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Sony's New Nagging Copy Protection

Posted by Zonk on from the annoying-your-customers dept.

bort27 writes "You can put away your Sharpies, because Sony has launched a new CD copy protection scheme that is actually designed to be easily cracked: 'The copy-protection technology is...far from ironclad. Apple Macintosh users currently face no restrictions at all. What's more, if users go to a Web site to complain about the lack of iPod compatibility, Sony BMG will send them an email with a back door measure on how to work around the copy protection.'"

22 of 404 comments (clear)

  1. Interesting... by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 5, Interesting


    So...they've figured out they're not going to stop dedicated music pirates.
    So instead of making the copy protection stronger, they're making it weaker?

    Ostensibly, this is to stop 'schoolyard piracy' (as if your average 'schoolboy/girl' can't rip tracks to MP3), but I'm seeing a slightly darker angle here...hold on...

    <tinfoil-hat>

    OK. Here we go:

    1. Sony makes copy-protection weaker, while making 'speed bump' obstacle to 'schoolyard piracy'.
    2. Correspondingly, more people turn from 'schoolyard piracy' to 'actual piracy'.
    3. RIAA suddenly has many more viable targets
    4. ???
    5. Profit!

    </tinfoil-hat>

    Whew...wearing that thing sure makes you paranoid...but does it make you paranoid enough?
    --
    ____

    ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

    1. Re:Interesting... by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Funny

      From a borderline paranoid schizo allow me to address this.

      Look at the bright side: you outnumber your ennemies 2 to 1.

      --
      "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    2. Re:Interesting... by vettemph · · Score: 4, Interesting


      I've used tinfoil to gain reception on a TV (a very long time ago). Something tells me we've been tricked into wearing the tinfoil to block signals when in-fact the tinfoil aids reception. ...the ultimate reverse psychology from the propaganda machine. We've been tricked. Do you provide a special resistor/inductor filter to ground in order to attenuate incoming programming?
      Perhaps the grounded tinfoil shielding reduces your emmissions in order to avoid a tempest attack?
      I'm confused, what shall we do?

      --
      The government which is strong enough to protect you from everything is strong enough to take everything from you.
    3. Re:Interesting... by TripMaster+Monkey · · Score: 4, Funny


      Yeah but I don't fully trust my ally. I sometimes wonder if he's a traitor.

      You know, he said the same thing about you...

      ^_^

      --
      ____

      ~ |rip/\/\aster /\/\onkey

  2. ok... by Chewbacon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    So if you complain about it, they'll tell you how to get around it? Why bother hindering at all?

    --
    Chewbacon
    The Bible is like Wikipedia: written by a bunch of people and verifiable by questionable sources.
  3. Interesting... by caluml · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Is it a:, so they have a nice list of people who know about the backdoor, or b:, so they can use the DMCA if someone reverses it without being told (i.e. given permission) by Sony?

    --
    Get your own free personal location tracker
  4. The sad part... by CyberSnyder · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...is that while the copy protection sucks, we're paying for it in the form of passed on costs from Sony.

    1. Re:The sad part... by CSMastermind · · Score: 4, Insightful

      All ready got you covered there. In fact if a company were to come out and say, look we don't believe in DRM and we're going to not enforce it at all, then they would have my business hands down.

    2. Re:The sad part... by waynelorentz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Do you have cable? Or Dish Network/DirecTV/whatever? All of those distribution channels are encrypted and copy protected, just like the distribution channel of a copy-protected CD. Even over-the-air television networks (in the United States) are copy protected as they travel from the network to the satellite, and back to the station for transmission to you.

      Have you ever been to the movies? Some theaters have infrared lights behind the screen to thward movie copying. Thus, you've bought a copy-protected product.

      Do you own a car? Go ahead and try to reverse-engineer the electronics and you'll find out what many mom-and-pop repair shops already know -- it's copy protected.

      Ever read a newspaper? Copyright protection there, which some people see as copy protection. And if you go along with that line of thinking, then look at the bottom of your screen where it says "© 1997-2005 OSTG." That's right -- Slashdot is protected by copyright, and thus, laws against copying its content. In other words --copy protection.

      There's no point in fighting the war. You've already lost.

      --
      World's tallest building rises in the desert
    3. Re:The sad part... by diamondsw · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There is definitely a difference between copyright, which provides for your fair use, and copy protection, which prevents it. Copyrighted works are not part of anyone's "war" but your own - they're perfectly valid (the Congressional extensions, that's another matter).

      Furthermore, the auto electronics do prevent reverse engineering and diagnostics, but they aren't "copy protection". Your mechanic is not trying to make a copy of the engine, he's trying to figure out what's wrong to fix it.

