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Nov. 7th, 2005 08:15 pmAs if I needed another reason to hate DRM:
Mark Russinovich notices that a Sony CD installs a rootkit and doesn't include an uninstall.
Lawsuits in both directions. Fun!
ETA: This is a much more user-friendly article (on cnet, natch) about the Sony problem and DRMs in general.
I refuse to spend money for a music product that is not universally playable -- if I buy a CD-like thing (the Sony music in question is not technically on a CD for reasons of not meeting Phillips redbook standards), I should be able to play it on my computer, my CD player, my (theoretical) mp3 player, my pda, my car stereo. Buying a CD and finding I couldn't put the songs on an iPod? Lame. Buying music from iTunes and finding I couldn't put it on a Rio Karma? Lame. Lame, lame, lame. Plus, of course, I might accidentally break my DRM. (Various DRM systems currently work so poorly that updating your system or adding new hardware may -- surprise! -- mean you can't play those thousands of dollars of music anymore. There's a solution in theory, but in practice... well, this is how that Microsoft Support page puts it: The license issuer, such as the online store where you bought the protected file, determines whether you are permitted to back up a specific license. Therefore, you may not be able to back up all your licenses. If you cannot back up the license for a particular file, you cannot restore that license after you change your hardware component. If you cannot restore a license, you cannot play the protected file.)
Of course, the current rate of DRM spread means that in five years, I'm going to be listening only to my old CDs, anything I ripped from vinyl, and anything I pirate. And I might have to go linux -- Windows is bending over backward for the MPAA and RIAA. And I will be a cranky young coot. Unless they come up with an open standard -- ha! But at least I'll be able to, you know, watch my movies and listen to my music.
Cranky, cranky, cranky.
Mark Russinovich notices that a Sony CD installs a rootkit and doesn't include an uninstall.
Lawsuits in both directions. Fun!
ETA: This is a much more user-friendly article (on cnet, natch) about the Sony problem and DRMs in general.
I refuse to spend money for a music product that is not universally playable -- if I buy a CD-like thing (the Sony music in question is not technically on a CD for reasons of not meeting Phillips redbook standards), I should be able to play it on my computer, my CD player, my (theoretical) mp3 player, my pda, my car stereo. Buying a CD and finding I couldn't put the songs on an iPod? Lame. Buying music from iTunes and finding I couldn't put it on a Rio Karma? Lame. Lame, lame, lame. Plus, of course, I might accidentally break my DRM. (Various DRM systems currently work so poorly that updating your system or adding new hardware may -- surprise! -- mean you can't play those thousands of dollars of music anymore. There's a solution in theory, but in practice... well, this is how that Microsoft Support page puts it: The license issuer, such as the online store where you bought the protected file, determines whether you are permitted to back up a specific license. Therefore, you may not be able to back up all your licenses. If you cannot back up the license for a particular file, you cannot restore that license after you change your hardware component. If you cannot restore a license, you cannot play the protected file.)
Of course, the current rate of DRM spread means that in five years, I'm going to be listening only to my old CDs, anything I ripped from vinyl, and anything I pirate. And I might have to go linux -- Windows is bending over backward for the MPAA and RIAA. And I will be a cranky young coot. Unless they come up with an open standard -- ha! But at least I'll be able to, you know, watch my movies and listen to my music.
Cranky, cranky, cranky.
