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SunnComm Says Pointing to Shift Key 'Possible Felony'
The Importance of writes "A couple of weeks ago BMG released an audio CD with a new type of DRM. Earlier this week, a computer science graduate student at Princeton wrote a report showing the DRM was ineffective - it could easily be defeated by use of the 'shift' key. The stock of the DRM company (SunnComm) has since fallen by 20%. Now, SunnComm plans to sue the student under the DMCA and claim that SunnComm's reputation has been falsely damaged. According to SunnComm's CEO, 'No matter what their credentials or rationale, it is wrong to use one's knowledge and the cover of academia to facilitate piracy and theft of digital property.'"
http://www.sunncomm.com/index2.html
http://www.zombo.com/
told ya
Precedence set by Sklyarov trial.
to see if DMCA really has merit in the courts. This is so nutty its unbelievable.
They need to sue Microsoft for allowing common users to see what services are running. No user has any business looking at what processes are running on their systems.
April fools in October feeling? Slashdot poll: Initial reaction to SunnComm's suit: 1) You've got to be fucking kidding me? 2) You've got to be fucking kidding me? 3) You've got to be fucking kidding me? 4) You've got to be fucking kidding me? 5) Cowbody Neal has got to be fucking kidding me?!
Never confuse volume with power.
After all they built in the ability to bypass the Autorun feature.
Morons.
Wearing pants should always be optional.
They're just mad they were found out to be dummies with a broken product, and that their share price dropped 20% when Wall Streeties discovered they were dummies. Solution: sue the guy who said, "the Emperor has no clothes!"
Stop the ride. I want off.
Napster-to-go says "Fill and refill your compatible MP3 player", which is a lie. It's not MP3. It's WMA with DRM.
1. Market defective product
2. Watch the news
3. Sue the messenger
4. Profit!
This one seems to be a sure thing; no question marks required.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
No matter what their credentials or rationale, it is wrong to use one's knowledge and the cover of academia to facilitate piracy and theft of digital property.
Magic markers and shift keys asside, I guess using a "slim-jim" to gain access to one's own car is wrong too. The car door was certianly never designed to allow entry using this method. Where's the DMCA when you really need it??
They obviously have no case, but is there a way for Hamilton to effectively defend himself in case it's allowed to go to trial?
A programmer is a machine for converting coffee into code.
But don't you think this is an attempt at intimidation rather than a real lawsuit? In otherwords, SunnComm knows they can't win, but it looks like they're defending themselves, plus it will prevent other people from even discussing SunnComm for fear of being sued.
I mean, a judge would have to be wacky to find for the SunnComm if only because:
1) Microsoft published these directions to bypass the SunnComm protection years ago
2) The publishing of opinions is generally considered freedom of the press isn't it?
My first reaction is that this is an April Fool's joke, except its the wrong time of year.
You were mistaken. Which is odd, since memory shouldn't be a problem for you
For gross incompetence... !
:)
Please tell me this is a "Friday FUnny" (ahead of schedule) or something like that...
However it could be a good thing: if the DMCA is used to protect this type of trash, people will see it for what it is and MAYBE the law will be shot down for being too broad by protecting dumb-ass business models.
If the DMCA prevents me from telling someone how to use A BASIC FEATURE OF WINDOWS to prevent malware from being run on my computer, then I'm moving to a different country. (Oh wait, I already did... my VISA ran out!)
MadCow.
I used to have a sig, but I set it free and it never came back.
Welp, my letter to Hillary Clinton has already been fired off. Not that my letter alone will do anything, but it's time for people to at least do something, anything at all to try to put a stop to crap like this under the guise of the DMCA. Write to your congress-people, donate to the EFF and ACLU, vote for candidates based on their stances on technology issues rather than their standing in Hollywood... I mean whatever. Get the movement started, for god's sake. This is getting completely out of hand at this point. The USSR is alive and kicking when it's a "felony" to talk about using the shift key on your keyboard. (No Soviet Russia jokes please - I am being totally serious.)
