Texas suing Sony BMG
for releasing music CD’s with Spyware
December 23rd, 2005
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XCP could be used
for spying |
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Sony BMG has admitted to releasing a potential dangerous anti-piracy
software inside people’s computer through music CD’s. The state of
Texas has a new anti-spyware law and is suing Sony BMG for violation.
The music CD’s have a program call XCP standing for extended copy
protection. During this installation the not so nice spyware called
rootkit, which is installed into the core operating system. Another
problem program is MediaMax which allows Sony to track the listening
habits even if the SunnComm’s liscensing agreement is rejected.
The XCP software is extremely difficult to remove once installed unless
you go to Sony’s BMG website to get the uninstaller program. A complete
list of all the music CD’s that have these software programs on them are
listed at sonybmg.com. If you own one of the 52 titles released with
the software you can send it in for an exchange.
The “Malware” that it installs allows for slow overall speed and
performance of your computer and running of other programs. It has the
ability to for a Internet connected computer to steal data, corrupt
programs and get control over your system. It also could potentially be
used as a way to report data to SonyBMG.
After the whistle has been blown on this software, SonyBMG will not
likely be spying on you anytime soon. However, the software does open
you up to others on the Internet. It would be wise to use the uninstall
utility at the sonybmg.com website to remove it. If you plan on ever
putting the music CD in the computer, you might consider taking Sony up
on the voluntary recall.
In the mean time, SonyBMG is being sued by Texas because of a violation
of the anti-spyware law. If you don’t have spyware software installed
on your computer, make sure you install one soon, as there are many
other spyware attacks that are more likely to be a threat to your system
and your data. Adaware and Spyware Doctor are just a couple programs,
there are many available.
By
Nicole Wilson
Best Syndication Staff Writer
Keywords and misspellings: spyware malware
sonybmg music copy protection scheme lawsuite Texas anti-spyware laws
unistall spyware phishing
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