Copy Controlled CDs

[cdpage]

What does one do if a CD with the Copyright protection was copied to your computer?

I 'm not sure what im looking for to be honest.

what i do know is that it slows the computer down and make the computer prone to being hacked.

thanks.

 

[Ned_Flanders]

:|

 

[RichPLS]

I think sony has a tool to remove it...

 

[pickxx]

I think you mean sony has a tool to "remove" it....
They never annouced it was going on...who says they will removeit.

 

[cdpage]

thats reasurring...

well there was a report about it on the news here the other day... i checked there site... but they don't Archive enough on CTVs web site enough yet... so i emailed them.

we'll see if they have any suggested solutions... the non bandaid type

 

[slvr_phoenix]

If you're talking about Sony's PoS, then you're kind of screwed as far as I know.

There was a tool from Sony to remove it. Only the tool installs an ActiveX control that's an even bigger security threat than the original rootki ... I mean 'copy protection software'.

Plus, as I recall, you have to register with Sony to actually get their removal tool or some crap.

There are other rootkit removal tools available, but last I knew, if you used any of them to remove Sony's rootki ... err ... I mean 'DRM' then this caused the affected CD drive to completely stop working. And the only thing you could do then is reinstall Windows and/or refresh from a backup.

If anyone knows of a third party tool (because obviously Sony is incapable of handling their own mess in a proper manner) that doesn't kill the drive to remove Sony's DRM, I'd love to know of it. (Especially if it's freeware.) I'm sure I have plenty of friends who are infected with Sony's rootki ... er ... trojan horse viru ... err ... malwar ... err ... aw, screw it.

 

[Zoron]

MS Antispyware will detect Sony's files as spyware and give you the option to remove them. Whether or not you have to unhide the files with Sony's "patch" first, I don't know...

 

[slvr_phoenix]

MS Antispyware will detect Sony's files as spyware and give you the option to remove them. Whether or not you have to unhide the files with Sony's "patch" first, I don't know...

I think a bigger question is will the CD drive still work if you remove these files. I know that the first softwares that people used to remove these files caused the CD drive to become a useless brick until you reinstalled Windows to fix that.

 

[Zoron]

Sony's controversial anti-piracy CD software has been labelled as spyware by Microsoft.

The software giant said the XCP copy protection system counted as malicious software under the rules it uses to define what Windows should be protected against.

It is planning to include detection and removal tools for XCP in its weekly update to its anti-spyware software.

The news came as Sony BMG suspended production of CDs that use XCP.

Tool kit

Microsoft's decision to label the XCP system spyware was revealed on the corporate blog maintained by the software maker's anti-malware team.

Malware is the generic term for malicious software and includes viruses, spyware and any other program designed to hijack or harm a computer.

Writing in the blog, Jason Garms, one of the senior managers in the anti-malware team, said the XCP software qualified as spyware under the "objective criteria" Microsoft uses to assess potentially malicious programs.

The XCP system is controversial because it uses techniques more often seen in computer viruses to hide itself on users' machines.

Specifically XCP uses a "root-kit" to conceal itself deep inside the Windows operating system.

"Root-kits have a clearly negative impact on not only the security, but also the reliability and performance of their systems," said Mr Garms in the blog entry.

As a result Microsoft will put utilities to find and remove the XCP system in the next update of its anti-spyware software.

The same utilities will also go in to the December update for Microsoft's malicious software removal tool.

Bad publicity

The row about XCP blew up following an expose by Windows programming expert Mark Russinovich.

It led to widespread criticism of Sony BMG and several class action lawsuits have been started against the record label over XCP. The stealthy software is intended to stop illegal copies being made of Sony CDs.

Mr Russinovich's discovery led to a string of bad publicity for Sony, which culminated in the news that virus writers were starting to use XCP to hide their own malicious programs.

In response Sony BMG suspended use of XCP as a "precautionary measure". The XCP software was only used on CDs sold in the US.

Speaking about the suspension Mr Russinovich said: "This is a step they should have taken immediately."

I have no idea... but I can't see them removing the rootkit only to have your drive not be accessible. I'll have to do some research at home... I believe I've played a Sony CD or two there.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

I can't find the article now, but that was what I read happened when the first rootkit removal tools tried to remove Sony's crap. Because the files were jacked into the OS at a low level whenever the CD ROM was used, removing the files made the OS try to load them, fail (because they were removed), and give up. Thus Sony's garbage killed your CD ROM.

Hopefully if M$ is making a utility specifically for Sony's stuff then it'll be smart enough to patch the underlying damage to the OS so that it no longer tries to load the files instead of just removing the files. Then all would be good.

But frankly, I don't trust M$ as far as I can chuck their corp hq, so I'd rather wait for a 3rd party tool to get it right. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[cdpage]

Ok so so far we stand at either waiting for MS update to simply fix my puter?

or wait for a 3rd party.

if a 3rd party is first, and does something to the roots, and then MS give out there update...could this poss a problem...

 

[slvr_phoenix]

if a 3rd party is first, and does something to the roots, and then MS give out there update...could this poss a problem...

It shouldn't. Assuming that the 3rd party software doesn't break something in its own right anyway. But if the 3rd party software does it right, which it should, then it'd pose no problems.

I mean look at all of the better software from 3rd parties than what M$ offers. Better software firewall, better antivirus (now that M$ is getting into AV), better spyware removal tool, and so on. M$ sucks at writing software. (And that's when M$ even writes it. Usually they just buy someone else's and relabel it.) I pretty much always look for a 3rd party tool first and rely upon M$ last.

 

[emogoch]

Read /.

Everyone there has been going ape-$*** about it, and they link to lots of good info about it, what it does, and possible removals.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Man, that place scares me. 8O