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Sony Rootkit Redux: Canadian Business Groups Lobby For Right To Install Spyware

Posted by Soulskill on from the do-not-want dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Michael Geist reports that a coalition of Canadian industry groups, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Marketing Association, the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association and the Entertainment Software Association of Canada, are demanding legalized spyware for private enforcement purposes. The potential scope of coverage is breathtaking: a software program secretly installed by an entertainment software company designed to detect or investigate alleged copyright infringement would be covered by this exception. This exception could potentially cover programs designed to block access to certain websites (preventing the contravention of a law as would have been the case with SOPA), attempts to access wireless networks without authorization, or even keylogger programs tracking unsuspecting users (detection and investigation)."

10 of 240 comments (clear)

  1. Only over my dead body by Kardos · · Score: 5, Interesting

    will you be installing your spyware on my computer.

    1. Re:Only over my dead body by Kardos · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And therein lies the problem. "Oh, but the law permits them to".

      Stallman saw this shit coming decades ago, sadly he's right :x

    2. Re:Only over my dead body by iksbob · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In which case, the only option is to not buy the spyware-infested product. Since the spyware is secret, there's no way to tell which disks are infected and which are not. The only safe alternative is to avoid buying any official content what so ever. The industry will drive any previously paying customers that give two s**** about their privacy to turn to the "piracy" avenue of acquiring content.
      The contortions the industry goes through to reach out and nail their own coffin shut are quite impressive.

    3. Re:Only over my dead body by lgw · · Score: 5, Informative

      The Department of Justice certainly remembers the Sony Rootkit. Remember, this rootkit found its way ont a great many government computers, which had to be cleaned by government IT staff, and was recent enough that there was already laws about that. Sony was fined enough for investors to notice, and punish the leadership, but the DoJ also said: do this again and Sony will no longer be a going concern in the US.

      Any new spyware/rootkit product, even if intended only for the Canadian market, could also easily make its way onto US federal government computers, and the DoJ made it clear at the time that it wasn't just Sony they were warning - any company pulling this stunt again would cease to exist within the US. Apparantly the govenment's love for corporation does not reach quite so far as overlooking putting spyware on government networks (especially the DoJs own network) - so we've got that going for us.

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  2. Are we in China or some place like it? by Maow · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It's getting pretty hard to differentiate between living in North America under corporate controlled government and China under government controlled corporatism.

    If only there were a similarity that I could put my finger on, it seems there is but it escapes me.

    I guess we'll see how similar if this passes. I doubt it will, but it indicates we have more in common that I'm comfortable with. Hell, just the fact that this has been proposed is a lot more egregious than I'd have ever imagined possible just a few years ago.

  3. Happened already here. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    My own computer running Windows 7 was hacked in a drive-by when I visited a website (didn't download anything), and the drive began spinning wildly. The router logs showed connections to the Dutch anti-piracy group, BREIN. If it's not currently legal, it isn't stopping them.

  4. Re:Open Source by fredprado · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Only if you or anyone whom you trust can read code. That is not so hard to find. Open source is open for all, and chances are that anything fishy inserted in open source software will be detected by someone and the whistle will be blown.

  5. nobody ever won a war with their customers by Presto+Vivace · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It is amazing that corporations do not recognize this simple truth.

  6. Re:Legit uses for legalized spyware by Solandri · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Read TFA. This would allow you to do exactly that.

    a program that is installed by or on behalf of a person to prevent, detect, investigate, or terminate activities that the person reasonably believes (i) present a risk or threatens the security, privacy, or unauthorized or fraudulent use, of a computer system, telecommunications facility, or network, or (ii) involves the contravention of any law of Canada, of a province or municipality of Canada or of a foreign state;

    So if you think a police officer, politician, or someone working at the government is breaking any law - Canadian, provincial, or foreign, you can break into their network and computers and install your rootkit and keylogger. Hackers and groups like Anonymous would simply have to claim "we broken into the system because we suspected the owner was violating Moldavian law" or something like that, and they'd be in the clear.

  7. Re:I reserve the right to install and recommend Li by denmarkw00t · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That doesn't solve the problem, though - more and more people are using Linux on a regular basis, and while they are shielded from a good majority of threats seen on Windows, it doesn't meant that 1) there isn't spyware that can affect them and 2) that they would know how to lock down their systems just because they have an OS more capable of being finely-tuned and locked down. Don't mistake a great tool for a great carpenter.