No matter what their credentials or rationale, it is wrong to use one's knowledge and the cover of academia to facilitate piracy and theft of digital property."
No matter the organization or rationale, it is wrong to use purchased legislation and the cover of law to deprive people of their rights.
No matter the organization or rationale, it is wrong to use purchased legislation and the cover of law to hide the fact that your product is shoddy, and very likely will not work as advertised.
No matter the organization or rationale, it is wrong to use purchased legislation and the cover of law to exagerate the dammage caused by saying 'hold the shift key.'
But who's counting?
Thomas Galvin
you too can sue SOMEONE ELSE for a faulty product YOU made.
You just can't make this stuff up folks.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
Try telling people that they're not allowed to make copies, or allow copies to be made.
If anyone lets loose with the secret that hearing a request doesn't force one to obey it, sue 'em under the DMCA. After that, anyone who doesn't obey you is obviously using a circumvention device (their brain), which you can have confiscated by the authorities.
Disabling autorun via the use of the Shift key is pretty well known, isn't it?
/. pointing out that the use of the Shift key would probably disable this kind of copy "protection" when the story about this "system" was first posted.
I recall a post on
Pierre
Everyone knows Apple was using the key to disable system extensions years before MS was.
After all, how else could you defeat the Oscar the Grouch in the Trash can?
Share and Enjoy!
...and tell them I have a shift key and autorun disabled.
'Ere is the number, J.H.
SunnComm
602-267-7500
[Don't believe me? Look at the press release, near the bottom.]
"Life's funny sometimes." "And sometimes it isn't." --Cat's Cradle
The moral of this bedtime story is that companies should spend as much on their research department as they do on their legal department.
Mother nature cannot be appealed (with apologies to Feynman).
Toronto-area transit rider? Rate your ride.
SunComm sues Linux users because its software won't run on Linux based OSes.
SunnComm CEO: They ought to recomplie the kernel with the support for our software because we all know that you are a pirate if you use any OSes that doesn't use DRM.
On the other news, SCO sues SunnComm because SunnComm has letters S C O in it and also for violating SCO's patent on stupid lawsuits.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
The CD that you buy is a music CD. Yet the protected CD actually installs a driver on the target computer without the user knowing - there is another type of program that behaves in this way. It's called a virus (ok, really a trojan) and generally the authors get jail terms. Let's try and do the same for these SunnComm people.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Here is something that a judge will actually understand: a graduate student publishing a plain-English report of research into DRM being sued (and bankrupted) under the DMCA for pointing out a shift key.
- No Eeeeeeevil "hackers" at 2600
- No that-can't-be-speech "code"
- No funny Commie (Russian) names
- Nothing for sale, even speculatively
This is the test case we've been waiting for.Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
Since by pressing the shift key you keep autorun from installing an application, by NOT installing a piece of software on my computer, I am breaking the law?
This case will answer the question; if you uninstall something, or refuse to install something, does that constitute as a circumvention of the security of digital media (meaning, if you don't view it with a certain app), and hence, is it a felony? This could go as far as to say that by opening a Game cd with the explore function in windows that you are circunventing the copy protection schemes of the game by viewing the raw content, such as movies, without agreeing to the eula (generally, a 2nd time around thanks to package lisencing). Could Trillian be considered circumvention of MS's MSN messanger service? How rediculously far do they want to take this?
This case is different than skylov's case. Skylov went ahead and (I believe this is the one) broke Adobe's encryption schemes and published the weakness. This is a direct, purposful circumvention. Now we're extending the law to accidental and really nitpicky issues, and forcing the user to do certain things without even really telling them.
