Sony's rootkit garbage has meant a complete ban on music cds being used on workstations at Alberta Agriculture - that's right, ALL music CDs, not just Sony ones. Thanks a lot, Sony jerks. I've attached the email below: Due to flawed copy protection software installed on some commercially manufactured music CDs. We must advise that NO music CD's should be used on ANY AAFRD workstations in the future. --------------------------------------- Information has become available regarding certain software which is accompanying recent music CD's. These music CD's contain what is known as Digital Rights Management software (DRM software, also known as "copy protection" software). The record companies use software such as this to restrict what purchasers of licenses to listen to the CD's can do with the music on the disk. The information which has recently become available shows that this software is, at best, poorly designed. In one case, Sony/BMG CD's will install DRM software called XPC. This software uses techniques comon to malicious software so that these programs and files are hidden from the user. This software also reconfigures some low-level Windows driver settings protetionally leading to extremely difficult to diagnose problems with WIndows. Once installed, the only way to remove this DRM software, without harming your system, is to request a removal tool from Sony. Reasearchers have found, however, that the removal program supplied by Sony/BMG is configured in such a way as to leave your workstation virtually wide open to many other malicious attacks. Another DRM scheme from Sony/BMG is known as MediaMax. In this case, the user is prompted to accept a license agreement for the software, after which this sofware is installed. Researchers have discovered that the software is actually installed prior to accepting the license agreement. This MediaMax software also sends unknown information to central servers, in direct opposition to the license agreement users accept., wether or not the user accepts the license agreement. Currently, only Sony/BMG music CD's are known to behave this way, however, other record comapnies will undoubtedly follow along this path in the name of "protecting" their content. Because of this, we must advise that NO music CD's should be used on ANY AAFRD workstations in the future. Apart from the potential problems caused by this flawed DRM software, the license that users agree to in order to use the CD expressly allows digital copies ONLY on workstations owned by the original purchaser of the license to listen to the music CD, while that person is in possesion of the CD. Therefore, having any tracks on a work computer is in violation of the license agreement. For more information, see: http://blogs.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2005/11/ sony_uninstall_.html http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,123543,00.asp http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1887181,00.asp http://news.google.com/?ned=us&ncl=http://www.businessweek.com/ap /financialnews/D8DT2KF02.htm%3Fcampaign_id%3Dapn_tech_down%26chan %3Dtc&hl=en [Name Redacted] Security Officer AAFRD Alberta Agriculture (780) 4XX-XXX {Email Redacted]