by certifiedbug on March 14, 2008
in News
The industry’s anti piracy efforts appear to be futile, failure to stop piracy by suing Internet users, digital rights management all but abandoned.
But wait, now the music industry is considering a file sharing surcharge, per user per month, that Internet Service Providers collect from users.
This would be used to compensate songwriters, performers, publishers and music labels. Rightly so, but… will Internet Service Providers be able to implement such a practice. There is sure to be a backlash especially from smaller providers on a tight budget. Think rural, ISP options are often sparse in the boonies, something city users may not be aware of with their countless Internet options and budget packages.
Like I have said before, piracy is not free, it costs us all. 
Discussion today at South by Southwest
Mobility, Ubiquity and Monetizing Music
Room 18ABC
Friday, March 14th
3:30 pm - 4:45 pm
Ars Technica
Ken Fisher writes:
Apple embeds your account information in all songs sold on the store, not just DRM-free songs. Previously it wasn’t much of a big deal, since no one could imagine users sharing encrypted, DRMed content. But now that DRM-free music from Apple is on the loose, the hidden data is more significant since it could theoretically be used to trace shared tunes back to the original owner. It must also be kept in mind that this kind of information could be spoofed.
Article
by certifiedbug on February 12, 2007
in Security
Shortly after installing Skype I read a blog article at pagetable.com Skype Reads Your BIOS and Motherboard Serial Number
Since the middle of December 2006, Skype has used a third-party program called EasyBits, to secretly access the system BIOS settings and record the motherboard serial number of their Windows-based users. EasyBits offers DRM (Digital Rights Management) features.
Skype blog entry Skype Extras plug-in manager
The EasyBits software includes a form of digital rights management functionality intended to protect commercial software, such as plug-ins, from illegal redistribution or unlicensed use. Simply put, the EasyBits DRM framework helps us ensure compliance with software usage and distribution.
Since we learned that EasyBits DRM did not perform well on some newer platforms, we updated the version of their framework with one that no longer attempts to read from the BIOS. The current download of Skype for Windows, version 3.0.0.216, includes this updated framework.
As documented in the pagetable blog, the EasyBits software ran a .com file and prevented users from reading it. Only the errors it gave users of 64-bit versions, brought the snoopware to light.
2005 was the year of the Sony DRM Rootkit scandal.
by certifiedbug on January 30, 2007
in News
Attorney General Lawrence Wasden entered into a settlement agreement with SONY BMG Music Entertainment that will allow Idaho consumers to obtain refunds of up to $175 for harm caused to their computers by SONY BMG music CDs. SONY BMG distributed more than 12 million CDs without adequately informing consumers that the CDs contained anti-copying software.
Article and links to submit a claim for reimbursement of repair expenses associated with XCP here