And just think of what corperations like microsoft will do with stuff like this. "Since they had linux installed and since linux ignores autorun, they circumvented the cd copy protection." Can we say "Fok me"? They're getting so far away from what people think is right and wrong. It's getting real ugly now, I'm curious if they'll set a precident for or against the people and how far they'll go with this before they start outright revoltes. Pretty soon cd's will have all kinds of protection schemes, and users won't buy them because they can't do what they want with them. They'll still go for the indie cd's and stuff their friends burn for em'. For those who aren't interent savvy, I hope they have internet savvy friends to teach them.
Remember this guys, help your buddies, get them setup with p2p apps and talk with them. Teach them how to use a computer.
Candy-Coated Knowledge
They need to sue linux because you can mount a volume and stip the thing clean. But hey didn't SCO say linux was their code.... I know! They should sue SCO because their code is in Linux! Boy that would be a fun little legal match!
Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
I find this part of the CNet article particularly ominous:
..Future versions of the SunnComm software would include ways that the copy-protecting files would change their name on different computers, making them harder to find, Jacobs said. Moreover, the company will distribute the technology along with third-party software, so that it doesn't always come off a protected CD, he added..
Translated: we will call our driver by the same name as legitimate drivers, or whatever name we want; and we will sign shady under-the-table deals with other ISVs to sneak our DRM crippleware onto your computers without you ever realising.
"I can't rip this CD to make a backup!"
"Ah, have you ever installed [famous-brand antivirus software / famous-brand office suite by Redmond-based company / Microsoft QFE patch# Q666666]? That means you've now got Suncomm's software on your system.."
Jeez, it really makes my blood boil. How can these people get away with this?
If you or I were to write a program that claims to "enhance your computer experience", but which actually cripples the PC in some way, we'd (rightly, IMHO) get the book thrown at us for being malware/virus writers. But companies like this do it, and it's considered so acceptable that anyone criticising it can be sued into oblivion?
AAAARGH! [hits head repeatedly on keyboard]
Well, at the very least, their case doesn't hold water -- the DMCA requires that whatever the "device" is that you traffic in that lets you bypass encryption (whether it be a physical device, information, etc.), that device must not have substantial noninfringing uses in order to be illegal under the DMCA. Pointing out that the SHIFT key can be used to bypass encryption is absolutely NO different than pointing out that you can use a hammer to break into someone's car. SunnComm hasn't got a leg to stand on.
This doesn't mean, however, that they won't abuse the court system in the usual ways and come out on top -- but at least we know that cheating is the only way they can win.
"Destroy science and religion. Science would re-emerge exactly the same; but not religion." - Penn Jillette, paraphrased
I guess it's time for MS to get sued! Below is for Win 9x, and ME. SUMMARY
This article describes how to disable the feature that allows CD-ROMs and audio compact discs (CDs) to run automatically when you insert them in your CR-ROM drive.
MORE INFORMATION
How to Disable the Feature That Allows CD-ROMs and Audio CDs to Run Automatically
To disable the feature that allows CD-ROMs and audio CDs to run automatically:
Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.
Double-click the CDROM branch on the Device Manager tab, and then double-click the entry for your CD-ROM drive.
On the Settings tab, click to clear the Auto Insert Notification check box.
Click OK, click Close, and then click Yes when you are prompted to restart your computer.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
They're saying that if he had read their stupid Whitepaper he would see that the incredibly obvious shift key workaround wouldn't really have been one? What are they smoking?
It's as if someone said you can secure your house by tying the door shut with a piece of twine in a bowknot. When people happen to notice you can bypass this fortification by tugging on the knot, the "knot idea" man tells you you'd see that conclusion is erroneous if you read the knots section of the Boy Scout Handbook.
What really boggles the mind is this:
Concluded Jacobs, "This cat-and-mouse game that hackers and others like to play with owners of digital property is over..."
Holding down SHIFT is HACKING? You can't even point out an obvious flaw anymore? "We want to make lame-ass, shitty software, and don't you DARE point that out!"
