests at higher bitrates are difficult because detecting problems at, say, 160kbps often requires well trained ears and good audio equipment.

the RIAA is afraid to put dvd audio discs out

Then why did Sony, one of the so-called "big five" record labels, introduce a DVD-based audio format called Super Audio Compact Disc (SACD)?

Inaudible bands are important too.

No, really, I'm not kidding.

Humans can distinguish interference beats between similar frequencies with a difference of 7 Hz or less.

So if you have a violin playing a perfect middle C at 256 Hz, it's also producing tons of other tones, hence it does not sound like a tuning fork.

Many of these tones are above and below the human hearing range of, let's say, 20 Hz to 20 kHz. But if you've got a tone at 30,000 Hz and another at 30,005 Hz, the human ear can hear that interference beat. If your reproduction source caps below there- well, too bad.

Of course, this is where you say "wait a minute, if humans can only hear the interference beats in the audible range, then can't the microphones hear just the interference beats too and reproduce them, safely ignoring the actual cause of them?

The problem with this is that in professional recording these days, there are microphones everywhere, recording the closest thing they can get to discreet channels for every instrument. So you may catch a lot of what's going on with one violin, but the interaction between each violin and the other strings gets lost, or the lead guitar and the bass guitar, or whatever you've got.

Does this sound really matter? To the extent it's audible, isn't it junk noise you'd rather get rid of anyway? Maybe.

Some people argue that a performance should be recorded with two very good microphones positioned where the ear drum goes inside a fake head with fake ears, modeled after the closest shape they can get to "the average ear." Then listen to it through a pair of Really Good Headphones.

This isn't a minor quibble, either. I picked the violin because it produces a very complex and hard to reproduce noise. I don't think anyone has yet invented a way to reproduce sound that can fool a trained ear into think it's a real violin. This is part of the reason why, even with very low THD in all components, current hi-fi systems fall short of their goal. Perhaps SACD's will help.

MP3, AAC, etc. make a lot of assumptions about the human hearing model and guessing what information they can throw away without adversely affecting the music. It's amazing how much compression they get out of those things, and I don't know that much about the codecs, but I expect interference beats are among the things they tend to miss.

-Phat Tony.

See what I mean?

Lots of families have a black sheep.

I think the answer is pretty obvious.