Get the latest news from Computerworld delivered via email.
Sign up now Digital Rights Dimbos
Go Slow? Not for Skype
Sony agrees to compensation for rootkit software
Patch time for Apple users too
Sony rootkit special edition
Sony stops shipping controversial DRM code MacBook Air has issues, says Apple
Microsoft: Vista more secure than other OSs
Better Mac management tools bring benefits
Misuse of migrants 'hollowing out' telco talent
Opinion: Dancing portal partnership polka
After a bit of detective work, Russinovich eventually tracked down the source: a Sony BMG Music Entertainment CD, entitled Get Right with the Man, performed by country music duo Donnie and Johnny Van Zant.
It turns out that Sony is using techniques normally only seen in spyware and computer viruses in order to restrict the unauthorised copying of some of its music CDs. Sony’s software, licensed by Sony from a UK company called First 4 Internet, has become the basis of a dispute that once again pits computer advocates against an entertainment company experimenting with new ways to prevent unauthorised copying of its products.
Sony has been using First 4’s XCP (Extended Copy Protection) software since early 2005 as a copy protection mechanism for some of its music CDs, according to Sony spokesman John McKay. He could not say how many of Sony’s CDs currently use the XCP software but says it is one of two digital rights management products used by the company. The other is SunnComm’s MediaMax software, he says.
The XCP software prevents users from making more than three backup copies of any CD and Sony puts an XCP notification on the back of CDs that use the mechanism, according to Mathew Gilliat-Smith, First 4’s chief executive officer.
Although the Van Zant CD software came with an end user licence agreement (EULA) informing him that he would be installing software that would reside on his PC until removed, Russinovich, who works as chief software architect with systems software company Winternals Software, says he never expected to be installing a product that would then prove to be virtually undetectable and extremely difficult to remove.
Sony’s McKay believes that the disclosures in the licence agreement are adequate. “I think the EULA’s pretty clear about what it is,” he says. “The reason why consumers have really high acceptance levels of these content-protected disks is because they have the functionality that people want.”
The First 4 software does nothing malicious and can be uninstalled, should the user want to remove it, McKay says.
That uninstall process is not exactly straightforward, however, and cannot be done through the Windows “Add or Remove Programs” utility in the Windows control panel.
When asked for instructions on how to uninstall the software, McKay directed Computerworld to a section of the Sonybmg.com website where users could ask Sony customer support for uninstall directions.
Although many computer users may not care much about the finer points of EULAs, people like Russinovich say Sony’s software calls a more important issue into question: who gets to have control over your computer?
“When something like this installs and doesn’t advertise itself, you’ve lost control of your own computer,” he says. “And the EULA description that they’ve presented doesn’t let you make an educated decision about whether you’d want this installed or not.”
Ironically, the invasiveness of the XCP software punishes users who pay for their music, says Fred von Lohmann, staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights advocacy organisation based in San Francisco. “They are installing software in a way that makes it very difficult for you to know what was installed and makes it very difficult to uninstall it. And, worst of all, the software is not very well written,” he says. “I think most computer users will find that to be very outrageous.”
Lawyers might also be interested in the software, von Lohmann says. The EFF attorney says a lawsuit is conceivable. “Sony is using a piece of your computer in a way that you didn’t expect or authorise,” he says. “Depending on how clearly this was disclosed some consumers may be able to make an argument that this is actually an unauthorised intrusion,” he says. “It’s not beyond the realm of possibility that Sony BMG could be liable for this.”
In 2001 the other provider of Sony copy protection software, SunnComm, was involved in a lawsuit that alleged the company’s software, which was then being used by Music City Records, did not adequately notify consumers of its capabilities.
In the long term, Sony appears to be moving away from the techniques that have incensed Russinovich.
First 4’s Gilliat-Smith says his company has spent the last month developing a new version of the XCP software that does not use the controversial rootkit techniques.
“We won’t use the same methodology that makes the software hidden in the way that people are concerned about,” he says.
Neither Gilliat-Smith nor Sony’s McKay could say when this new software would be appearing in Sony’s products or how many existing titles were shipping with the XCP software.
“This is a legitimate technology that we’ve been charged to produce,” Gilliat-Smith says.
“People who aren’t comfortable with the technology can apply to have the software removed.”
Mark Russinovich, of SysInternals.com, has discovered a so-called "" which is installed by Sony's new -protected music compact disks (CDs).  A rootkit is a common name for malicious software that is used by computer criminals to hide their presence on a compromised computer.  Rootkits frequently contain hidden files and are designed to be difficult for the user to detect and remove.

Russinovich classifies Sony's rootkit as  because it is alleged to introduce several serious security holes, one of which can be exploited to hide files and prevent the user from removing them.  In particular, all executable files which begin with '$sys$' are hidden when the software is installed.  He points out that these security holes could be exploited by hackers, or other malware producers besides Sony.

Russinovich explains that naively removing the files will result in a crippling of the operating system on the user's computer.  He provides an explanation of the difficult step required to remove Sony's malware.

Playing the same CDs on computers not running the Windows operating system, or on a non-computer based CD player remains safe.  As removing Sony's malware would violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention provisions,  the CDs on computers running a non-Windows operating system may be the best legal and technically safe option for those who wish to listen to them under Windows.

The software is automatically installed when a Sony CD is played on a computer, and is not mentioned in their .  The rootkit has been commercially developed by  First 4 Internet and licensed to Sony.

Other rights management techniques used by music publishers recently include breaking the  compact disc standard format. This technique causes many CD players to not be able to play the new CDs, but also protects against casual ripping.  's recent album release in the United States uses such technology.