STEH currently sells at 11 cents per share, a 20% drop means it's down from 15 cents. This is a low-end penny stock, almost completely worthless even before the alleged "damage." Any amateur spammer could move this stock more than 4 cents with even a badly executed pump and dump.
If it does interefere with other programs that use the CD-ROM drive, can't the government prosecute them for terrorist activity now that hacking has been declared a terrorist activity? After all, they've created a program that tricks users into executing it and is designed to damage the computer's normal functions.
Does this guy have a legal defense fund? If he does, I'll gladly donate the $25 I was going to spend on CDs this month.
Oh wait, make that CD. You can't buy two CDs for only $25.
Proud member of the Weirdo-American community.
Sadly, research departments don't seem to be bringing in as much money as legal departments these days.
The ______ Agenda
....that we can only type in lowercase? if the shift key is a DMCA (oops, four counts there) violation, then I guess someone is going to have to make a very large keyboard for standard use...
I think this is one of the few legitimate arguments aganst education - with education, morons like this can run a company, hire lawyers, write legislation (and crappy DRM) and get rich doing it.
Those *SAME* instructions are there. Posted over 2 years ago. http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb; en-us;126025
Anonymous Cowards generally receive no replies because you're a coward and I'm a bitch
From the article:
"He said the company was also exploring a civil suit based on damage to the company's reputation, since Halderman concluded that the technology was ineffective without knowing about future enhancements."
So 'future enhancements' make current technology effective? What kind of bullshit is that? That's like saying Windows is secure because it'll eventually be fixed, and there are millions of people whose computers got hit recently who know that's about as effective a security measure as the rhythm method.
High-speed Road Trip (18.000KPH)
Is there a new 'Corporate fuckups for dummies' book out that I haven't seen yet? RIAA, SCO, and now SunnComm seem to have all read the same book.
Karma: SELECT `karma` FROM `users` WHERE `userid`=138474;
What's really insane is that they are actually using the stock market to justify the damages they supposedly endured. Any judge with any ounce of sense will reject this as bullshit. The market is so damn volatile these days that you cannot use it as evidence unless it could be proven that the accused performed actions specifically to manipulate the market.
If the market did go down because of his actions, it was only because investors saw the company had a crappy product to begin with and it was only a matter of time anyway.
Karma: Frotzed (mostly due to the Frobozz Magic Karma Company)
Actually, a closer analogy would be finding that putting the antenna down on a Ford Ranger caused the doors to unlock & the engine to start. Think of how many trucks would be stolen if you published that information!!!
I just called the company. I first talked to a woman whose name I did not get (she answered the phone), and she transferred me to someone else, who introduced himself as "Bill". I believe him to be the COO, Bill Whitmore. We had a rather long conversation about the press release and how SunnComm feels about the information being published. Yes, they did "threaten" Alex with DMCA charges, and they may or may not report this for investigation, but from what Bill told me, they have no plans to file suit against Alex Halderman. I'm not sure if Bill agreed with me that the press release was rather extreme in its implications, but I think he acknowledged something to that fact. don't hold me to that. Bill did, however, seem upset that Alex did not contact the company first, before releasing this information to the world. Perhaps they would have threatened him, perhaps they would have offered him a chance to help fix the problem (Bill said the latter). I don't know. Bill also said that while "all software solutions can be bypassed", his company was trying to create a "licence system" for people to listen to their music legally, without "having to make copies" of it in an illegal manner. So, he said, this is not really a software anti-copying solution, but more of a licence framework for the use of the music. That was what was said, to the best of my recollection.
I haven't purchased this CD and I don't intend to. If I am correct in my assumption you open the shrink wrap, nowhere on the wrap does it have an EULA. Then you put the CD into your computer, does it pop up an EULA? If not and if it put files on my harddrive then I consider that unauthorized use of my computer. They did not inform me of what the CD would do when put in my computer. Also if they do not have an EULA screen then it is not a criminal act to delete the files that it created or use sysdiff or other tools to audit your system after having run this program. If they wanted this stuff to be secret or protected by law they needed an EULA, otherwise its all fair game. IMO, but that doesn't matter to big brother, or to the carnivore system, or to those people whom say they represent you because you did not vote for them and have a big big fancy property in the "country" in Vermont because they were paid off.
