Sony DRM CD's Bypassed By Scotch Tape

mcs328 · 11-22-2005, 11:22 AM

http://www.techweb.com/wire/security/174400646

Scotch Tape Stymies Sony Copy Protection

By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb News

Sony BMG Music's controversial copy-protection scheme can be defeated with a small piece of tape, a research firm said Monday in a demonstration of the futility of digital rights management (DRM).

According to Gartner analysts Martin Reynolds and Mike McGuire, Sony's XCP technology is stymied by sticking a fingernail-size piece of opaque tape on the outer edge of the CD.

That, the pair said in a brief posted online, renders "session 2 -- which contains the self-loading DRM software — unreadable. The PC then treats the CD as an ordinary single-session music CD, and the commonly used CD 'rip' programs continue to work as usual."

Such simple work-arounds, said Reynolds and McGuire, make Sony's decision to copy protect is music CDs an even bigger mistake. "Sony BMG's DRM technology will prevent neither informed casual copiers nor high-volume 'pirates' from doing whatever they like with the content the disc," the analysts continued. "It does, however, load 'stealth' software — software that has been demonstrated to have suspect effects — on uninformed users' machines.

"The bottom line: Sony BMG has created serious public-relations and legal issues for itself, and for no good reason."

Only after 10 days of mounting criticism about its surreptitious installation of a hacker-style "rootkit" to users' PCs did Sony announce that it would end the copy-protection; a week later it said it would recall all unsold CDs and exchange those already in consumers' hands with unprotected discs.

Sony's exchange program also gives buyers of the 52 in-question CDs the option of receiving unprotected MP3 files of the album's tracks, in large part because the disc exchange process takes three to six weeks.

Those users will receive an e-mail directing them to a site where they can download the MP3 files, Sony said on its exchange program Web page.

This isn't the first time that simple methods have defeated a Sony copy-protection plan. An earlier technology that Sony used could be circumvented by using a black marker to draw a line near the edge of the disc.

"After more than five years of trying, the recording industry has not yet demonstrated a workable DRM scheme for music CDs," concluded the Gartner analysts. "It will never achieve this goal as long as CDs must be playable by stand-alone CD players."
------------------------------------------------------------------------

All that work, all the backlash, all the bad press, all the free mp3s and Sony DRM CD's get pwned by a piece of tape.

zero2dash · 11-22-2005, 12:07 PM

What a bunch of idiots.
haha

I remember when I bought the More Fast And Furious cd and it had copy protection (Cactus I think?) and it was easily defeated by the audio ripper in DiskJuggler -or- by making a cd image and extracting the audio from that.

Jcranmer · 11-22-2005, 12:54 PM

I think I need to start buying Office Depot stock. First Sharpie markers and now scotch tape.

shocky123 · 11-22-2005, 07:06 PM

haha, serves those bastards right.

~Kyle

bachviet · 11-22-2005, 09:01 PM

Pwned!

11-22-2005, 11:22 AM	#1
mcs328 Admiral Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Maryland Posts: 6,578	Sony DRM CD's Bypassed By Scotch Tape http://www.techweb.com/wire/security/174400646 Scotch Tape Stymies Sony Copy Protection By Gregg Keizer, TechWeb News Sony BMG Music's controversial copy-protection scheme can be defeated with a small piece of tape, a research firm said Monday in a demonstration of the futility of digital rights management (DRM). According to Gartner analysts Martin Reynolds and Mike McGuire, Sony's XCP technology is stymied by sticking a fingernail-size piece of opaque tape on the outer edge of the CD. That, the pair said in a brief posted online, renders "session 2 -- which contains the self-loading DRM software — unreadable. The PC then treats the CD as an ordinary single-session music CD, and the commonly used CD 'rip' programs continue to work as usual." Such simple work-arounds, said Reynolds and McGuire, make Sony's decision to copy protect is music CDs an even bigger mistake. "Sony BMG's DRM technology will prevent neither informed casual copiers nor high-volume 'pirates' from doing whatever they like with the content the disc," the analysts continued. "It does, however, load 'stealth' software — software that has been demonstrated to have suspect effects — on uninformed users' machines. "The bottom line: Sony BMG has created serious public-relations and legal issues for itself, and for no good reason." Only after 10 days of mounting criticism about its surreptitious installation of a hacker-style "rootkit" to users' PCs did Sony announce that it would end the copy-protection; a week later it said it would recall all unsold CDs and exchange those already in consumers' hands with unprotected discs. Sony's exchange program also gives buyers of the 52 in-question CDs the option of receiving unprotected MP3 files of the album's tracks, in large part because the disc exchange process takes three to six weeks. Those users will receive an e-mail directing them to a site where they can download the MP3 files, Sony said on its exchange program Web page. This isn't the first time that simple methods have defeated a Sony copy-protection plan. An earlier technology that Sony used could be circumvented by using a black marker to draw a line near the edge of the disc. "After more than five years of trying, the recording industry has not yet demonstrated a workable DRM scheme for music CDs," concluded the Gartner analysts. "It will never achieve this goal as long as CDs must be playable by stand-alone CD players." ------------------------------------------------------------------------ All that work, all the backlash, all the bad press, all the free mp3s and Sony DRM CD's get pwned by a piece of tape. __________________

11-22-2005, 12:07 PM	#2
zero2dash Commander Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: Fenton, MO - but I wish I was at the beach. ANY beach. Posts: 1,367	What a bunch of idiots. haha I remember when I bought the More Fast And Furious cd and it had copy protection (Cactus I think?) and it was easily defeated by the audio ripper in DiskJuggler -or- by making a cd image and extracting the audio from that. Last edited by zero2dash : 11-22-2005 at 12:13 PM.

11-22-2005, 07:06 PM	#4
shocky123 Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Ames, Iowa Posts: 828	haha, serves those bastards right. ~Kyle __________________ "me awaits onslaught of estrogen fury." -CornMonkey "5. When your friend dates a woman that is absolutely terrible for him, and she's wrecking his life, it's your duty to openly hate her, and point out how evil she is." -ialsohaveadream

11-22-2005, 09:01 PM	#5
bachviet What's Da Pho*? Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: SoCal (714) Posts: 13,296	Pwned! __________________ Dell Dimension 9200 \| Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4GHz) \| 4x1GB DDR2 \| 256MB nVidia GeForce 8800GT Dell Studio 17 \| Intel Core i7-720QM (1.6GHz) \| 2x2GB DDR3 1066MHz \| 1GHz ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650 Intel P4-C 3.0GHz \| ECS 865PE-A \| 3x512MB PC3200 \| 128MB PNY GeForce 6600GT

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

11-22-2005, 12:54 PM	#3
Jcranmer Commander Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Pekin, IN Posts: 1,377	I think I need to start buying Office Depot stock. First Sharpie markers and now scotch tape.

User Name
Password
Remember Me?