Sony's rootkit: an update [LWN.net]

Sony's rootkit: an update

Posted Nov 16, 2005 16:56 UTC (Wed) by fjhieb (guest, #4748)
Parent article: Sony's rootkit: an update

What I find intriguing is:

What did Microsoft know about this, before this whole thing got discovered?

It's been my impression that MS has been bedding down with the whole DRM crowd for quite some time. How is it that XCP could have been developed without some critical internal system information being provided to the developers, as well as queries coming back the other way? If that's the case, MS is complicit in this as well. What's been their response to having their installed base of OS's compromised worldwide by one of their significant partners?

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Microsoft's DRM could be even worse

Posted Nov 16, 2005 20:27 UTC (Wed) by pr1268 (subscriber, #24648) [Link]

I think Microsoft wasn't all that aware of what Sony/F4I's XCP DRM technology did to users' computers until after the rootkit news hit the Internet. Additionally their motivation to remove the XCP rootkit with their "Windows Defender" anti-malware utility and Windows Update tells me that they at least realize the evils of the XCP software and are addressing PC users' concerns.

As much as I don't care to defend MS, my respect for them did shoot up a few points due to their prompt response on this matter.

But, you make a good point about MS and DRM in general. They're certain to incorporate DRM technology into the core OS kernel of the upcoming Vista operating system. Being closed source and all, they can put stuff into the OS that would essentially disable most media playback unless it was done on their terms. Perhaps MS is actually thinking up new and inventive ways to use the cloaking techniques of XCP to hide all kinds of stuff from the end-user and pretend that we don't really need to care what is really happening to our computers.

Microsoft's DRM could be even worse

Posted Nov 18, 2005 16:29 UTC (Fri) by grouch (guest, #27289) [Link]

Microsoft has been courting the MPAA and RIAA all along during their development of Palladium or Longhorn or whatever name they're using this week. It's not a matter of them being unaware. It's a matter of who pays more, the lowly "consumer" or partners.

Better re-read that XP EULA and take note of the similarities to Sony's XCP EULA. If you run XP, BillG has root access. XCP gives Sony (and now, malicious websites) root access. Both require you to accept future, undeclared and undisclosed installations at their discretion. Each admits to at most $5 in liability. You can check the rest of the similar bullet points for yourself.