~ryan
If SunnComm protected CDs install drivers that stay system resident (as I gather happens based on what is said in the article), and no mention of this is made on the packaging of the CDs, might that itself be something one could sue over?
Music CDs are not software, and therefore if I insert a music CD into my computer, it should not act like software, nor should it install anything onto my computer without my consent or even a notice it is doing so. I bet the DMCA could be manipulated to sue over THAT.
- MaineCoon
Whose girlfriend recently bought a CD-player/radio for $20 and the Reloaded soundtrack for $15.
Hunt your preferred prey at Aliens vs Predator MUD. Join the war at avpmud.com port 4000
Actually, I'm waiting for spammers to sue us for restrain of trade when we write about spam filters.
That's gotta fit into your schema somewhere
When /. covered the story originally, one poster half seriously suggested (and got modded informative) using the shift key to defeat the protection. Hmmmmmm. See this comment. /bg
If anything should be illegal, it should be their shoddy technology. First, they create a CD that is obtensibly a music compact disc, but is in reality a CD-ROM that surreptitiously installs programs onto a user's computer without the computer owner's attempt, in a deliberate attempt to sabotage the functionality of the computer. This is what is known as a "virus"*.
Then they present this ill-concieved technology to their clients and shareholders as some sort of panacea, knowing all the while that it is utterly ineffective. This is what is known as "fraud".
To top off their audacity, they then threaten a lawsuit against the researcher who alerted the public to this fraud. This is completely ridiculous. What next, a medical researcher's tests prove that Quack Corp.'s Snake Oil does not really enlarge your penis, so the researcher is sent to prison?
This is a technology that is dependent on an unrealistic number of constraints. If the user of the CD is running Windows AND has autorun turned on AND doesn't press the shift key while putting the disc in AND allows the SunnComm virus to infect their computer AND leaves it running AND tries to copy the music, it won't work, otherwise it will. Oops I just pointed out how flawed their scheme is too, I guess that's a "possible felony"
.* To be pedantic it's more of a trojan than a virus because the malicious code does not self-replicate beyond installing from the disc, but you get the idea.
Concluded Jacobs, "This cat-and-mouse game that hackers and others like to play with owners of digital property is over. No matter what their credentials or rationale, it is wrong to use one's knowledge and the cover of academia to facilitate piracy and theft of digital property. SunnComm is taking a stand here because we believe that those who own property, whether physical or digital, have the ultimate authority over how their property is used."
Is it just be or did he just accidently take a stand for the rights of consumers to do what they please with the products they buy?
sigs are dumb.
i don't know about you, but i am in total compliance with the dmca in this case
How on earth did someone manage to sell about 250,000 shares for a dollar a piece (that's what it looks like anyways) when the stock is worth a dime.
4,134,800 "penny" stocks add up to quite a bit. From the FA: SunnComm believes that by making erroneous assumptions in putting together his critical review of the MediaMax CD-3 technology, Halderman came to false conclusions concerning the robustness and efficacy of SunnComm's MediaMax technology. Based on several of these incorrect assumptions, Halderman and Princeton University have significantly damaged SunnComm's reputation and caused the market value of SunnComm to drop by more than $10 million.
Don't worry, they couldn't sue themselves (they'd have to borrow even more money). This is a completely pointless threat! Their web site pulls up a disclaimer upon loading that informs you that the company hasn't made any money (probably up to their eyebrows in debt) and they're under their rights not to report to any stock purchasers just how much they've lost until they break even (if ever). The CEO of the company acknowledges that buying their stock is a risk of losing your entire investment in it.