      Infrared lights in theaters? Cable signals? Yup, that is copy protection. The others are not.

      --
      I don't know what kind of crack I was on, but I suspect it was decaf.
  5. If you use the back door you are given... by vrimj · · Score: 5, Interesting

    what are the legal implications? Your still getting around a copy protection scheme, presumably Sony couldn't sue you, but what about potential criminal penelties?

  6. Let's just hope.... by Himring · · Score: 5, Funny

    Let's hope they don't start making condoms....

    --
    "All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
    1. Re:Let's just hope.... by madaxe42 · · Score: 4, Funny

      No no, you've got it all wrong. They're assholes. The RIAA are dicks. We are all pussys.

      Assholes make DRM'd CDs so the dicks can fuck pussys, but what the assholes don't realise is that one day, that dick is going to turn right around and fuck an asshole. Also, the dicks haven't realised that pussys can't fuck assholes, nor can assholes fuck pussys - so all we need to do is get rid of the dicks, and have a happy world full of assholes and pussys!

  7. backdoor by justforaday · · Score: 4, Funny

    Anyone know what the backdoor is? And no pictures of goatse please!

    --
    I'll turn into a supernova and burn up everything. Well I'll turn into a black little hole and you'll turn into string.
    1. Re:backdoor by Steve_Jobs_HNIC · · Score: 5, Funny

      up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start.

  8. Sony Assumes too Much by izznop · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't get it, whether or not it is easily crackable shouldn't matter. The fact of the matter is that the Music Industry has now decided that all of their customers are criminals.

    1. Re:Sony Assumes too Much by tuffy · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Do you feel the same way about security tags in shops?

      I would if I had to keep the tag on even after I've bought the item.

      --

      Ita erat quando hic adveni.

    2. Re:Sony Assumes too Much by OglinTatas · · Score: 4, Funny

      "Do you feel the same way about security tags in shops?"

      "I would if I had to keep the tag on even after I've bought the item."

      You, sir, are a marketing genius!
      We are going to need venture capital to lobby congress to pass legislation to make it illegal to remove those tags.
      The consumer buys a dress and wears it once. If she attempts to wear it to another social event (which, I understand, is some kind of social faux pas--don't ask me I've worn the same suit for ten years.) the ink charge will explode and force her to buy a new dress.
      We can spin it as a _benefit_ to the consumer, saving her from the embarassment of going to two friends' weddings and being caught wearing the same dress.
      Let's patent this business method, and I will split the profits with you.

      --
      More music, fewer hits
  9. its a trojan horse by vingilot · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They want people to accept DRM, this time its easy to crack-- first hit is free. Next time though...

    call me paranoid

    Jonathan

  10. Sing it with me - D. M. C. A. by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Sony makes copy-protection weaker, while making 'speed bump' obstacle to 'schoolyard piracy'.

    Stop right there. This is the entire strategy.

    They're making copying their CD a matter of circumventing an encryption device which is a felony under the DMCA. There's guaranteed to be some encryption in this scheme somewhere, even if it's not the actual data tracks that are encrypted. Perhaps some meta information.

    No matter, they're taking illegal copying of a CD from copyright infringement to a felony for easier / more terrorizing prosecution. Pragmatically, that's the only way they're going to be able to enforce artificial scarcity in this market.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
  11. WARNING it's a trap! by argoff · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is Sony's way of lewering people into using DRM technologies, once you're hooked in, the noose will slowly tighten.

  12. Re:What about Sony / BMG's existing DRM? by futuresheep · · Score: 4, Informative
    I think someone else posted the link, but here's a step by step on getting around MediaMaxx in order to use your fair use rights:

    Source

    • Start with a Windows 2000/XP system with empty CD drives.

      1. Click the Start button and select Control Panel from the Start Menu.
      2. Double-click on the System control panel icon.
      3. Select the Hardware tab and click the Device Manager button.
      4. Configure Device Manager by clicking "Show hidden devices" and "Devices by connection," both from the View menu.
      5. Insert the Anthony Hamilton CD into the computer and allow the SunnComm software to start. If MediaMax has never been started before on the same computer, the SbcpHid driver should appear on the list for the first time. However, on some systems Windows needs to be rebooted before the driver becomes visible.

      Next, follow these additional steps to disable MediaMax:

      1. Select the SbcpHid driver from the Device Manager list and click "Properties" from the Action Menu.
      2. Click the Driver tab and click the Stop button to disable the driver.
      3. Set the Startup Type to "Disabled" using the dropdown list.

      Also, I'd suggest disabling autorun.