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Article: Inside the Spyware Scandal -- Part 2

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Carol Haynes:
Also DRM isn't pointless and avoiding it is antisocial and illegal in most countries (not just the US now - its a global BB conspiracy) ...

now where is my CD burner ? (just kidding)

f0dder:
DRM is ugly. If companies have their way, I would no longer be able to rip my legally paid-for CDs to lossless format -- which makes life *so* much easier instead of having to go and change discs in my cdplayer every hour or so. And what about getting music from your legally paid-for CD to your mp3 player? Nope, you'll have to use some DRM-enabled crap that watermarks the audio files "inaudibly" (yeah right).

It's okay to make money, but I want to support the artists - NOT the greedy record companies :down:. And no matter what the greedy bastards come up with, the pirates will always be able to make their copies, so in the end only us legitimate users are hurt.

Bloody great.

Cpilot:
Least you could do is address the whole issue:
The term "rootkit" derives from computer networks using Unix-style operating systems, where the system administrator -- the person with all rights and privileges to change the system -- is said to have "root" access. The first "root kits," written in the mid-1990s, were collections of software tools used by Unix hackers to acquire root access and deposit rogue code without leaving a trail. Windows rootkits emerged in 1999 and became so commonplace that they could be downloaded free from hacker collectives such as the one that produces the online magazine Rootkit (www.rootkit.com). More sophisticated versions could be purchased on the Internet for a few hundred dollars.

--- End quote ---

Another unknown is whether XCP's developers were aware that a rootkit, once installed on a customer's computer, could open a passage for other viruses and Trojan horse programs. But Princeton's Halderman says programmers at First 4 Internet must have been aware that the cloaking method they were employing was well known to malware writers. "They had to learn about this technique from other sources," Halderman says. "And in the course of researching how to use this technique, it's almost inconceivable that they wouldn't have discovered that [cloaking other malware] is something that rootkits do."

--- End quote ---

Truth is you can thank those "heroic" hackers and crackers for root kits.
Thanks fOdder. :Thmbsup:
It don't matter what you think of it copy protection is coming.

Carol Haynes:
Actually after Sony's problems I think CD copy protection is less likely. What is more likely is that CD sales will start to be wound up in favour of downloadables with DRM attached. This is already happening in the classical music world where lots of back catalogue has been taken off the shelves and is now only available in electronic form.

A knock on effect may well be that musicians say "if you aren't getting our product into the shops why do we need you" ... we can all live in hope for that day!

Carol Haynes:
Interesting (if basic) article - and a polemic ...

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1962437,00.asp

The last para (page 2) says ...

Can't we find alternative ways to be entertained? Do you really need to listen to music all day long? Try classical music. You'll find genuine and sincere musicians who are not there to crank out pop junk. Move to indie bands if you need a dose of rock. Stop going to the movies and go see some plays—even a high-school play. These kids need your money more than anyone in Hollywood. Do you really need to watch a movie? Find an art theater and watch something thoughtful, if you must.
--- End quote ---

Which is good healthy advice.

I am off to the theatre tomorrow to see a play by Ibsen, reset in India and by an Asian group of actors. The whole eveing will cost me something under £10 (not counting drink!) and it will be a sociable evening out with friends. Thats about 50% of the cost of a DVD - which is ridiculously cheap.

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