How are they so concerned about their 20% loss in stock value when they warn their own shareholders that they're buying a volatile stock in a company that hasn't made any money and they don't want to tell you how much they've lost and/or owe? What damage exactly has this kid done to their reputation?!? They don't have one!
-Joe
If we're all god's children, what's so special about Jesus? - Jimmy Carr
But the way our legal system works, they can go on claiming both for a while until it looks like they are for sure going to lose/win one claim or the other. Then they can drop the claim that's not working for them. It's all lawyer games. (NOTE: IANAL and NBAYROS (Never Believe Anything You Read On Slashdot))
Furry cows moo and decompress.
6) Use the information provided in the article and call:
SunnComm Technologies Inc., Phoenix
Kimberly Faulkner, 602-267-7500
and express... "You've got to be fucking kidding me?"
Directly after the quoted text in the submission, the article reads, "SunnComm is taking a stand here because we believe that those who own property, whether physical or digital, have the ultimate authority over how their property is used."
I agree. The problem here is that the idea of ownership is simply not defined properly in modern american law. It has suddenly become legal, in the last few years, for companies to sell me products to which they retain ownership. If this problem is corrected, and consumers are given rights to the products they buy, a large portion of this DMCA nonsense would evaporate.
"By opening this CD case you agree to be bound by the license and pay us one million dollars for each stupid lawsuit we can file against you for using our product" :)
Now that'd be a comprehensive EULA.
Though I probably should not give them any ideas...
Hyperom.com
Can someone please remind me why this is not a criminal act of sabotage ?
:
1 8_en_2.htm#mdiv3:
Paraphrasing via the Register http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/33298.html
"He found that when the disc was first inserted, it auto-installs a device driver that subsequently interferes with attempts to
copying the songs on the CD.
'"The driver examines each CD placed in the machine, and when it recognizes the protected title, it actively interferes with read
operations on the audio content,'"
From the Computer Misuse Act http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1990/Ukpga_199000
"3.-(1) A person is guilty of an offence if-
(a) he does any act which causes an unauthorised modification of the contents of any computer; and
(b) at the time when he does the act he has the requisite intent and the requisite knowledge.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1)(b) above the requisite intent is an intent to cause a modification of the contents of any
computer and by so doing-
(a) to impair the operation of any computer;"
Unauthorised modification - check.
Impairs the operation of the computer - check.
Requisite intent and knowledge - check.
But it is of course a crime being committed by a large company, so I guess it doesn't really count.....
If anyone can tell me of any CDs that use this technology and are available in the UK, please let me know so that I can report these EvilDoers to the appropriate police department.
"Free software as in beer, copy protection as in racket" - Telsa Gwynne
It was too tempting, I just had to take a screenshot of this...
f
http://www.digitalpropulsion.org/junk/sunncomm.gi
We tah ded.
Considering that this is a documented feature of Windows which is has already been published all over the Internet as a quick way of squelching the AutoPlay feature and an attempt at a lawsuit on these grounds would have a snowball in Hell commenting, "Wow! That was over with fast". Searching for this information is ridiculously easy...
Sample Google Search #1
Sample Google Search #2
...and for once, a lawsuit clearly filed for the purposes of harassment is highly likely to result in a successful counter-suit for damages, simply by the fact that this is a documented feature of Windows. Demonstrating that SunnComm's suit had absolutely no merit on the basis that the information in question was already common knowledge should be a walk in the park.
DMCA "Violation" #1
DMCA "Violation" #2
What makes this especially stupid is that they'll be suing someone who has very little (if any) money, although I imagine that may well change after the counter-suit. If the people at SunnComm weren't complete idiots, they'd go after someone who has money, like Jeffrey Richter, who writes books on using Windows as well as articles for the MSDN network and who already published this information in 1998.
