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Draconian DRM Revealed In Windows 7
TechForensics writes "A few days' testing of Windows 7 has already disclosed some draconian DRM, some of it unrelated to media files. A legitimate copy of Photoshop CS4 stopped functioning after we clobbered a nagging registration screen by replacing a DLL with a hacked version. With regard to media files, the days of capturing an audio program on your PC seem to be over (if the program originated on that PC). The inputs of your sound card are severely degraded in software if the card is also playing an audio program (tested here with Grooveshark). This may be the tip of the iceberg. Being in bed with the RIAA is bad enough, but locking your own files away from you is a tactic so outrageous it may kill the OS for many persons. Many users will not want to experiment with a second sound card or computer just to record from online sources, or boot up under a Linux that supports ntfs-3g just to control their files." Read on for more details of this user's findings.
Re — Photoshop: That Photoshop stopped functioning after we messed with one of its nag DLLs was not so much a surprise, but what was a surprise: Noting that Win7 allows programs like Photoshop to insert themselves stealthily into your firewall exception list. Further, that the OS allows large software vendors to penetrate your machine. Even further, that that permission is responsible for disabling of a program based on a modified DLL. And then finding that the OS even after reboot has locked you out of your own Local Settings folder; has denied you permission to move or delete the modified DLL; and refuses to allow the replacement of the Local Settings folder after it is unlocked with Unlocker to move it to the Desktop for examination (where it also denies you entry to your own folder). Setting permissions to 'allow everyone' was disabled!
Re — media: Under XP you could select 'Stereo Mix' or similar under audio recording inputs and nicely capture any program then playing. No longer.
Re — Photoshop: That Photoshop stopped functioning after we messed with one of its nag DLLs was not so much a surprise, but what was a surprise: Noting that Win7 allows programs like Photoshop to insert themselves stealthily into your firewall exception list. Further, that the OS allows large software vendors to penetrate your machine. Even further, that that permission is responsible for disabling of a program based on a modified DLL. And then finding that the OS even after reboot has locked you out of your own Local Settings folder; has denied you permission to move or delete the modified DLL; and refuses to allow the replacement of the Local Settings folder after it is unlocked with Unlocker to move it to the Desktop for examination (where it also denies you entry to your own folder). Setting permissions to 'allow everyone' was disabled!
Re — media: Under XP you could select 'Stereo Mix' or similar under audio recording inputs and nicely capture any program then playing. No longer.
No one here on slashdot uses windows. It's all *nix. Thanks and have a nice day troglodytes.
still better than linsux.
Short for /. moderation:
Bashing windows = Troll
Bashing Mac / *nix = Insightful
What the hell?
Fuckem'
--- its time we man up and quit suckin the M$ dick. And ubuntu is so awesomely usable, just in time!
Post short, post often, post using talking points from Redmond, and always use some unimaginative variant of the phrase, "but this is ridiculous" in each installment. Tick off "Post Anonymously". Collect paycheck.
Maybe if you earn enough, you can buy back your soul. Or do you get reprimanded for being outed?
-FL
How so? I don't use PS so I can't comment on that but in XP Pro every program that wanted firewall access got a nice popup saying "This program wants a firewall exception" and you had the choices of "Unblock/Keep Blocking/Ask Me Later" so I don't see where the problem is with XP. Considering how fast my home and Small business customers ran away from Vista I can say to the public at large most treat it as an STD to be gotten rid of ASAP. From the sounds of it Win7(can we just call it Vista SE now?) is even worse.
Mark my words, and mark them well. Pirate versions of XP are going to go through the roof as well as sales of the last OEM copies of XP on places like Newegg as folks run away in droves. I have YET to have a customer come in and say "I like Vista" but I have had more than I can count saying "get this hunk of crap off my machine and get me XP. Please? I'll give you money? Whatever it takes.". The only nice things about Vista SE is that it should give Linux a boost as well as OSX as folks run and can't find XP, and that the damned monkey Ballmer may FINALLY get the righteous firing that he so deserves. I just hope they record it on video and put it on Youtube so we can watch his hissy fit when he is told to clean out his desk. That might actually be worth all the trouble my customers had to endure if I can show them a video of Ballmer getting fired and say "See that asshole? HE is the one that pushed that turd out the door. See how he stomps his feet as security leads him out?". But mark my words, any illusions to increased speed of Win7 will be gone by RTM as they flip all the DRM bits on. It is going to suck the big wet titty even worse than Vista, and I predict that it will go down just as hard.
ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
Just think of what you are not advocating for a minute.
I'm not advocating changing a 200 year old document over a software issue.
He's not advocating changing the 200yr old doc over software either - he's advocating changing it over protecting literature...
Hypothetically, if a decade from now - the media stronghold(s) decided that some event 'X' in US history should NOT have occurred, so they decide to release a shit load of media against the idea - and with our lives 100% controlled at the digital level by DRM, after a generation or two - that 'X' part history no longer happened... That's acceptable?
You give someone an inch, they will next go for the mile - until they get that, and then they go for the next mile. Accepting this and not fighting back with a something 'bigger' than them will only give them that inch, and later the mile.
Here's what actually happened. Open a command prompt under Windows 7 (doesn't even have to be an administrator command prompt) and navigate to your user profile. (C:\users\username). Type in dir a:l. Those of you following along at home will notice that Local Settings is a reparse point - the "real" location where all of these files reside is at AppData\Local. (They're similar to *nix hard links.)
Vista (and evidently Windows 7) use reparse points to make sure legacy (or poorly-coded) programs don't break. Install a 32-bit program on 64-bit Windows and it will magically end up in Program Files (x86) instead of Program Files.
There are security permissions associated with these. No 32-bit process will ever make it's way to the 64-bit Program Files folder even if Administrator with a capital-A Himself launched that process with his UAC-emblazoned blessing. The same thing is true for that Local Settings reparse point.
So, why did his foray into Local Settings fail? Explorer.exe is supposed to know about AppData\Local and is barred from the legacy backdoor. Why couldn't he set privileges or take ownership or use his crappy Unlocker program? You can't take ownership/set privileges/whatever on a reparse point; that has to be done on the folder it links to. All of those actions would have succeeded (or have been unnecessary) on AppData\Local.
Interestingly enough, the command prompt can use the Local Settings reparse point. Navigate to c:\users\username . The command cd Local Settings will succeed (even on a non-administrator command prompt.) The command mkdir loltest will succeed and show up in a directory listing. But double-clicking on the Local Settings "folder" in the Explorer shell will fail. But, the loltest folder will show up in AppData\Local even though it supposedly created inside Local Settings. I wonder why the command prompt use the Local Settings reparse point, but the shell can't.
After typing all that you still think windows Vista(I mean 7) isn't a kludge?
And if Microsoft is going to cater to legacy code so much why wouldn't his crappy unlocker program still work. I mean you did say that's the reason they were using reparse points right?
You should should read your post out loud and then ask yourself "Does this sound like Microsoft is innovating or hacking their own system?"
Please don't spread your "works for me" lies. This is a common issue that many people get. Just because you forced your wife to use Ubuntu doesn't mean thousands, if not tens of thousands have problems with flash and firefox.
Hopefully one day you'll look past your zealotry and be part of the solution, not problem.
Prove that DRM slows down the OS or STFU. Nobody cares that DRM exists if it doesn't interfere with non-drm scenarios. And that continually monitor nonsense is total bollocks. Only a moron (like you) can believe a wiki article and used it to explain kernel design without any proof.
I dont care that MS allows users who choose to purchase DRM content the ability to play their media.
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2302495,00.asp
XP and Vista performance is almost identical. Go peddle your FUD somewhere else.
Whats unbelievable is that all these blackhats who are able find security vulnerabilities without access to windows source cant prove this simple thing. Prove that the existence of DRM reduces the performance for non-DRM scenarios. That Wiki article has 0 technical details.
Its simple to bypass DRM - Write your own kernel mode graphics driver. Hasn't ATI made specs available for their cards already? No, its not easy, but it is simple.