Toolkit

Story: Sony DRM rootkit 'legal in the UK'

• 
• 

The article is totally based on wrong assumptions.

EULA is not excuse to Sony at all, because "small proprietary software" (that is the rootkit) is installed automatically before user has a chance to accept EULA. And it is remains on users computer regardless if he/she accepts EULA or not! Please see comments in Marks Russinovich blog (http://www.sysinternals.com/blog/2005/11/more-on-sony-dangerous-decloaking.html )

"They are installing something to stop the CD from playing in a computer, regardless if the user accepts the EULA or not."

This "something" that gets installed is a filter driver that captures communication between CD player and software installed on users machine (eg. Microsoft Media Player, Winamp etc.). The purspose of this filter driver is to impair the software (thus preventing it from playing the CD) other than the player bundled with the CD, and this is what actually Sony calls "Digital Rights Management". This filter driver is installed together with the rootkit that hides it from eyes of the user. This all happens before user has a chance to refuse the EULA!

Thus your 2nd point does not apply - dangerous software that Sony installs is *not* subject to EULA, as it is installed even if user refused to accept it. Then only software that semes to be subject to EULA is the player that is not impaired in its communication with the CD by the filter driver that got installed beforehand. If user does not accept the EULA, he will not be able to play the CD using any other software that can be bought "off the shelf", as communication between such software and the CD is impaired by the filter driver. This all can be actually easily verified - just insert the (so called "copy protected") CD into your computer, REFUSE the EULA and try to play the CD using Windows Media Player. Then restart the computer and run RootkitRevealer from Mark Russinovich website http://www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/RootkitRevealer.html to see the rootkit installed.

• 
• 

• 
• 
• 

Full Talkback thread