OK, So It Really Is Much Worse...

Back on November 15 I mentioned Sony's other DRM method, MediaMax from SunnComm in a post titled "It May Be Worse, Much Worse", and I quoted the excellent "Freedom To Tinker" blog like so:

What few people realize is that Sony uses another copy protection program, SunnComm’s MediaMax, on other discs in their catalog, and that this system presumably is not included in the moratorium. Though MediaMax doesn’t resort to concealing itself with a rootkit, it does behave in several ways that are characteristic of spyware.

So, not being one to indulge in any sort of "I told you so" type of gloating, it pains me to report that. . . err. . . I told you so. It is, apparently, much worse than anyone thought or could have even begun to believe. Not only has the SunnComm malware recently been shown to indeed open a security hole in the user's computer (and remember, this is also the users who actually clicked on "NO, DON'T INSTALL ANY OF THAT CRAP ON MY COMPUTER") but the patch recently released to close that hole does so while opening a second security hole of its own.

However, the day after the patch was released, Professor Ed Felten and Alex Halderman identified a new problem. We take any security problems identified by these security researched very seriously. They "recommend for now that if you have a Windows PC, you:

• do not use the MediaMax patch
  
• do not use the previously released MediaMax uninstaller, and
  
• do not insert a MediaMax-bearing CD into your PC."

Presumably if you are lucky enough to have previously bought and played one of these infected CDs on your computer you should now just not turn your computer on until such a time as Sony and their software suppliers get around to being responsible business persons and standing behind their products and their actions.

We should not be holding our breaths, folks.

How much longer do SONY expect anyone to continue to buy their products while they continue to demonstrate both a complete disinterest in the rights, desires and welfare of their customers and a complete ignorance of what exactly they are doing? Neither trait is representative of a company, particularly a technology based company, that I will personally choose to do any further business with. How much longer will the retailers responsible for foisting these products off on the consumer continue to stock this malware on their shelves? It was one thing for them to carry these Copy Protected CDs before all this came to light but for them to continue to carry this company's products in light of all this continuing mess certainly doesn't make me want to do any more business with them, either. SONY keeps saying "Oh, okay, this is the complete list of all the problem items" but has yet to release any sort of honest and comprehensive list or admission of any sort of guilt or culpability until after the fact. It is always "complete disclosure until we get caught some more."

I'm also wondering what undiscovered surprises all the other forms of DRM that are floating around and being delivered on other companies' products have in store for us.