Tuesday November 01, 2005

Did Sony put a rootkit on *your* PC, too?

Interesting article here about Sony Music's Copy-Protected CDROMs. Apparently the "Copy Protection" is actually a root kit that installs some software, device drivers, and driver filters onto your PC so that you can a) Only make 3 copies of the CD, and b) Only listen to the CD with the accompanying Media Player.

As the EULA with the CD fails to mention that any software is being installed, and fails to actually ask you if you'd like it installed, it seems to run afoul of the law in many countries. I can think of a few reasons, installing software onto a computer with neither the owner's consent or knowledge, and invasion of privacy, for starters.

Give the article a read, then check your PC if you're up to it.

I had this installed on a PC at home. Yes, I run Windows at home. Actually, my wife does, to be clear about it. I run Solaris 10 x86.