Sony’s rootkit problems deepen
November 18, 2005
The Sony XCP rootkit story just keeps getting better and better – copyright infringement lawsuits may soon be added to the antitrust and computer hacking ones. Matti Nikki has disassembled it and found out that it uses code from several opensource projects – including LAME (the popular MP3 substitute codec used by the likes of Audacity) and VLC (the cross-platform media player written by John Lech Johansen. Why is this a problem? Because both programs are licensed under the GPL license, which requires that ANY program incorporating code from them must itself be released under the GPL. So far, XCP has not been released under such a license. Sony has now been well and truly knocked off its cherished high horse.
[...] Sony/BMG recently came under fire for releasing CDs with XCP Digital Rights Management software. This software is a rootkit software and opened the door to virus writers. This form of content protection was so hotly debated (not to mention the fact that it earned Sony a few lawsuits and a boycott) that Sony/BMG has decided to pull the CDs and reissue them without the software. They have now released a list of the 52 CDs that contain the much debated XCP software. The list can be found here. Below I’ve highlighted the three discs that I think may be of interest to readers of The Bluegrass Blog. 20. Earl Scruggs – I Saw The Light With Some Help From My Friends – CK92793 23. Flatt & Scruggs – Foggy Mountain Jamboree – CK92801 30. Jon Randall – Walking Among The Living – EK92083 [...]