Yet Another DMCA "Violation"
I know what you're thinking right now, but even really stupid companies don't try to sue Microsoft over things this trivial.
amazing how the position has changed so rapidly (the above article was from 10ish EDT on the 8th)
It would be if you were releasing truly privileged information. But in this case, no one bothered to remove the sticker with the combination from the back of the padlock. You'd just be telling everyone what they could find on their own.
Additionally, the analogy is a little off. What he's really doing is more like telling everyone how to keep an unknown third party out of their own lockers, because he's seen them breaking into lockers and how they're doing it.
I have violated the DMCA by "bypassing" the copy protection, since I assume it runs only under windows. Heck, they should sue RedHat/Linus/Apple/Microsoft for providing the means of circumventing the copy protection.
I've seen the backwards .sigs, and the "ROT26-encoded" .sigs here, claiming that reading the .sig is a violation of the DMCA. I always thought those were jokes!
But seriously, the greatest threat to the DMCA is friends like this. Every time the public sees the DMCA in action like this, the tide of popular support for repeal or reform will grow. Don't you think we owe SunnComm a debt of thanks for shedding light on the true nature of this abysmal law?
When all you have is an axe, everything looks like a grindstone.
Microsoft's how to for disabling autorun. This how-to is also quoted as a link in the original publication and holding down the shift key is probably easier for most people but its fun to make sure that all those who would circumvent the DMCA are known to the appropriate authorities. (Bill should call his lawyer)
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither safety nor liberty.
Ben
I will not deny that this technique will be used to make copies of music but I refuse to consider that "piracy" or immoral.
.mp3 and not .suck, or whatever proprietary, non portable, encrypted bullshit they put on the CD.
It's not even that! He bought the damn thing, he wanted to make a backup of it. He is legally entitled to do so. It just so happens that he wanted his backup in
~Will
sig?
But if you read the article, they didn't claim that his revelation about the shift key was the DMCA violation.
:)
They said, "Halderman has violated the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) by disclosing unpublished MediaMax management files placed on a user's computer after user approval is granted."
They're still total, utter morons, and they deserve to see their stock tank, and then get delisted
.sigs are for post^Hers.
yes, and for that reason i'm not using the shift key to answer to you
my 2 cents
Why don't you just sue Microsoft? They created Windows with this "don't load custom drivers" hole! Also, let's sue manual writers! I'm sure there has to be a manual somewhere which desctibes (IN DETAIL NO LESS) this method for circumventing CD security. And why don't we sue keyboard manufacturers, they're the ones who give users that fscking shift key IN THE FIRST PLACE!
This company is just pissed that their half-assed solution to a problem that cannot be fixed by means of a technological barrier was so easily defeated. One keystroke...jesus...and they actually went ahead and spent the money on the R&D for this? Is ANYONE awake over there?
They deserve what they got, and the RIAA should be pissed at them for pawning off this assinine scheme to them as a reasonable solution.
PS: This makes me realize exactly how bad a law the DMCA is; It is an attempt to, by law, enforce security through obscurity. If answers are outlawed, then only outlaws will have answers.
CAn'T CompreHend SARcaSm?
The EFF should have a field day with this one.
... and apparently they are.
. php#000585
http://www.eff.org/news/breaking/archives/2003_10
Two minutes work with Google and a couple of standard Unix tools will reveal my home address and mobile telephone number. Bring your "Secret Service" kiddies on.
sunncomm says it won't sue. guess they finally saw reason.
See this Daily Princetonian story for an update.
SunnComm's CEO decided late last night to change his mind. "I don't want to be the guy that creates any kind of chilling effect on research," he said.
The hate you spew makes you no better than the man you condemn, despite the fact that he is demonstrably the worst President we've had since Nixon. The solution of the radical is always to kill what they fear, never realizing that eventually the guillotine will claim them as well.
PS: You still haven't explained how death threats are "civilized."
You can only drink 30 or 40 glasses of beer a day, no matter how rich you are.
-- Colonel Adolphus Busch