Originally published December 1 2005
Sony distributes free software to make up for hidden file debacle
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Sony has recently come under fire for installing hidden files onto customer's hard drives when Sony CDs are played. If a user attempts to delete the files, they may disable their CD drive. To remedy the situation, Sony is distributing free patch software.
After a chorus of criticism, Sony Corp.'s music division said Wednesday it is distributing a free software patch to reveal hidden files that automatically installed to hard drives when some of its music CDs were played on personal computers.
Sony BMG Music Entertainment and its partner, UK-based First 4 Internet, said they decided to offer the patch as a precaution, not because of any security vulnerability, which some critics had alleged.
The controversy started Monday after Windows expert Mark Russinovich posted a Web log report on how he found hidden files on his PC after playing a Van Zant CD.
In this case, the Sony program hid the antipiracy software from view.
Similar technology also has been used by virus and worm writers to conceal their code.
A firestorm quickly erupted over what appeared to be an attempt by the music company to retain control over its intellectual property by secretly installing hidden software on the PCs of unsuspecting customers.
"The (license) makes no mention that it's going to install something that's going to be hidden from view, that will constantly consume CPU resources even if I'm not listening to music and it will have no uninstall capability," he said.
Because the technology looks for a specific prefix in the filename, it also could be used by malware authors to mask their programs, Russinovich said.
The copy protection technology, which limits how many times a CD can be copied, was included on about 20 titles, including discs from The Bad Plus and Vivian Green, among others.
The process is unlike the vast majority of Windows software, which can be easily uninstalled - by the user, without permission - through the "Add or Remove Programs" tool in the operating system's control panel.
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