A security issue has been discovered in First 4 Internet's CD copy protection
technology, which SonyBMG Music is using on various new music releases.
When installed on a user's PC, the software creates a so-called rootkit, which
is effectively a hiding place for viruses.
The outcry following the
revelation on Monday by a Windows internals expert was so intense that First
4 Internet was forced to release a
patch to its software -- which it did yesterday -- after initially
attempting to downplay the issue as merely theoretical; no actual virus problems
related to the rootkit have been reported.
So, another problem with CD copy protection technology has been found.
This time, the problem is not that the technology is easily circumvented -- as a
previous version of
SunnComm's
MediaMax was by pressing the Shift key on the user's PC while inserting the
CD into the drive, and as Sony Electronics's was by drawing around its rim with
a black marker pen -- but that it potentially harms users' equipment. This
surpasses complaints about virtually all CD copy protection technologies that
they are not compatible with certain CD playback devices.
Meanwhile, the music industry persists in its Quixotic attempt to impose copy
protection measures onto CDs after the fact and thereby make them more like
DVDs. By the time they finally get it right, CDs may well be obsolete.
Events
IE 7
Firefox 2.0
